Report: Frank Martin a ‘key target’ for Cincinnati job
South Carolina’s Frank Martin is reportedly a “key target” in Cincinnati’s search for a coach to replace the recently departed Mick Cronin.
Jeff Goodman, the college basketball insider for WatchStadium.com, tweeted as much Thursday night.
“South Carolina’s Frank Martin has emerged as a key target at Cincinnati, source told @Stadium,” Goodman tweeted.
This is at least the second time this offseason that Martin’s been reportedly involved with another job. Last month, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Martin was “contacted about the UNLV opening.” Martin, though, later denied having such communication and reaffimred his commitment to USC.
“It’s flattering any time your name gets involved,” Martin said during a March 26 news conference. “That means that people out there actually respect what you do. But, no, my intention, my goal is to keep building this program here.
“If I wanted to leave because I wasn’t happy here, you think I would have done it this year or do you think I would have done it after the Final Four?”
Martin is 129-106 in seven seasons with the Gamecocks, including the 2017 trip to the Final Four. USC went 16-16 in 2018-19 and missed the NIT.
The 53-year-old is the 22nd-highest paid coach in the country — with a salary of $2.95 million — and is signed to Carolina through 2023. Should Martin leave this offseason, he’d owe USC $1 million.
Martin has a history with the Bearcats, however. He worked as a Cincinnati assistant from 2004-06 under Bob Huggins and Andy Kennedy.
Cronin, who left for UCLA on Tuesday, made $2.2 million a year with the Bearcats, a member of the American Athletic Conference.
Goodman has mentioned Martin for a variety of openings lately, including UNLV, Virginia Tech, St. John’s and Arkansas.
“I think Frank Martin would leave for the right situation,” Goodman told The State in March. “He’s not gonna leave for just anything. I know he loves his boss, I know he loves the area, everything like that.
“But again, if there was a better situation that came up, where they was probably more support overall, yeah, I could see him leaving if it was a top 10 or 15 school or something that was more about basketball. I think there’s a chance.”
Cincinnati has appeared in nine straight NCAA Tournaments and 32 times overall. It won the national championship in 1961 and 1962. It recently spent $87 million in renovating its Fifth Third Arena.
This story was originally published April 11, 2019 at 8:02 PM.
