The South Carolina basketball team struggled throughout last year’s COVID-riddled season, posting a 6-15 overall record. It was the program’s worst campaign, in terms of winning percentage, since head coach Frank Martin’s inaugural season in 2012.
The numbers across the board were bad.
The Gamecocks ranked 293rd in shooting, including a No. 312 ranking beyond the three-point line. The team was an SEC-worst 65% at the free throw stripe. Maybe most disappointing stat, a typically stout Frank Martin defense allowed nearly 80 points a game, ranking 329th out of 347 Division I programs.
But it wasn’t just on the court where the Gamecocks were struggling. Things were even more difficult off the floor.
Just after starting non-conference play, the Gamecocks were ravaged by COVID. The South Carolina basketball team missed more than a month of action, with players and coaches contracting the virus in late December.
Coach Martin, himself, had it twice in the matter of a year, triggering both arthritis and alopecia. The once fiery and full-headed leader lost his hair, looking tired and dejected on the sidelines.
Everyone knows Martin as a fighter, but this would take a toll on anyone. The Gamecocks were hit harder than any other Power Five school in the nation during the pandemic and their head coach admittedly didn’t handle the adversity as he should have.
By season’s end, he’d completely lost the team and it seemed that everyone involved was just ready for the year to come to a close.
Earlier this week, coach Martin took to the Jim Rome Show to reflect on that season, which he calls the toughest in his 37 years of coaching, as well as how an incoming bunch of transfers helped him “re-believe” in himself ahead of 2022.
Frank Martin debated retirement after the 2021 South Carolina basketball season.
Martin calls the 2021 campaign the only losing season in his nearly four decades of coaching. That’s not judging by wins and losses, but rather by the fight of his team. After taking over a program in shambles, Martin posted back-to-back 14-win seasons. While the team technically finished under .500, the fight to improve was always there.
You could see, despite growing pains, that the program was improving. Just four short seasons after taking over the SEC’s worst team, Martin’s Gamecocks posted a program record 25 wins. The following year, the bested that mark, winning 26 games on their way to a Final Four.
Martin can typically get the best out of his players and his teams are known for never giving in. Last year, that wasn’t the case, and he admits that those breakdowns started at the top.
"“I was raised to answer the bell. I tried and I couldn’t do it. Every decision I made to manage the team through COVID backfired… I couldn’t do anything right, every decision I made was wrong… If I look in the rearview mirror, I probably should’ve called in sick and said, ‘Hey, I can’t do this right now.'”"
Martin notes his lack of energy, as well as the stress of dealing with the pandemic as having contributed to the lackluster performance. Players were forced to lockdown, with university policies calling for a semester-long suspension for anyone found outside their isolation zones.
The restrictions kept the team from being able to work out, practice, and meet, which made things difficult on both the players and the coaching staff.
When things were said and done, Martin went as far as to say he considered retiring from coaching altogether. The adversity faced in that 2021 season was more than he’d ever experienced, and the feeling of defeat nearly led to him walking away completely.
Host Jim Rome asked the South Carolina head coach point blank if he thought about hanging it up and leaving basketball for good.
"“Oh, no doubt… I couldn’t do my job. Every decision I made was wrong. My team just lost its will to fight, and at the end of the day, I’m a fighter. When my team doesn’t fight, it hurts my feelings. By the end of the season, I was defeated… I’d never dealt with a situation where everybody was defeated from the head coach down to the managers.”"
Coach Martin was re-energized by transfers joining the South Carolina basketball program, including his son.
After reflecting on the year, taking a few weeks to decompress, and trying to figure out “what the heck just happened,” Martin began to find a re-belief in himself and the program.
A big reason for the change of heart was a fresh batch of incoming transfers, who Martin credits with helping him regain his energy and buck the feeling of defeat.
"“We got these transfers in, and these kids have been incredible. They uplifted my spirit… Those guys taught me to rebelieve in myself and go out there and fight for them the same way they fight for me. That’s why I’m having the time of my life coaching this team right now.”"
Those transfers include James Reese, AJ Wilson, Erik Stevenson, Chico Carter, Josh Gray, and Martin’s son, Brandon.
The head coach dove into the new player-coach relationship he’s had to navigate through in 2022, as well as the impact that his son had on regaining trust in the locker room.
"“In the Spring he came to see me, and I’ve never coached him. I don’t coach my children. I try to be a father, not a coach to them. He came to me, and he was like, ‘Dad, I want to transfer.’“So, we got into that conversation. Then in those conversations he says to me, ‘It’s always been by dream to play for you.’ I’m coming off the worst year of my career and my son’s telling me that that’s what he wants to do. How do I, as a father, say no when I’m vulnerable?“I’m vulnerable right now. I’ve got to regain trust in the locker room. If I can’t regain trust in the locker room through my son, then I’ll never trust anybody ever again.”"
Brandon Martin is averaging 12.5 minutes and 2.6 points per game so far with the Gamecocks. Coming from USC Upstate, he’s been able to adjust to life in the SEC while gaining the love and respect of both his teammates and head coach.
"“I’m so proud of him. He’s taken a step up in competition. He’s earned his way on the court through his efforts, his commitment to working and trying to be a good teammate. Players respect him, I know as a coach I respect him, and as a dad I am so, so proud of him. He’s helped me heal, too, as I try to do my job.”"
This feels like somewhat of a redemption story for Martin, who’s regained his passion for coaching in year 10 in Columbia. He currently has the Gamecocks sitting at 12-7 on the year, with a 3-4 mark in conference play. He’ll attempt to guide his team to a third consecutive win on Saturday when South Carolina travels to take on the Texas A&M Aggies.
Listen Jim Rome’s entire interview with Frank Martin here.