How Cuonzo Martin will go about returning Missouri State basketball where it needs to be
Cuonzo Martin said he walked through Great Southern Bank Arena and the memories returned from when he coached Missouri State to a championship in 2011.
He recalled one of the last times he coached on the same floor. Over 11,000 fans filled the arena to watch him lead the Bears to a championship. He often looked at the photo where he threw his arms up in victory as the students stormed the floor with a Missouri Valley Conference title in hand.
Martin recalled the game on Monday afternoon as he was reintroduced as Missouri State's head coach, 13 years after he left the school to coach at Tennessee. He reminisced, with a packed room welcoming him home, on one of the great days in Bears history. The 69-64 final score of the Bears' win over Wichita State was on the scoreboard in the background.
"I look at the picture when we won the championship against Wichita State and just think about Nafis Ricks driving to the rim and playing great defense," Martin said. "I think about Adam Leonard shooting deep 3's. Jermaine (Mallett) at 6-foot-3 and Kyle Weems, Superman, and Will Creekmore with the best footwork in the country. They had the drive to be successful and it was a beautiful experience for me as a coach getting into this thing."
Missouri State celebrated Martin's homecoming days after it announced it had reached a five-year deal with the only coach to lead the university to an MVC championship. His family sat in the front row as the band played the fight song as he made his way to the podium.
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Outgoing Missouri State president Clif Smart and current MSU athletics director Kyle Moats introduced the coach while stressing the importance of Name, Image and Likeness at the school moving forward. They laid out Martin's résumé, having been to the NCAA Tournament four times in his 11 seasons since leaving MSU, including a Sweet 16 appearance as Tennessee's head coach in 2014.
"We have to get back to packing this wonderful arena," Moats said. "That's important to me and that's important to Zo. Our future depends on everyone pulling in the same direction and being part of this alignment, showing support from day one. Our program deserves that and our future starts today."
Why Cuonzo Martin said he's returning to Missouri State basketball
Martin hasn't coached since he was dismissed at Mizzou following the 2021-22 season. In a breakout question-and-answer session with the media, Martin said he spent the last two years living in the Orlando area where he did behind-the-scenes consulting while also meeting with NBA teams and USA Basketball. He said he studied the game from an "administrative" standpoint.
Martin said he started to get the itch to coach again around January and began hearing from teams around February. He said he made no phone calls to Missouri State during the season and was reached by Moats after the school parted ways with Dana Ford.
"A lot of my decisions have to do with understanding this place," Martin said. "I think this place has a chance to be really special but, also, Name, Image and Likness is a real factor. For me, it wasn't about a dollar as a coach and how much money you're making. It's about getting yourself in the right situation to be successful. I think this is a place that young men would want to be a part of. I think this is a campus and a community that values basketball. I think that is just as important."
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Name, Image and Likeness efforts were the focus of Missouri State's administration
Before Missouri State's administrators mentioned Martin's name, Smart, who will retire at the end of June, spoke of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and how it will be a focus at Missouri State moving forward.
"For our university to be competitive in basketball, and frankly in other sports as well, we have to embrace the support of our student-athletes," Smart said. "NIL money in this sport is driving much of recruiting, so this has to be a primary focus of our athletics development team. We can have the best facilities, the best university, the best academics and the best coaching staff, but if we don't have this funding, it's going to be very hard for us to be competitive. That's just the reality we live in. We'll be redesigning some of our athletic development work to really focus on that."
The News-Leader has attempted to connect with Missouri State's two NIL collectives previously and both declined to comment while keeping their processes under wraps.
When speaking to the entire room, Martin mentioned NIL but didn't dive too far into it saying: "Now it's time to celebrate. I'm not trying to get in your pockets right now."
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Martin elaborated on NIL efforts when asked "Why Missouri State?" when he said he had several other interested programs.
