Frank Martin takes over South Carolina hoops

Mar 27, 2012 - 3:40 PM Columbia, SC (Sports Network) - Frank Martin has been named the new men's basketball coach at South Carolina.

Martin spent the past five years at Kansas State and led the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament four times. This year's squad finished 22-11 overall and lost to Syracuse in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

The 46-year-old Martin was under contract with Kansas State through the 2014-15 season after signing an extension two years ago, but last year was reportedly interested in the vacancy at the University of Miami-Florida. The Miami native was never interviewed for the position that went to Jim Larranaga.

Martin was a high school coach in Miami during the 1990s, then became a collegiate assistant at Northeastern in 2000. After four seasons, he went to Cincinnati and spent two seasons with the Bearcats before becoming Bob Huggins' top assistant at Kansas State for the 2006-07 season.

When Huggins left for West Virginia, Martin took over the K-State program. He guided the Wildcats to a record of 117-54, including 50-32 in the Big 12. His best NCAA Tournament finish was an Elite Eight appearance in the spring of 2010.

At South Carolina, Martin will take over a struggling program that finished last in the SEC this past season. The Gamecocks were 10-21 overall and just 2-14 in the conference, prompting the firing of Darrin Horn.

South Carolina was 60-63 in Horn's four seasons, including 23-41 in the SEC.