but that's not true, at all. frank had the benefit of his connection to huggins, dalonte, beasley, and walker.
frank had a giant head start given to him that those other guys never had which propelled him to a place that those other dudes will never get to. he caught lightening in a bottle. once he had the head start, he had momentum, and from there his job was just to not eff it up. not surprisingly of a man of his character, he did eff it up, and now he's gone.
future frank will most certainly be as mediocre as those guys you listed, but that's because he's rough ridin' dumber than dirt and made a really stupid decision. i'm sure we'll soon see him on an episode of The Lottery Changed My Life.
Now just a minute. We can be mad at Frank, but let's not get carried away.
Keep in mind where Frank Martin came from. Clearly not good enough to even play high school basketball in Miami, he became friends of the coach and absorbed the game. Heck, he was even coaching JV before he graduated.
Then he went to the fine institution that is Florida International and got his degree. Math teacher, I'm sure I don't need to remind you. There he was, helping kids learn Algebra and Geometry, but more importantly how to be fine young women and men. Also, he was giving cash to band members and cheerleaders and athletes because they couldn't afford to go to movies or eat pizzas. That's the kind of man we're talking about.
Then he became a head coach and he was very successful. He taught values of hard work and defense and rebounding. Now, you may want to say he had rosters full of division one players plucked from all over the city. A few may have perhaps even lived with assistant coaches or administrators. His school maybe even got caught, but nevertheless Frank was teaching those values and getting those kids into division one schools left and right.
Of course another cynic might say that Frank only got his shot in college coaching because of those connections to tons of division one players. Not true! Clearly those coaches saw the type of coach Frank was, willing to go to bat for his players, and most importantly the work ethic he instilled. He quickly moved up in the ranks and soon was under the great Bob Huggins. Huggins brought him to Kansas State and the rest is history.
The key here is that we must not forget those humble beginnings. We must remember that kids haven't changed, society has changed. Adults have changed. Its so much harder to coach and motivate kids based on fear these days because we coddle our kids. Frank changed that and didn't believe in that. Those kids that clearly are too coddled he showed that you just eliminate from your program, eventually you'll have the kids around that can handle what being a kid used to be like with tough love. Remember, Frank would treat his kids no different.
So while Frank may deserve some flack for a few things, don't go too far, that's just not far to a guy with the integrity, loyalty, and character of Frank Martin.
