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**Saulbadguy** · 12-15-2009, 01:30 PM

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...thout-the-beas

Martin breezes on in Manhattan, even without the Beas
Dec. 15, 2009
By Gary Parrish
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
Tell Gary your opinion!
Presented by Epson

Kansas State offered Frank Martin the job.

He accepted the offer.

He was excited.

But then the columnists starting writing columns, and the radio hosts started hosting radio shows, and Martin was stunned by the reaction. Both locally and nationally, the consensus was that Martin was only replacing Bob Huggins because he was capable of holding together a recruiting class highlighted by Michael Beasley.

And guess what? There was probably some truth to that. If KSU didn't have a heralded recruiting class set to enroll, it's possible Martin wouldn't have been promoted. But if that's what it took for this son of Cuban immigrants to get a break in life, well, it was a break Frank Martin probably deserved, a break long overdue, and he wasn't about to turn it down.

So he was excited.

But why weren't others excited for him?

"Everyone else gets their first opportunity, and people root for them," Martin said by phone late Monday. "But when I got my first opportunity, all people said was that I wasn't deserving of it, that I was going to be a failure, that I was an ex-criminal. One person even wrote that hiring me was a disgrace to college basketball."

A disgrace to college basketball?

Now that's saying something.

"Did I read all that stuff? Yes," Martin said. "And did all that stuff bother me? Yes. I'm a human being. It bothered me. But I didn't let it impact how I did my job. The only thing I worried about was doing my job to the best of my abilities for the people who believed in me, that being my bosses and the players and assistants who chose to stay and work for us. That's all I worried about, doing my job so that we could all move forward in life."

I called Martin on Monday night and had this conversation. I figured it was a good time to revisit the story of the man few believed would last at Kansas State much longer than Beasley, because earlier in the day Martin's Wildcats -- with a 9-1 record featuring wins over Dayton, Washington State, Xavier and UNLV -- went from unranked to No. 17 in the AP poll. It's KSU's highest ranking in more than two decades. And the best part is that Michael Beasley has nothing to do with it.

Beasley is a second-year pro for the Miami Heat.

He was a one-and-done phenom at KSU.

Now he's long gone.

As are Bill Walker, Clent Stewart and Blake Young. In total, four of the top five scorers from Martin's first Kansas State team (Beasley, Walker, Steward and Young) that advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament have moved on. The only real holdovers are Jacob Pullen and Dominique Sutton, meaning Martin was successful in 2007-08 with one roster, and now he's winning in 2009-10 with a totally different roster.

So Martin is no longer living off Beasley.

Or Huggins.

This is his program, and he has proved to be more than just a guy who could ride Beasley to a bunch of wins. He did that, sure. But with associate head coach Dalonte Hill working beside him, Martin simultaneously put a foundation in place, enrolled a couple of talented transfers (Denis Clemente and Curtis Kelly), signed another McDonald's All-American (Wally Judge), and now he's in great shape.

Barring a collapse, Martin will take these Wildcats to the NCAA tournament this season, and then nearly every relevant player will return next season, which means it's reasonable -- at the risk of getting ahead of ourselves -- to suggest that Martin is on track to win at least 20 games in each of his first four seasons and that Martin is on track to make the NCAA tournament in three of his first four seasons.

So hiring Frank Martin wasn't a disgrace to college basketball.

Turns out, it was a blessing to Kansas State.

"First-year coaches and even guys who have won a lot of games, they usually get a pass when they have young teams," Martin said, point being that he did not. "We had seven freshmen on my team that first year, and nine of the 13 scholarship players were first-year guys. And we beat the best team in the country [Kansas] that year. We finished third in the league. We beat Southern Cal [in the first round of the NCAA tournament]. But nothing we did was quite good enough for people outside of who we are.

"But for us -- my bosses, our players, our staff -- we understood how much we grew and how hard we worked. So we appreciated what we were doing. And at the same time, we were trying to build the program for the long run, not just for that one year."

So far, so good.

And far better than most anticipated.