"I think it's a great place and it's a place I'm familiar with," Martin said. "Now what happens, I think one of the biggest things, say for example is that everyone gambles meaning administrators, programs and collectives gamble on the fact on how much money they have in Name, Image and Likeness.
"I thought 'where is one place you can have success based on your reputation and your character so if you don't have to beat somebody out when you don't have Name, Image and Likeness money? I think this is a great place."
Martin said he served on an oversight committee with the National Association of Basketball Coaches when the transfer portal and NIL were introduced four years ago.
Missouri State basketball needs its culture rebuilt and he knows it
Martin had 11,077 in attendance for the last Missouri State regular season game he coached in. The Bears reported an average of 3,000 fans in attendance per game this past season. MSU still hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament and interest is waning.
Missouri State stressed attendance in its overhauled attendance incentives in Martin's contract. It was stressed throughout Monday's media availability.
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"That's part of the job," Martin said. "That's what they hired me to do. I will always be the guy I'm supposed to be because, first and foremost, we're supposed to be developing young men and all the other stuff will come. When I first took the job (in 2008), we had 300 in our student section and in the last year, we had 3,000. That's a lot of work. That's also getting into the community. Nowadays, with the platform of social media and the level we get in the community.
"First and foremost, it's winning. I think there are 5,000-10,000 more students than when I first got the job six years ago. That means you have a lot of people on campus who want to be a part of this and to be a part of winning. I've seen programs that have tough times and fans stay the course. I think we have to make sure our fans understand that we need them and their support to be a part of it. I don't know many great programs that have sustained success without fan support."
Cuonzo Martin said he already has his coaching staff in place
Martin said he believes he has a staff in place and it's just a matter of solidifying the details. It is unknown if there was an increase in his assistant coaching salary pool but Martin mentioned the hiring of an "offensive coordinator" when he has been known for his defensive toughness throughout his career.
"You have to score the ball," Martin said. "We'll have a guy that's solely focused on offense. You can call him 'offensive coordinator,' if you will. My DNA has always been defensive toughness but I'll have a guy signed specifically for that role."
Martin didn't share any details as to who will join his staff.
"I think we have the guys we were looking for," Martin said. "It's really about the right relationship more than those guys actually for a dollar. These guys have been successful for a long time and you'll see who they are."
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How Cuonzo Martin will go about building a roster in the transfer portal era
Martin met with those on the Missouri State men's basketball roster before he was introduced as head coach. It's unclear who all attended but Damien Mayo Jr. and Cesare Edwards, both in the transfer portal, were among those who made their way to the introductory press conference. Both players left before they could be caught for interviews.
If everyone in the transfer portal were to leave, Martin would have four scholarship players on the roster. According to several social media posts, Martin has been recruiting for next season's roster since he was named head coach.
Martin said he would meet with each player for one-on-one interviews in the coming days.
"Every guy has the right to be in the transfer portal, that's the landscape," Martin said. "Right now, it's just a general meeting. I've never been a coach where I take over programs and get rid of guys. I've never done that. It's a different landscape. Guys have the right to do what they need to do. You have the right to do what's best for the program. It's just really 'one day at a time' and right now, it's time to get to work."
Several social media posts suggest Martin has contacted Division II and junior college players. Raphe Ayres is the most experienced MSU player not in the transfer portal. The three others are entering their sophomore or redshirt freshmen years.
"You have to have experience," Martin said. "You got to have experienced guys. Whether it's a juco guy or a fifth-year guy, I would certainly go after high school guys. Because of my ability to get out and go see other programs around the country when I had time off, I think of Purdue's backcourt. They played two freshmen (in the Elite Eight) and a sophomore. If you can play, you can play.
"I think I would never neglect that there are freshmen that can play. I won't run from the fact that if you have a freshman who plays well, develops his game and transfers, it's great for him. Then the next guy, come on because we'll have to develop you. You will get better if you're here, that's for sure."
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Cuonzo Martin reintroduced as Missouri State men's basketball coach
