Talking to agents is part of an assistant’s job, head coach says
Part of the reason South Carolina men’s basketball coach Frank Martin says he sleeps well at night is because he trusts those individuals he’s hired to do the right thing.
Martin added Chuck Martin (no relation) to his Gamecocks staff last June. Chuck Martin has sat next to Frank Martin at every game this season, serving as a main USC assistant.
Chuck Martin’s pre-South Carolina history was mentioned in a Yahoo Sports report over the weekend. The report detailed emails from ASM Sports agency representative Christian Dawkins to his boss, Andy Miller.
The following exchange, as transcribed by Yahoo, happened in July 2016, while Chuck Martin was an assistant at Indiana.
“Chuck Martin – Trying to close the deal on Brian Bowen for Indiana. I told him if we can work together and if he can push for us to get (Hoosiers) Thomas Bryant and OG Anunoby two projected first rounders from IU this year we can work something out.”
Frank Martin defended Chuck Martin on Monday, calling him a man of family, value and character.
“Chuck’s not in the middle of this in any way, shape or form,” Frank Martin said. “I don’t care what’s reported.”
Frank Martin was an assistant coach at Northeastern (2000-04), Cincinnati (2004-06) and Kansas State (2006-07) before he moved to the head coaching chair, a spot he’s sat in for the past 11 seasons.
“When you have good players on your team, like they did at Indiana, you know who calls the assistant coaches every single week?” Martin said, nodding to agents. “Imagine that. What are you supposed to do, say never call me again and hang up on the guy? No, that’s not the way it works.
“As an assistant I took calls from a gazillion agents because it’s part of your job. Head coach doesn’t want to talk to agents in the middle of the season, please. I don’t have time for that nonsense. That’s part of it for the assistant coaches. They got to talk to these agents.”
The Yahoo report didn’t note anything else on Chuck Martin beyond being mentioned in the Dawkins to Miller email. Both Dawkins and Miller have been tied to the FBI’s probe into college basketball corruption. The U.S. Attorney's Office has charged Dawkins with three counts of wire fraud and one count of money-laundering conspiracy.
Bryant, an All-Big Ten forward at Indiana, was selected in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz. He’s now with the Los Angeles Lakers organization.
Anunoby, who averaged over 11 points and five rebounds a game during his final season at Indiana, was a first round section of the Toronto Raptors in the 2017 draft.
Bowen, of course, is a centerpiece to the FBI probe. He signed with Louisville – and reportedly never listed Indiana as a serious recruiting contender – before transferring to South Carolina last month. Bowen still must be reinstated by the NCAA to play in games.
Chuck Martin has been in college coaching since 1999, serving as Marist’s head coach from 2008-13. He was an Oklahoma City Thunder scout in 2013-14.
Chuck Martin was instrumental in landing Jermaine Couisnard, a three-star guard and USC’s lone commitment in the 2018 recruiting class.
This story was originally published February 26, 2018 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Talking to agents is part of an assistant’s job, head coach says."