Frank Martin (basketball)

A veteran coach with over 22 years of experience, Martin helped guide Kansas State to a 23-12 record in 2006-07. K-State’s 23 wins were its most wins since tallying 25 during the 1987-88 season, while the 21 wins prior to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship were the most in the regular season since the 1981-82 squad also collected 21 en route to the advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats posted 10 conference wins for the first time in the Big 12 era and for the first time since the Mitch Richmond-led ‘Cats earned 11 Big Eight wins in 1987-88.

Martin joined the Kansas State staff on April 5, 2006, after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Cincinnati, first for Bob Huggins in 2004-05 and then for Andy Kennedy in 2005-06. He helped guide the Bearcats to a 46-21 (.686) overall record and back-to-back postseason appearances from 2004-06, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2005. Among Martin’s duties with the program was the daily development of the program’s big men.

Before joining Huggins’ staff at Cincinnati in 2004, Martin spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Northeastern from 2000 to 2004, where he earned much acclaim for his abilities as a recruiter. After back-to-back sub par seasons, he helped the Huskies post their first winning season in eight years in 2002-03 with a 16-15 overall record and a win over crosstown rival and NIT participant Boston College. The following year, the team collected the school’s best record in 11 seasons with a 19-11 overall record and a third-place finish in the America East Conference with a 13-5 mark. The 19 wins were the most by the school since the 1992-93 season, while the 13 league wins were the most since the 1986-87 season.

The program’s recruiting coordinator from 2002 to 2004, Martin helped form the basis of a Northeastern program that posted 39 wins over the past two seasons, including the school’s first 20-win season since 1992-93 and first-ever bid to the Postseason NIT during the 2004-05 season.

Martin helped coach eight all-conference players at Northeastern, including first team All-America East Conference selection Jose Juan Barea in 2004. Barea became the Husky player since 1989-90 to earn first team all-league honors. This past year, Barea was named an honorable mention All-American by The Associated Press, the Mid-Major Player of the Year by Collegeinsider.com and Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year. Martin also coached three players on the league’s all-rookie team.

Prior to entering the college ranks in 2000, Martin spent 15 years in the high school coaching ranks in Miami, Fla., including the last seven as a head coach. He was a part of five state championships as an assistant at powerhouse Miami Senior High School from 1985-93 before collecting three titles as the Stingarees’ head coach from 1995-99. In addition, Martin served two seasons as the coach at North Miami Senior High School (1993-95) and one season at Booker T. Washington High School (1999-2000).

Before leaving for Northeastern, Martin became head coach at the newly-created Booker T. Washington High School in Miami, Fla., in 1999 and his efforts enabled the first-year high school to garner Nike Elite honors, one of only 15 schools in the nation to earn that honor that season.

Martin returned to Miami Senior High School as head varsity coach in 1995 after longtime coach Marcos Rodriguez left to take the head coaching position at Florida International. During his three-year stint with the Stingarees, he posted a stellar 102-10 (.911) overall record and captured three consecutive Florida 6A State Championships (1996, 1997, 1998). Martin’s last two squads compiled impressive 36-1 records and finished among the nation’s top 5 in the USA Today Top 25 poll, including a program-best No. 2 following the 1997-98 season. He helped develop 14 players who went on to play in the NCAA Division I ranks, including present NBA players Udonis Haslem (Miami Heat) and Steve Blake (Portland Trailblazers). When he left in 1999, Miami was one of only 12 Nike Elite High School programs.

Martin launched his career as a varsity head coach in 1993 when he took over at North Miami Senior High School. He earned 20 wins in his first season as head coach, which was the school’s first 20-win season in 22 years. During his two-year tenure with the Pioneers, Martin posted a 39-16 (.709) overall record, which represented the most wins in a two-year period in school history in 35 seasons.

Martin began his coaching career at Miami Senior High School in 1985, where he served as the head junior varsity coach and assistant varsity coach. During his eight-year stint with the Stingarees, he compiled a 140-30 (.824) overall record as the head junior varsity coach and guided the program to the city championship in six of his eight seasons. In the process, he also helped the varsity program achieve impressive heights while assisting legendary head coach Marcos Rodriguez. Martin helped guide the Stingarees to five Florida 4A State Championships (1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993) and an impressive 273-19 (.935) overall record. The team finished among the nation’s top 10 in the USA Today Top 25 poll on six occasions during his tenure, including a program-best No. 2 following the 1988-89 season.

Martin has served as an instructor at several of the nation’s exclusive summer basketball camps. He served as the head coach in the PAC-10 division at the Nike All-American Camp in Indianapolis, Ind., from 1997 to 1999. In the summer of 1998, Martin was an NBA coach at the Five-Star Basketball Camp during the elite week of action in Pittsburgh, Pa. He also tutored future NBA stars Tracy McGrady and Stromile Swift while at the ABCD All-American Basketball Camp in Teaneck, N.J., in 1996.

A native of Miami, Fla., Martin, 41, earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Florida International in 1993. He and his wife, Anya, have a son, Brandon (7), and a daughter, Amalia (2).