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

By Joey Loose | Jul 1, 2020

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 13: Head coach John Calipari (R) of the Kentucky Wildcats is congratulated by head coach Bruce Pearl of the Tennessee Volunteers after Kentucky won 74-45 during the semirfinals of the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament at the Bridgestone Arena on March 13, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – DECEMBER 08: Head coach Frank Martin of the South Carolina Gamecocks (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /

4. Frank Martin – South Carolina (2012-2020)

Before he took over at South Carolina in 2012, Martin had made a name for himself as head coach at Kansas State, recruiting Michael Beasley and leading the program to the Elite Eight. A former Miami high school coach and Bob Huggins assistant, he departed the Big 12 for the SEC and South Carolina, taking over a program without much happening. South Carolina lacks much basketball success, though Martin wrote a significant chapter.

While the first three years were slow as expected, by his fourth year Martin had South Carolina competing in the SEC again, finishing tied for 3rd and winning 25 games, but settling for the NIT. 2017 was completely different. He led the Gamecocks to the Final Four as a 7-seed, upsetting Duke, Baylor, and Florida in making the program’s first Final Four. That success hasn’t been replicated, but South Carolina has been above .500 in SEC play in four of the last five seasons.

Martin rewrote the history books for South Carolina and continues to lead the Gamecocks toward success. Even though this was his only NCAA Tournament bid in his first eight years, the success in that one run outweighs anything else the program has done in recent memory. He has brought great talent to South Carolina and has finally progressed in building this program into an actual basketball contender, which is far more impressive than the accomplishments of many of these SEC coaches.

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