Frank Martin credits staff for late additions to recruiting class

South Carolina coach Frank Martin and his staff had to quickly evaluate and recruit prospects near the end of last season after the suspension of several players and the dismissal of two. He said Thursday evening at a Spartanburg Gamecock Club event that he could not be happier with the recruits USC is bringing in.

Carolina added Hassani Gravett, Khadim Gueye and transfer Kory Holden late in the picture to go along with Maik-Kalev Kotsar, Rakym Felder and fall signee Sedee Keita.

Martin credited his staff for quickly identifying prospects and building relationships during the middle of the season.

“It’s all the assistant coaches. We didn’t anticipate what happened at the end of the year happening. ... Unfortunately, a situation took place,” Martin said. “I’m worried about coaching games and preparing practice and watching film, and when all of that went down I went to the staff and said, ‘All right, we’ve got to prepare for A, B and C.’ ”

The dismissal of Eric Cobb and Jamall Gregory opened scholarships, which were filled within a matter of weeks thanks to recruiting efforts of assistant coaches.

Martin said the coaching staff did the legwork for several players before deciding who to offer scholarships to, then went full-go after the players they wanted.

“We pretty much hit a home run because we got the guys that we went after, and that’s a credit to our staff,” Martin said.

While Cobb and Gregory have been dismissed, Marcus Stroman, TeMarcus Blanton and Chris Silva remain suspended. Raymond Doby’s status is unclear.

Martin said he continues to monitor the situation of the players that have yet to be reinstated.

“They’re around. They’re there. It’s not just a basketball issue, it’s a campus issue, too, but they’re there. I’ll get their final grades in the next couple of days and once we’ve resolved the campus part of it then we can start talking the basketball part of it,” Martin said. “The court is a privilege that comes along with taking care of your business off the court, and unfortunately some guys didn’t do that, and we’ve got to rectify the off-the-court stuff first and then worry about basketball.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2016 at 9:42 PM with the headline "Frank Martin credits staff for late additions to recruiting class."