OPINION |
This was only a news conference. Cuonzo Martin’s first game in his second tour as Missouri State’s basketball coach will not arrive for about seven months. There’s a roster to be built and a coaching staff to assemble.
Only time will tell if Martin, the only coach in program history to guide the Bears to a regular-season Missouri Valley Conference championship, can replicate his success or even exceed it as he returns to his head-coaching roots.
But there was a detectable buzz in the air as fans arrived early and stayed to the finish on Monday, April 1 — things that haven’t happened a lot for actual Bears’ games the last couple of years.
‘It was time' to return to the sideline
Martin, with a bit of gray in his beard that was missing when he last coached the Bears in March of 2011, made it clear that he was ready to get back into college coaching after two years off. And that Missouri State is a place that he thinks is the best fit for him.
“It was time,” Martin said of his return to the sideline. “A lot of my decision had to do with understanding this place. This place has a chance to be special.”
He then mentioned three of the hottest buzzwords in college basketball today.
“Name, Image and Likeness is a real factor,” Martin said of student-athletes’ ability to get financial compensation through things such as promotional appearances. Not all Power Five conference schools are willing to provide enough NIL to compete with their peers at that level.
Martin mentioned a commitment that Missouri State is willing to make to compete at the mid-major level to provide a proper amount of NIL to not only attract players, but keep those who fit his program.
“Power Fives, if they can’t give you anything consistently, that’s a tough row to hoe,” Martin said. “For me, it wasn’t about a dollar as a coach, how much money you’re making, it’s about getting yourself in the right situation to be successful.
“I think this is a place that young men will want to be a part of. This is a campus, a community that values basketball. I think that is just as important. It’s a great place. A place that I’m familiar with.”
MSU president and athletics director both stress importance of NIL
Earlier in the news conference, after Martin came into the Prime Overtime Club of Great Southern Bank Arena to a standing ovation from about 250 fans, Missouri State president Clif Smart and athletics director Kyle Moats stressed the importance of NIL going forward.
“For our university to be competitive in basketball, and frankly in other sports as well, we have to embrace the support of our student-athletes,” Smart said. “NIL money in this sport is driving much of the recruiting. So this has to become a primary focus of our athletics development team.
“We can have the best facilities, the best university, the best academics, the best coaching staff … but if we don't have this funding it’s going to be hard-pressed for us to be competitive. So we’ll be redesigning some of our athletic development work and really focus on this.”
Those who donate to the program — or many who don’t — will hear more about that in the coming months. But on this day, the focus was on Martin and the energy that he hopes to infuse back into a program that’s been stuck in mediocrity since Martin departed 13 years ago.
Martin spent time watching the Bears as a fan
Martin said he started getting feelers from several schools about potential openings in February, but did not hear from Moats until after Dana Ford’s firing on March 8. He called Ford a dear friend and said he watched several Bears games as a fan during the last couple of seasons.
Moats said he reached out to Martin to measure his interest in the days after Ford’s dismissal and the two worked toward an agreement from there. Smart said there were two finalists who were interviewed for the job and it was solely Moats’ call to hire Martin. They did not identify the other possibility.
“When you get the call, you have to figure out what is best for you,” Martin said of the initial conversation. “Can you be successful? What does it take to be successful?”
Martin, 52, signed a five-year contract with a base of $600,000 per year plus incentives. He said he was flooded with good memories when he and his wife Roberta landed in Springfield on Sunday night. They came in from Detroit where their youngest son, Chase, is a member of Purdue’s team that advanced to the Final Four earlier in the day.
“Wow, 16 years ago. First and foremost, I want to thank Missouri State University for giving me an opportunity 16 years ago,” Martin said, introducing Roberta and other family members on hand.
Recalling the glory days
After three seasons at Missouri State, where he led the Bears to the league title in 2011 and the highest attendance figures in GSB Arena history, Martin went to Tennessee, California and Missouri. He led all three schools to the NCAA Tournament but said one of his fondest memories is where it began.
There’s a picture inside the basketball office complex of the team celebrating its league-clinching victory over Wichita State, 69-64. The scoreboard inside GSB Arena was outfitted with that score during the news conference.
“Just to think of Nafis Ricks driving to the rim and playing great defense,” Martin began. “Adam Leonard shooting deep threes. Jermaine Mallett tough as nails getting offensive rebounds at 6-3. Kyle Weems as Superman. Will Creekmore at 6-8 with some of the best footwork in the country.
“We probably only played seven guys, but those guys were as tough as nails, they were passionate and they had a drive to be successful. It was a beautiful experience for me as a young coach.”
Getting to work on his coaching staff, rebuilding the roster
Photo by Jym Wilson
Martin talked with passion about getting started and said his coaching staff is one that fans will be proud of. He said he’s not ready to identify names, as it needs to go through official channels first, but talked about having an “offensive coordinator” while he stamps the defensive end with his own philosophies.
While most of the Bears’ roster has entered the transfer portal, Martin said he’s already met with several players and at least two of those, Damien Mayo Jr. and Cesare Edwards, were at the news conference along with teammates Nick Kramer and Tommy Pinegar. They left shortly afterward and were not available for comment.
“We met and I just told them a little about me,” Martin said. “Just a general meeting. I’ve never been a coach when I’ve taken over a program who gets rid of guys. Now it’s a different landscape and guys have a right to do what they need to do and you have to do what’s best for your program.
“It’s really one day at a time and now you have to go to work.”
‘If you commit to being great, this is a great place to be'
Martin made it clear that the dynamics of the transfer portal and NIL, while totally different from his first go-around at Missouri State, won’t be used as excuses in building a program.
“If you’re a fighter, that’s what you do,” Martin said. “If you use it as an excuse, then what are you sitting on the sideline for? Get in the fight. It’s in my nature. That would never never keep me out. That’s what I do. I compete, I battle, I fight and I embrace challenges.”
Those who wind up on Martin’s roster next season — newcomers or holdovers — will be embraced if they embrace the challenge. Martin told the story of Weems, a redshirt freshman on his first Missouri State team, who struggled mightily the first few weeks of practice.
“But he kept showing up the next day with a smile on his face,” Martin said. “Three years later, he was the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.
“If you commit to being great, this is a great place to be.”
Martin said he won’t shy away from recruiting high school players, but said experience is necessary whether from the DI transfer or junior college ranks.
“And I won’t run from the fact that if you have a freshman that plays well and he develops his game and transfers, that’s great for him. Then the next one, come on. You will get better (here), that’s for sure.”
‘Great coach, better guy'
Mike Keltner, a Missouri State basketball alum from 50 years ago and now the school’s radio network analyst, called it a big day for the program.
“There’s a lot of excitement and he was very positive about his staff,” Keltner said. “But he seems very happy to be here and a lot of people are happy that he is here. Moving forward, it is a new era.”
But even long-standing fans, while excited, are taking a wait-and-see approach. After all, it is the Show-Me state.
Mike Cottey has had seats directly behind the scorer’s table all 16 seasons GSB Arena has been open and for three seasons before that at Hammons Student Center.
“This one was a surprise,” Cottey said of Martin’s hiring. “I told Clif and Kyle, they got me with this one. We’ll have to wait and see. The secret to all of this is NIL. I’m waiting to see how much it’s going to cost me to continue to participate.
“This is my sixth coach I’m breaking in. We’ll wait and see.”
But Cottey referenced Smart’s earlier remarks about Missouri Valley Conference commissioner Jeff Jackson’s reaction to the decision to hire Martin.
“Great coach, better guy,” Cottey said. “I would agree with that.”