12-15-2009, 01:30 PM	#394
Saulbadguy When a nightmare becomes real Join Date: Nov 2003 Casino cash: $736966	http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...thout-the-beas Martin breezes on in Manhattan, even without the Beas Dec. 15, 2009 By Gary Parrish CBSSports.com Senior Writer Tell Gary your opinion! Presented by Epson Kansas State offered Frank Martin the job. He accepted the offer. He was excited. But then the columnists starting writing columns, and the radio hosts started hosting radio shows, and Martin was stunned by the reaction. Both locally and nationally, the consensus was that Martin was only replacing Bob Huggins because he was capable of holding together a recruiting class highlighted by Michael Beasley. And guess what? There was probably some truth to that. If KSU didn't have a heralded recruiting class set to enroll, it's possible Martin wouldn't have been promoted. But if that's what it took for this son of Cuban immigrants to get a break in life, well, it was a break Frank Martin probably deserved, a break long overdue, and he wasn't about to turn it down. So he was excited. But why weren't others excited for him? "Everyone else gets their first opportunity, and people root for them," Martin said by phone late Monday. "But when I got my first opportunity, all people said was that I wasn't deserving of it, that I was going to be a failure, that I was an ex-criminal. One person even wrote that hiring me was a disgrace to college basketball." A disgrace to college basketball? Now that's saying something. "Did I read all that stuff? Yes," Martin said. "And did all that stuff bother me? Yes. I'm a human being. It bothered me. But I didn't let it impact how I did my job. The only thing I worried about was doing my job to the best of my abilities for the people who believed in me, that being my bosses and the players and assistants who chose to stay and work for us. That's all I worried about, doing my job so that we could all move forward in life." I called Martin on Monday night and had this conversation. I figured it was a good time to revisit the story of the man few believed would last at Kansas State much longer than Beasley, because earlier in the day Martin's Wildcats -- with a 9-1 record featuring wins over Dayton, Washington State, Xavier and UNLV -- went from unranked to No. 17 in the AP poll. It's KSU's highest ranking in more than two decades. And the best part is that Michael Beasley has nothing to do with it. Beasley is a second-year pro for the Miami Heat. He was a one-and-done phenom at KSU. Now he's long gone. As are Bill Walker, Clent Stewart and Blake Young. In total, four of the top five scorers from Martin's first Kansas State team (Beasley, Walker, Steward and Young) that advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament have moved on. The only real holdovers are Jacob Pullen and Dominique Sutton, meaning Martin was successful in 2007-08 with one roster, and now he's winning in 2009-10 with a totally different roster. So Martin is no longer living off Beasley. Or Huggins. This is his program, and he has proved to be more than just a guy who could ride Beasley to a bunch of wins. He did that, sure. But with associate head coach Dalonte Hill working beside him, Martin simultaneously put a foundation in place, enrolled a couple of talented transfers (Denis Clemente and Curtis Kelly), signed another McDonald's All-American (Wally Judge), and now he's in great shape. Barring a collapse, Martin will take these Wildcats to the NCAA tournament this season, and then nearly every relevant player will return next season, which means it's reasonable -- at the risk of getting ahead of ourselves -- to suggest that Martin is on track to win at least 20 games in each of his first four seasons and that Martin is on track to make the NCAA tournament in three of his first four seasons. So hiring Frank Martin wasn't a disgrace to college basketball. Turns out, it was a blessing to Kansas State. "First-year coaches and even guys who have won a lot of games, they usually get a pass when they have young teams," Martin said, point being that he did not. "We had seven freshmen on my team that first year, and nine of the 13 scholarship players were first-year guys. And we beat the best team in the country [Kansas] that year. We finished third in the league. We beat Southern Cal [in the first round of the NCAA tournament]. But nothing we did was quite good enough for people outside of who we are. "But for us -- my bosses, our players, our staff -- we understood how much we grew and how hard we worked. So we appreciated what we were doing. And at the same time, we were trying to build the program for the long run, not just for that one year." So far, so good. And far better than most anticipated.
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