Big 12 Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jun 17, 2020

KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 24: (L-R) Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks greets head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels prior to coaching against each other during the third round of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Sprint Center on March 24, 2013 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /

2 of 11

PITTSBURGH, PA – MARCH 17: Fead coach Frank Martin of the Kansas State Wildcats (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images) /

10. Big 12 Basketball coach rankings – Frank Martin (Kansas State, 2007-2012)

As he took over the program in 2007, following Bob Huggins’ departure to West Virginia, Martin was left with seemingly big shoes to fill. After an extensive high school coaching career, Martin was beginning his first collegiate job at a Kansas State program without much success in the past decade. Before his arrival, the Wildcats hadn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1996, but that was about to change.

Following that rough decade, Martin made Kansas State a competitive team in the Big 12 again. In each of his five seasons, they finished in the top 5 in the conference and made four NCAA Tournaments. He recruited big talent like Michael Beasley to the school while leading the 2010 team to 29 wins and an Elite Eight run. In all, he won six NCAA Tournaments game, which was clear and profound progress over previous head coaches at the school.

Martin left for South Carolina in 2012 and he certainly built his own legacy with the Gamecocks, leading them to the Final Four in 2017. Focusing solely on Kansas State, it’s easy to see that he turned this program around and made them competitive in the conference once more. He didn’t win any conference titles, regular season or tournament, but he put Kansas State back into the conversation for relevance, and that’s more than enough in a conference dominated by rival Kansas.

Home/Big 12