Kansas State baseball tweets about (then deletes) pep talk from Frank Martin

A familiar face visited with the Kansas State baseball team as the Wildcats made their final preparations before playing at South Carolina on Thursday.

Frank Martin, the former Kansas State basketball coach now at South Carolina, spoke with players after the team’s morning lift, according to a tweet sent from the baseball team’s Twitter account.

The tweet read: “Big thanks to former @KStateMBB and current USC head coach Frank Martin for speaking with us after our morning lift!” It included a picture you can see below.

 

The tweet has since been deleted.

Martin went 117-54 in five seasons as K-State’s basketball coach, guiding the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament four times. He abruptly left for South Carolina coming off a 22-win season in 2012 for various reasons, the most publicized of which was a rift with athletic director John Currie.

While at K-State, Martin became friends with K-State baseball coach Brad Hill and routinely attended games. He also spoke to baseball players when Hill asked him to do so. He continued that trend Thursday.

Bruce Weber replaced Martin. He has gone 96-65 while guiding the Wildcats to two NCAA Tournaments and a shared conference championship in 2013. K-State is currently 17-11 overall and 6-9 in the Big 12. It will need a strong finish to reach the NCAA Tournament, and Weber may need a strong finish to return for a sixth season.

Martin is 89-67 in his fifth season at South Carolina. The Gamecocks are currently in most bracket projections at 20-8, but could use another victory or two.

The K-State baseball team defeated USC 6-5 and is off to a 4-1 start (its best season-opening weekend since 2011).

This story was originally published February 24, 2017 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Kansas State baseball tweets about (then deletes) pep talk from Frank Martin."