re: Thoughts on Frank Martin

*switching from coach to player*


Everyone on here who follows basketball would shite their pants if Zion chose to come to SC. That kid...well to just call him something special would be an insult to him. Unbelievably talented.

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He's a great coach but it's too hard to get elite talent to USCjr. He's brought South Carolina up to the top of the SEC this year without a ton of competition. But the rest of the SEC is catching up with coaching hires, and those other coaches seem to be bringing in much better talent. Starting next year you'll see South Carolina start to slide back to the middle of the SEC. If he wants to compete at the highest level consistently in the SEC then he'll need to go somewhere he can build something like Mizzou

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If that's the case Auburn will always finish near dead last.

and Lol at you if you think Pearl can get Auburn even better than "mid pack" in the SEC. The rules have fricked over his style of play (you see it with Mike Anderson at Arky). If this were the 2000s ya'll would have a chance at becoming one of the better SEC schools, but not now.

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He's a great coach but it's too hard to get elite talent to USCjr. He's brought South Carolina up to the top of the SEC this year without a ton of competition. But the rest of the SEC is catching up with coaching hires, and those other coaches seem to be bringing in much better talent. Starting next year you'll see South Carolina start to slide back to the middle of the SEC. If he wants to compete at the highest level consistently in the SEC then he'll need to go somewhere he can build something like Mizzou

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Frank martin took over a program that was about as bottomed-out as the program could get....a program that has struggled to have winning conference records and have post-season appearances, and he still brought in better-rated recruiting classes than Missouri has in 5 of his 6 classes, with at least a 4* prospect in 5 of the 6.

And he still isn't bringing in the best talent a staff could at USC, based on the level of talent that SC grows. This isn't football, where teams have 85 scholarship players and need at least 22 to play offense and defense. SC is a small state that's a green state - an agricultural state which means as small as it is, it still has an even smaller population (low residential density per sq. mile).

But in BB you only need 5 for a starting unit, and 2-3 to play substantial reserve minutes regularly. SC produces excellent to elite BB talent regularly, but USC has struggled to pull the majority of that talent due to being so close to ACC schools, and because of our lack of sustained success over the years. Clemson is in the ACC, but they have also struggled over the yrs to have a successful MBB program, so the in-state talent typically passes them by as well....

4* or better rated SC prospects during Frank Martin's tenure:

2017: 4* Jalek Felton (UNC)
2016: 4* Seventh Woods (UNC)
2015: 5* P.J. Dozier (USC)
2015: 4* Tevin Mack (Texas)
2014: 4* L.J. Peak (Georgetown)
2014: 4* Eric Stroman (USC)
2013: 4* Sindarius Thornwell (USC)
2012: 4* Brice Johnson (UNC)
2012: 4* Larry Wideman (Furman)

The 2012 prospects were seniors last year. If USC could have gotten the lion's share of those prospects, then our program would be much further ahead than its been (these don't include out-of-state 4*s Blanton, Silva, Keita, and David Beatty who are either in the program now or are incoming signees). Roy Williams has made a living in SC during the bad yrs for our program, taking advantage of it and raking in all the cream of the crops.

In the 2018 cycle, SC has a 5* and overall #2 prospect Zion Williamson (he's most likely Duke bound), a 4* Aaron Nesmith (Ivy League bound), plus two borderline 4* prospects that USC isn't in the picture yet with either. But with the recent successes, that may change. In 2019, SC has 5* Juwan Gary, high 4*s Josiah James and Christian Brown, and solid 4*s D.J. Burns and Tommy Bruner, so hopefully Martin will have USC in better position with those (Williams already has UNC front-running with Gary, but these kids are starting to come to USC games a bit these days)....