How Frank Martin will remember this year’s Gamecocks
The ride the South Carolina men’s basketball team went on was a wild one for sure.
The Gamecocks went on the road and upset defending national champion Virginia, then got upset by Stetson. They rallied from a bad start in SEC play to top Kentucky at the buzzer. They won at Arkansas and survived some drama-filled games down the stretch.
And although the journey was cut short by the coronavirus outbreak ending the college basketball season, Frank Martin will look at this season with a certain fondness.
“The one thing I will always remember this year’s team for is its willingness to compete,” Martin said in an interview Tuesday with 107.5 The Game. “They never gave in to injuries, to bad days, to public opinion. They grew up because they believed in each other.”
At different points, the Gamecocks were 6-4, including a loss to Boston University, and 8-7. Then they won eight of 10, including Jermaine Couisnard’s running banker to upend the Wildcats. They beat a Clemson squad that ended up topping Florida State, Duke and Louisville.
They were seven games above .500 heading into a crucial stretch, but dropped three tough games and lost the regular season finale against Vanderbilt.
As his team left Nashville following the cancellation of the SEC tournament, Martin said a loss to the Commodores — in what turned out to be his team’s last game — put a sizable dent in the team’s NCAA tournament hope. But Tuesday he explained how close he felt his team was to getting back into it.
“We were right there,” Martin said. “We were, I thought, two wins away from being right back smack in the middle of that tournament. But it wasn’t meant to be.”
Had USC won those games, against Arkansas and LSU, they would have reached 20 victories and added a pair of Quad 1 wins.
Through it all, the coach saw growth from a range of players and was saddened he couldn’t see more.
“I know how much those kids grew up,” Martin said. “I know how much they believed in each other. Whether it’s A.J. Lawson’s journey this year — he’s so much better right now than he was a year ago, it’s not even funny. ... Jermaine Couisnard, to know what he went through last year, and to see him go through his journey this year and get to where he was at. The year Maik Kotsar was having and, just so many things — disappointment is the one word that comes to mind.”
Kotsar blossomed into a reliable defensive and offensive anchor his final season, while Couisnard grew into a hard-nosed option at the point.
The team also overcame a range of injuries. Starting wing Keyshawn Bryant missed the first eight games and was lost for basically two more contests later on. Forward Justin Minaya missed a run of nine games late, while Couisnard missed one SEC game. Jalyn McCreary missed a crucial one down the stretch.
All told, the Gamecocks earned a fourth winning season in five year and fifth at .500 or better. As he looked back, Martin talked about the frustration with a young team, the games he’d like to have back and the incredible moments.
“With all that said, I had the time of my life coaching this team,” Martin said.
