Prepare for “The Stare” at South Carolina games next season.

The Gamecocks hired fiery Frank Martin from Kansas State to re-energize a program that had dropped to the bottom of the Southeastern Conference.

Martin spoke for nearly an hour in front of several hundred fans, media and South Carolina administrators. Afterwards, he was asked to demonstrate his harsh, laser-like stare, which was a featured attraction at Wildcat games the past five years.

“It’s something that happens when it’s time to compete,” Martin said, laughing.

Martin says the time for the Gamecocks to compete is now.

He told the players Tuesday morning they weren’t far off from SEC success, despite going 10-21 and 2-14 in the league this season.

“I’ve got to figure out a way, and that’s my job, to get them the confidence that they need to win that next game,” Martin said.

Not that it will be easy.

The Gamecocks lose their leading scorer in senior Malik Cooke. Their No. 2 scorer, point guard Bruce Ellington, is reconsidering his decision to give up football and continue to play both sports like he did this past year.

Martin will have two scholarships to use for next year’s team and possibly three if Ellington rejoins the football team. The new coach says he’s already begun tapping recruiting contacts.

“We’re on it already,” he said.

Martin doesn’t have to rush. He got a six-year deal worth $12.3 million. He’ll make $1.9 million this fall, a step up from his salary of about $1.4 million with the Wildcats.

South Carolina also agreed to pay Martin’s $1 million buyout at Kansas State.

South Carolina athletic director Eric Hyman spoke with former coaches, players, the NCAA and administrators in the search for a new coach to replace Darrin Horn.

“Quite frankly, we feel like we’ve got the right person,” he said.

Martin, 46, called it a whirlwind courtship with South Carolina that really took off this weekend while the coach was in New York helping CBS Sports with its coverage of the NCAA tournament. Martin joked that he had basketball studio analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Greg Anthony urging him to take the job before he left.

“That’s how much respect people have for South Carolina basketball,” Martin said.

Martin was 117-54 in five years with the Wildcats. They reached the NCAA regional finals in 2010 and lost to Syracuse in the third round this season.

Martin thanked everyone at Kansas State and discounted any rift with Wildcat athletic director John Currie for the decision to leave. Martin was upset the school suspended forward Jamar Samuels for the Wildcats’ NCAA tournament loss to Syracuse.

However, “that administration has been phenomenal. I can’t be more thankful for how that administration treated us. They gave us what we needed,” Martin said.

Kansas coach Bill Self, Martin’s Big 12 conference rival, said the coach would be missed.

“Our league will miss him. I’m sure people in Manhattan (Kan.) will, too,” Self said. “He was nothing but good things for our basketball league.”

Now, the SEC has another outsized personality to match up with league heavyweights such as Kentucky’s John Calipari and Florida’s Billy Donovan. Martin said he got a text from his friend, Alabama coach Anthony Grant, that read, “Frank, our league just got better.”

Martin is the son of Cuban immigrants who coached high school basketball in Miami for 15 years and was an assistant at Northeastern for four seasons before Bob Huggins brought him on his staff at Cincinnati. Martin credits Huggins with jumpstarting his career, saying the West Virginia coach helped him get into college coaching.

Martin knew about South Carolina’s program from following former Gamecocks star Devan Downey, who spent his freshman year at Cincinnati when Martin was assistant to then Bearcats coach Huggins. Martin remembered watching highlights of Downey and his teammates celebrating their stunning 68-62 victory over then-No. 1 Kentucky in 2010.

Things slumped for South Carolina under Horn since that high point. The Gamecocks lost 24 of their last 27 SEC games. Horn finished his career at South Carolina 23-45 in league games and 60-63 overall with three consecutive losing seasons. Attendance fell drastically this season with opponents such as Ohio State and Kentucky outdrawing the Gamecocks in games played here this winter.

Martin praised Horn for running a clean program and improving the team’s once poor academic showing. Horn did a lot of good for this basketball team, except for winning.

“It’s my duty to try and complete that part,” he said.
Martin promised his team’s tough-nosed style and relentless work ethic would fill the arena.

“We will put 18,000 in this place every game,” he said.

Football coach Steve Spurrier won a record 11 games last fall, baseball coach Ray Tanner has won the past two College World Series and women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley earned the team’s first trip to the NCAA tournament in nine years.

Spurrier said he met with Martin for a few moments before the press conference.

“I think we’ve hired a winner,” Spurrier said. “I think he’s got a pretty good track record.”

Martin said he’s worked on softening the hard-bitten image he’s been tagged with during his time at Kansas State. He said the only time you might hear him raise his voice is during games.

“What you see on six seconds on ESPN is nothing like I am,” Martin said.

Except for maybe that stare, which Martin admits he can’t help but break out during games.

“Probably after the first turnover,” he joked.

— Associated Press —

Kansas State athletic director John Currie admitted to having some differences with coach Frank Martin over the years. The two men didn’t always see eye to eye.

One thing they agreed on Tuesday: There was no rift in their relationship.

“John has been great,” Martin said during a conference call shortly after being introduced as the new coach at South Carolina. “It’s unfortunate that I make a difficult decision and everyone’s got to figure out a way to blame someone for the decision. That’s not fair to anybody.”

Currie said he wished Martin well as he tries to turn around the Gamecocks.

