NCAA Basketball: Stevens, Huggins among top head coaching hires of 2007

5. Frank Martin (Kansas State)

There really wasn’t much going on with the Kansas State program at the beginning of the 21st century. Things were looking up when Bob Huggins joined the program in 2006, but he was gone to West Virginia after just one season at the helm. Still, the Wildcats were coming off a 23-win season and had a pretty solid coach left behind to take the reins.

Frank Martin had been a successful high school coach in Miami for over a decade before becoming a collegiate assistant just a few years earlier. He had spent time under Huggins on his staff at Cincinnati before following him to Kansas State for the past season. Martin was elevated to head coach after Huggins moved on, making a decision that led to a great renewal of the basketball program.

After a long period of inconsistent play, the Wildcats sustained success under Martin, winning at least 21 games in each of his five seasons. He led the program to four NCAA Tournaments, including an Elite Eight run in 2010. The Wildcats were finally competitive near the top of the Big 12 again, and the sustained success led Martin to leave for South Carolina in 2012. Still, Martin presided over the most successful stretch of basketball for the program since the turn of the century.