K-State may be 'selfish and silly,' but its coach is just intimidating
Kansas State coach Frank Martin could make a nursery rhyme sound intimidating, so it was a rare treat when CBS cameras took us inside the Wildcats' locker room Thursday night for a glimpse at his fiery halftime speech.
Irate that his team let an early 15-point lead melt away in the latter stages of the first half, the man best known for his trademark scowl and menacing glare lit into his players in the locker room. We can only imagine the avalanche of four letter words that tumbled out of his mouth while the cameras weren't rolling, but just the snippet that CBS delivered was priceless enough.
"You cannot play that way at this time of the year," Martin roared. "That is silly. Selfish and silly. Do it right!."
There's not another coach alive who could make the words "selfish" and "silly" sound scarier than Martin. Can you imagine being this guy's son and coming home with a C-plus on your report card? Or even worse, coming over to his house to take his teenaged daughter out on a date?
Martin was more pleased with his team after the game because of the mental toughness it showed to pull out a thrilling double overtime victory, but Kansas State's first Elite Eight berth since 1988 didn't lessen his intensity any.
"Twenty-two years ago Kansas State had more NCAA wins than the University of Kansas, and somehow that kind of got away from Kansas State," Martin said. "How? Why? I don't know. It's not my problem.
"My challenge and our challenge and these kids' challenge has been to reconnect with that incredible history ... It makes me proud that these kids have embraced that, to get that passion of K State basketball going again."
