Garnet and Cocky
Fansided

South Carolina basketball: Frank Martin, Chuch Martin unavailable at LSU

By Jacob Elsey

FAYETTEVILLE, AR - FEBRUARY 6: Head Coach Frank Martin of the South Carolina Gamecocks sits on the bench during a time out during a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena on February 6, 2018 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Gamecocks 81-65. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
FAYETTEVILLE, AR - FEBRUARY 6: Head Coach Frank Martin of the South Carolina Gamecocks sits on the bench during a time out during a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena on February 6, 2018 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Razorbacks defeated the Gamecocks 81-65. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

South Carolina basketball coach Frank Martin will not travel to LSU.

The South Carolina basketball team has struggled with the COVID pandemic for most of the 2020-21 season, already having to cancel or postpone seven contests on the year. The Gamecocks have played just two games since December 5th, and sit at 3-2 midway through January.

After postponing two SEC matchups last week, the Gamecocks finally look forward to a return to the hardwood in Saturday’s road meeting with the LSU Tigers. The team now have enough players to field a team, but South Carolina took yet another hit today, as the program has learned Frank Martin has tested positive for the Coronavirus.

Now, he and assistant coach Chuck Martin will be unavailable for the matchup with the Tigers, leaving Bruce Shingler to lead the team in its SEC showdown. Player development staffer Doug Edwards will also not travel.

Martin, who’s already contracted the disease once throughout the pandemic, was both happy and disappointed in how things shook out for the upcoming contest.

"“I’m sitting at home frustrated. I’m happy for our players though. Those kids have worked their tails off and managed their time in an incredible way. I’m happy we get to send the team to LSU, but it will be really frustrating to not be able to be there."

The Gamecocks got off to a great start in SEC play with a 78-54 win over Texas A&M, before having to cancel meetings with Ole Miss and Tennessee. They’ll try to keep the momentum rolling in its second conference showdown.

Martin said that the virus has “kicked [his] tail this time around,” but he seems to be on the way up now.

"“I’m feeling good now… I’m still congested, but physically I feel fine right now… It’s just really frustrating.”"

He also noted that this is not an issue that’s only affecting the South Carolina locker room, and emphasized his frustration from the in-season issues after having a relatively quiet offseason.

"“We had one positive test, and it was deemed a false-positive, in September. We handled our business so well and the care was so good. Unfortunately we took that trip to Houston and it got into our locker room… When it got into our locker room it’s been impossible to contain. It’s not like once one person gets it everyone is quarantined and we’re good to go. No, it’s one person gets it and then a week later another person gets it and everyone gets quarantined again, anyone that’s outside of that 150-day window if they’ve had it. I just read Villanova just practiced yesterday for the first time since December 23rd. This is not a unique problem to South Carolina.”"

Tip is set for 8:30 PM, with the game versus LSU being aired on the SEC Network. South Carolina is set to take another road trip to Missouri the following Tuesday, with hopes that Martin and the rest of the staff can return from quarantine.

Home/South Carolina Basketball