“We’ve always had interest in Frank Martin being part of the long-term fabric at K-State. That started from the time we got here,” Currie said during a morning news conference at Bramlage Coliseum attended by university president Kirk Schulz.

Currie said he tried to restructure Martin’s contract several times over the course of the season, but Martin said he wanted to focus on his team. Currie even made a last-minute pitch on Monday, when Martin called to inform him he would accept the offer from South Carolina.

“They wanted me at K-State,” Martin said. “That was never in question.”

Currie said he would begin the search immediately for a new coach. He would not say whether he has a list of potential candidates and declined to offer a timetable for the hiring, though the relatively late start in the process puts him at a disadvantage.

This will be the first time Currie has hired a coach of a major sport since taking over in 2009.

“Transition is part of life,” he said. “I completely understand how much many of our fans appreciate coach Martin. I, too, share that appreciation.”

Currie has been widely criticized for Martin’s decision to leave an up-and-coming basketball school for one with scant success in a league known primarily for its football.

Much of that stems from the public perception that a rift had developed between the athletic director and the high-profile coach, and the relationship became fractured to the point that it could no longer be repaired during the third round of the NCAA tournament.

That’s when senior forward Jamar Samuels was suspended for the Wildcats’ game against top-seeded Syracuse for receiving impermissible benefits. Martin stood in his player’s corner before and after the game, while Currie said he did everything possible to get Samuels cleared to play.

“There was a violation of NCAA rules in that circumstance,” Currie said, alluding to a receipt for a wire transaction that showed up in the Kansas State compliance office, ultimately triggering a hasty investigation that could not be completed by the start of the game.

“It would have made my weekend a lot better if a receipt hadn’t shown up in our compliance office,” he said. “Once it came into our possession, for us to do nothing would have risked the integrity of the institution, the integrity of our men’s basketball program.”

Currie refused to elaborate on the suspension citing privacy laws.

Martin said several times he did not leave Kansas State because of the Samuels incident, and that South Carolina simply offered a “new challenge.” It wound up being a big enough challenge to leave a school that gave a nondescript assistant the chance to be a head coach.

“I don’t make decisions based on one experience,” he said. “Jamar might have played and we might have won and I still might have made this decision. The decisions I make and everything I do does not have a single thing to do with the decision that anybody else makes.

“In life, you go through things and sometimes for no reason whatsoever, a new opportunity, a new challenge gets put in front of you, you make a choice,” he said. “That doesn’t mean one choice is better than the other, one place is better than the other.”

Schulz said he had not spoken to Martin in several weeks, even while the Wildcats were making their NCAA tournament run, and refused to speculate on the reasons for Martin’s departure.

The president did say he supports Currie’s leadership.

“He has good working relationships with our coaches. Are there disagreements at times? Absolutely,” Schulz said. “We’re going to be judged by the quality of individual that we bring in, but I feel good that we have the right guy to go out and find somebody.”

— Associated Press —

Frank Martin has agreed to become South Carolina’s next men’s basketball coach, said people familiar with the decision say

The people spoke to The Associated Press Monday on condition of anonymity because the school had not announced the hiring. The university’s board of trustees is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning to discuss a contract matter.

Martin will replace Darrin Horn, who was fired two weeks ago after going 60-63 over four seasons. The Gamecocks finished last in the Southeastern Conference last year.

Martin is leaving Kansas State, which he led to the NCAA tournament four of the last five seasons. The Wildcats reached the regional finals in 2010. His overall record as a head coach is 117-54 and he is 6-4 in the NCAA tourney.

The Gamecocks have been to the NCAA tournament just once since 1998. They finished this season 10-21 and 2-14 in the SEC.

Martin is the son of Cuban immigrants who coached high school basketball in Miami for 15 years and was an assistant at Northeastern for four seasons before Bob Huggins brought him on to his staff at Cincinnati. Martin credits Huggins with jump starting his career, saying the current coach at West Virginia helped him get into college coaching.

South Carolina will be a rebuilding job.

The team’s record got progressively worse during Horn’s four years. Their top player, point guard and two-sport high school star Bruce Ellington, originally promised to only play basketball next season, but after Horn was fired, he started hanging around the football field during spring practice.

Several other players could consider transfers as Martin’s intense coaching style is a stark contrast from Horn’s more laid back approach.

Martin has not publically commented about the South Carolina job or why he might want to leave Kansas State at this time. He was an in-studio analyst for CBS during its weekend NCAA tournament coverage and didn’t answer directly when asked about coaching the Gamecocks.

“The stuff that gets out these days, I look at it as a compliment that we’re doing our job the right way at Kansas State that these sorts of things get out,” Martin said.

A potential salary for Martin has not been disclosed. He made around $1.1 million at Kansas State, and South Carolina athletic director Eric Hyman said when he fired Horn that the Gamecocks were willing to pay their next coach a competitive salary. The school also will owe Horn a $2.4 million buyout.

Horn was hired from Western Kentucky after leading the Hilltoppers to the round of 16 in 2008. His first team at South Carolina went 21-10 and 10-6 in the SEC, winning the Eastern Division. But it wasn’t enough to get the team’s first NCAA tournament bid since 2004, and his teams won fewer games each season.

The Gamecocks have lost 24 of their last 27 SEC games. Horn finished his career at South Carolina 23-45 in league games and 60-63 overall with thee losing seasons in a row.

— Associated Press —