6 • Spurs & Feathers
September 21, 2016
‘Our University has great fans’: S&F exclusive with Frank Martin Spurs & Feathers executive editor Brian Hand recently sat down with South Carolina men’s basketball head coach Frank Martin to talk about a number of different topics. S&F: As you have talked about numerous times, it has been a different offseason for you with the Costa Rica foreign tour and the way you approached the tour. How has the tour allowed you to grow as a head coach? When you deal with your players yearround and get to know them, you’re always with the basketball part of it. You’re always so consumed with fixing the problems that by disengaging you can sit back and watch and see the good. I know coaching high school basketball in the summers every assistant would be in charge of one summer camp and one league, and I would go to all of the games, but I would sit in the stands. If there was a discipline issue, I would deal with it, but as far as the basketball part of it, our assistants knew the system. They coached it, they knew the terminology and I was able to sit back and it would give me perspective as to the good that kids do. Not just what they have to get better at, and I think that is what this summer did for me. You don’t get a gauge for what your players do in a 40-minute workout with four guys. You don’t get a gauge for ability to learn when you conduct workouts that last two hours a week. When you actually see them for 10 days for two to two and a half hours a day and what you spend two hours practicing on day one is expected to be able to be repeated on day two, you can get a sense for learning and what motivates who, who’s receptive and who is not, who understands and who does not, which then allows you to do your job a little better. All of those things were what helped me tremendously as we go into the year. S&F: Obviously having the chance to practice as a full squad in August afforded you new opportunities as a team. How do you think it will impact the upcoming season? The old guys and the new guys kind of found out the good and the warts about each other, which it’s not just about getting along and liking each other, it’s about also understanding the things that bother us about one another, so we can better communicate and
understand so we eventually can connect and grow. That’s what that trip did. Our guys have a much-better understanding of one another - old guys and new guys - than we had at this time last year. At this time last year, all the old guys and new guys were still trying to figure each other out. Right now, those guys pretty much understand one another. S&F: It’s kind of crazy to think about it, but this year begins the senior years for Duane Notice, Justin McKie and Sindarius Thornwell. When they came in the program was in a much different place. How special is it to see players such as these buy in and help to build the program up over the past few years? It’s unreal. I remember being on the phone with Duane when we were getting ready to play Mississippi State in Nashville at the conference tournament. It was at the end of our first season, and I’m on the phone earlier that day trying to convince him that we’d be the right place for him. Now you fast-forward and here he is, Sixth Man of the Year in the SEC, a guy that has taken an unbelievable pride in growing and in how we do things. I couldn’t be prouder of him. The same thing with Sindarius and Justin. Justin was funny in his recruitment because he wanted me to offer sooner than I did. It was important for me to get to know Justin and the whole dynamic there, and when I did he was so happy that I could see it coming out of his pores. He was ecstatic. Sindarius had all these other big-name schools on the table, and he was in a place where he loved this state, loved his family and he always loved the Gamecocks, but he also had a decision to make for his career and for the benefits of Sindarius Thornwell. He jumped in and believed in what we were talking about at a stage where he knew the beginning was going to be kind of difficult. All three of those guys they’ve taken ownership and bought in. They’ve become tremendous leaders in our locker room, and they absolutely love this school, love this community, love their team and as a coach I couldn’t be prouder of how they’ve worked and how they’ve helped me improve and they’re willingness to believe in our vision four years ago and then coming in here and working and seeing some of those things true. S&F: With all of the new players in
photo by brian hand
Frank Martin is pictured in his office at the Colonial Life Arena on Wednesday, Sept. 7. your program, is there anything that has surprised you from the new players, or is there anything Gamecock fans can expect out of this new grouping of Gamecocks? I think with the frontline guys, it’s the athleticism and the strength that they all play with. Mindaugas (Kacinas) was never an inside guy. We trained him to figure out a way to help us in that department. Michael (Carrera) was fearless in throwing his body around, but Michael was a 205-pound guy. Laimonas (Chatkevicius) is a guy that worked so hard so he could be productive, but the physicality part of the game that was never something he was completely comfortable with. These guys that we’re talking about, they’re all 250 pounds naturally and they all run and they all throw their bodies around. I’m not saying that they’re going to average 25 points a game. It’s just that dynamic is going to be something that’s new within our team. Hassani Gravett, the athleticism that he has, it’s something that we have not had since I’ve been here at the guard spot. As good as Ty Johnson, Sindarius and Duane, as good as Justin will be for us, they’re all slow-twitch
guys. Hassani’s different. Hassani is like Chris Silva’s version at the guard spot. It’s what he is. The same thing with P.J. He’s a tremendous player for us, but he’s not a fasttwitch guy. Hassani is, and that’s going to be fun to watch him grow. S&F: P.J. Dozier having the opportunity to attend the Stephen Curry SC30 Select Camp says a lot about how he is perceived nationally. You’ve talked about how much he has progressed over the past few months. How much can he grow in year No. 2 in your system? I think P.J.’s put himself in a place where he can have an unbelievable year. I thought P.J. was pretty good last year, and he just kind of ran out of gas at the end of the year. That’s just my personal opinion. We won 25 games, and we didn’t win 25 in spite of him. We won 25 because of his presence, because of his greatest talent. As talented as he is as a player, his greatest talent is that he’s a heck of a teammate. He makes guys around him better. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7