Big Changes at Tennessee
After the Bruce Pearl falling out, Tennessee needed to bring in a coach who had a good reputation…and playing a little defense wouldn’t hurt either. As a coach, Cuonzo Martin has garnered a fine reputation and his playing days were best remembered for his stellar defense.
But this is Tennessee…is Coach Martin ready for the big time? It does not seem that long ago that he was playing for Purdue. In fact, it really was not that long ago. Martin played on the wing for the Boilermakers from 1991 to 1995. He made a few shots in the NBA, literally, and then played a little in the CBA and in Italy. It was during his time in Italy that Martin started feeling ill. It turned out to be non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. That is a treatable form of blood cancer. After some tough times with chemotherapy, Martin has been cancer free for over a decade.
With his playing days behind him, Martin headed back to Purdue. There he got his degree and in 2000 became an assistant coach under the legendary Gene Keady. After eight seasons under Keady and Matt Painter, Martin got an opportunity to take over his own team. He would join Painter, Bruce Weber, Steve Lavin and Kevin Stallings in the head coaching tree that spreads beneath Coach Keady. That is some good company.
At Missouri State, Martin had some rebuilding to do. After a 3-15 conference mark during his first as head coach in 2008-2009, Martin led the Bears to a CIT championship in 2010. Last season Missouri State went 26-9 and won the Missouri Valley Conference regular season crown. However, the team failed to make the NCAA Tournament.
It may seem a little odd for Tennessee to hire a coach with three years of experience and no trips to the NCAA Tournament. However, Martin is their guy and he will be their guy for a while. He may be a player’s coach, but he is tough. The intensity of practices alone should help his new team improve on multiple levels. Tennessee may lack the talent to seriously compete in the SEC this season, but you can bet Coach Martin will get the best out of the players he has.
Read the in-depth men’s basketball preview for this team
