Chuck and Frank: Martins old rivals from recruiting trails

Couldn’t beat him, so he joined him.

“This is going way back, maybe 17, 16 years ago, I get a phone call from a coach in Miami. And he says, ‘I got a point guard for you,’ ” South Carolina men’s basketball assistant coach Chuck Martin said. “At the time, I’m working at Drexel University under Bruiser Flint, and our program started to take some major steps in that league.

“Like a week later, they told me, ‘Hey, Northeastern is involved,’ which I knew immediately was Frank Martin. My gut told me, ‘We’re not getting this kid. I’m not beating Frank in Miami for this kid.’ Sure enough, I was right.”

Chuck Martin related the story of recruiting against his new boss on Thursday, evidence of how long he’s known Frank Martin. There was another time or two when Frank won a recruiting battle before they found each other.

Frank wanted somebody he hadn’t worked with to fill Matt Figger’s vacancy. “We all have three or four guys in our back pocket, that if we ever need to hire, that we know that’s the guy,” Frank said. “Unfortunately, Tom (Crean) lost his job at Indiana and a light bulb went off in my head that I think Chuck would be tremendous. And from the first time he and I spoke, he became Candidate No. 1. And that never changed.”

Chuck has logged time at Manhattan, Massachusetts, Drexel, St. John’s, Memphis, Indiana and was Marist’s head coach for five seasons. He also spent a year with the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

He’d never coached in the SEC, but he did assist John Calipari at Memphis. He’s from New York, where Frank recruits.

And Chuck has an eye for talent. The kid in Miami Chuck lost to Frank was J.J. Barea. Barea averaged 20.3 points per game for his Northeastern career, was named Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year as a senior and is still in the NBA, having won a championship with Dallas in 2011.

“We had a mutual friend who just kind of connected us indirectly,” Chuck said. “It’s incredible what they’ve been able to do over the last few years. For him to do it in such a short window here at South Carolina is incredible.”

Chuck is still in his first week in Columbia, getting everything together in regards to moving the family and meeting his new team. Not all the Gamecocks are here, but within the next month, they will be.

Like Frank wanted, Chuck didn’t come in and say, “Here’s what I’m used to doing.” While Frank needed a new voice in the locker room, one that could ask why USC does things the way it does, he didn’t want a guy to start reinventing systems that resulted in a Final Four berth last season.

He did come in and say, “What can I do? How can I help? Who are we recruiting?” so he can get a head start on it.

“I still feel like I’m youthful and energetic and enthusiastic. And when you’re involved in college athletics at this level, it’s a long year, especially when you’re winning, so you better have some energy and some enthusiasm to you,” Chuck said. “So I think I’ll be able to bring some of that to this group.”

This story was originally published June 29, 2017 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Chuck and Frank: Martins old rivals from recruiting trails."