One thing the man has in his favor is a boat load of mind boggling luck. It IS mind boggling when you think about it. With his baggage, and abusive temper, it would have taken him a long time to land a head coaching job at a Div. I school. Most likely it would never have occurred except for a series of incredibly, and inexplicably, fortunate occurrences. Huggins brings him on to kick start K-State because of his Rodriquez AAU connections. During Huggins first year, Frank becomes deathly ill because of drinking, comes down with acute pancreatitis and was close to death. As the story was related by Frank, a stranger visits his bedside and informs him that he will get better....and he did. After one year, West Virginia comes calling and Huggins leaves. The only way to keep Beasley, and the D.C. pipeline, is to offer Frank the job. Frank's abuse of Jake Pullen came within a hair of running Jake out of Manhattan. By a stroke of incredible luck, Jake Pullen stays, becomes the all time leading scorer in K-State history, and gave Frank an elite 8 with several NCAA appearances while at Manhattan. If Jake leaves, and he was within a hair of leaving, Frank is a failure at K-State. Follow me here, because it gets even more incredible.
With Frank's success, at Manhattan, he still isn't getting any offers from comparable schools. When Frank's Rodriquez and Malone pipeline dries up, and there is a player revolt at hand, a basketball program, that is in complete shambles, decides to take a risk on Frank. Even still, South Carolina felt it necessary to inform Frank that his abuse of players would not be tolerated. He would be placed on a short leash and, in fact, was suspended early in his tenure at Columbia. At the very moment when Frank's record was destined to take a hit at K-State, he was saved by South Carolina. Frank was able to exit Kansas State before his mythical image was shattered.
Frank desperately needed another Jake Pullen and he got one. There were two players that grew up in Columbia's back yard, and were ready to play college ball, just as Frank began his South Carolina gig. The better player wanted to play basketball for Roy Williams, but ole Roy told Sindarius Thornwell to go to......well, not hell, but South Carolina. Frank got his Jake Pullen. Sindarius Thornwell is the SEC player of the year. Coaches don't win without good ball players. South Carolina's final four run doesn't happen without Sindarius Thornwell. If Roy Williams had decided to take Thornwell, Frank doesn't have a tournament appearance after five years.
My point? These things don't happen by chance. For whatever reason, Frank Martin has been guided to the top of the basketball world this year. This is not to say that he lacks coaching skills. Not at all! It's simply to say that Frank was destined for this. With this in mind, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see Frank Martin coaching a blue blood at some point unless the FORCE turns against him at some point.
