What is UMass getting in Frank Martin?

I talked to a reporter who covered him at South Carolina about what to expect

The hiring of Frank Martin signals a long-overdue shift in the winds in Amherst. (Photo: USA Today)

UMass made a big-boy move Friday with announcement of Frank Martin, one of college basketball’s most revered figures, as its new head men’s basketball coach. And with it, there’s a sudden buzz in Amherst not seen in quite some time.

Call me crazy, but even if he doesn’t win here, this is still a W for UMass.

Once upon a time, UMass was one of the 10 worst programs by win-loss record for the entire 1980’s before hiring a then 28-year-old John Calipari to rocket the program to the moon over the next decade, including spending most of 1996 at No. 1 and reaching the Final Four. That formula — young, presidential, blessed by Calipari or UMass alum Rick Pitino — hasn’t struck twice. So this time around, AD Ryan Bamford tried something different. He made a home run swing, and connected.

I’m sure Martin isn’t coming here for cheap. UMass has a 9,000-seat arena and practice facilities better than some Power 5 programs. So what this says to future UMass coaches is, “We take our basketball seriously and we’re going to arm you with the resources to get this done.” That means a lot.

Martin is also a branding machine. He’s almost universally beloved for his lunch-pail quips and willingness to answer the bell publicly when his teams underperform. If you’re covering his press conferences, you should plan on setting aside an hour each time, because he’s going to tell great stories that will keep the program in the news cycle. Frank as a brand represents something old school — physical, mentally tough, uncompromising — that will play well with the UMass fan base.

There’s also some fair questions to ask following his dismissal from South Carolina, such as:

• Why weren’t the Gamecocks able to sustain success, not even making the NCAA tournament again, after reaching the Final Four in 2017?

• Whatever the reasons that stymied him in the competitive SEC these last few years, is he savvy enough to learn from them and adapt?

• Is this enough of a jolt in a conference that is fast becoming more competitive, especially with the Archie Miller hire at Rhode Island and the arrival of Loyola Chicago next year?

But at the end of the day, I still love everything about this hire, and what it says about the UMass basketball brand going forward.

Few media folks in Columbia got to know Frank as well as Gamecock Central’s Mike Uva, an old friend of mine from the ESPNBoston days and a guerrilla marketing genius. So I asked him a few questions on his way to covering Dawn Staley’s NCAA tourney games this weekend about what we should look forward to with Frank:

Why do you think Frank was unable to sustain the success he had in 2017?

Following South Carolina’s Final Four run one of the key pieces who was expected to return PJ Dozier opted to enter the draft. Just a week ago, former Gamecock Sindarius Thornwell, who was named the SEC Player of the Year that season, pointed this out last week adding that the coaching staff built their next season around Dozier returning. Dozier made the best choice for him and you can fault him. The following season, South Carolina just never had “the guy.” As a result, it forced guys to do more than they probably were capable of doing at the time and delayed their growth process.

Give us a picture of how well-liked he was in Columbia.

When South Carolina reached the Final Four, the city treated him like he was the Beetles. His players love him so much and I feel like the fans fed off of that as well, seeing more and more of it throughout their tournament run in 2017. Over time though, like I’ve seen with many sports at South Carolina, is as if Gamecock fans forgot what this man did and were calling for him to be fired. Since his firing, you’ve seen more and more positive messages about Frank because the ones with logic realize that he brought the program to a level we’ve never seen before.

You’ve been around the SEC for a while now. Where does Frank rank among the all-time great storytellers?

He’s right up there. Being great friend with Bob Huggins and Andy Kennedy, when you bring up those two he’ll go on and on about stories. Simply put, he’s a guys, guy. He came up from nothing in Miami and he remembers his roots.

What is Frank’s stance on data and analytics? And if he’s not a big analytics guy, what would change his mind?

If he’s big on it or uses it at all you won’t ever hear him say it. He’s more of a “gut feeling” guy. That comes with his old school coaching approach and philosophy. What would change that? If he knew for certain it would help him win. Frank won’t let his pride come in the way of winning if there’s something he believes can help his team out. But, when you’re old school, there are some things that you might not be as big on.

We’re already pretty excited up here. But give us your top reason why UMass fans should be excited?

Entertainment, passion and commitment. Those are the three things you’ll get with Frank Martin every day. The entertainment part is authentic; it’s just him being himself. But he cares about what he does and the people that he’s around. Regardless of where he’s coaching or what the event is, Frank will give you all he has.

How would you describe Frank The Brand vs Frank The Coach?

He might yell and scream during games but he does it because he cares. And after the game, he’ll be the first person to put his arm around one of his players. He’s one of the most genuine people I’ve ever been around. What you see in front of the camera in an interview is the same man away from the camera. He knows it all comes down to winning, but winning aside, he’ll make UMass a better place and he’ll enhance the experience for those student-athletes.