Martin talks FBI investigation, Lamont Evans
A little over a week since a handful of college assistant basketball coaches were arrested by the FBI, which included former South Carolina coach Lamont Evans, Frank Martin walks into the media room at Colonial Life Arena.
He sits down with a big exhale and begins to talk about the news that rocked the college basketball world and sent shockwaves spanning numerous schools and shoe companies.
As he talked, the coach—who even himself said “doesn’t skip a beat”—struggled to find words to talk about the investigation into his former assistant, and friend, Evans.
“That broke my heart,” Martin said, taking a long pause. “I’ve known Lamont since he was a high school kid. I gave him his break in this business. I was around him as a non-recruiter. I was around him as an assistant coach. I can’t tell you those 48 hours after that news broke were good for me. When I say they weren’t good for me, it had nothing to do with the investigation.”
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Four coaches were arrested last Tuesday—Arizona’s Emanuel Richardson, Auburn’s Chuck Person, Southern California’s Tony Bland and Evans—and since then the fallout’s been extreme.
Since the investigation was made public Sept. 26, Louisville placed legendary head coach Rick Pitino on unpaid leave and quickly fired him a few days later.
Alabama’s basketball administrator resigned. Richardson is in the process of being fired from Arizona. Person is suspended without pay.
Evans was fired from Oklahoma State, which was coached until this year by another former Martin assistant in Brad Underwood. Underwood served with Martin at Kansas State and for one year at South Carolina and is now the head coach at Illinois.
Through all of this, though, Martin has repeated that South Carolina and his program are not the subjects of this investigation.
“This university isn’t being investigated; Lamont Evans is being investigated,” Martin said. “Frank Martin is not being investigated; Lamont Evans is being investigated. Our basketball program is not being investigated; Lamont is being investigated.
“I can wholeheartedly tell you that we are not part, in anyway shape or form with this FBI investigation. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for Lamont.”
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As news trickled out from the FBI, unnamed players linked to South Carolina kept surfacing in the report. It didn’t specify which ones, and Martin couldn’t pinpoint which players the Department of Justice was referring to.
“We haven’t been told," he said. "If we were being investigated, I’d have that answer for you. As they’re going through their investigation I’m sure they’re doing their due diligence. Since we’re not part of it, we’re not privy to that information. I’m sure we’ll find out here in the near future.”
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As more information continues to come out on this scandal, Martin and his team try to put it behind them. They have a season to prepare for, a Final Four run to try and duplicate.
With the season beginning soon, at least five coaches—the four arrested and Pitino—won’t be on the court to help their teams win because of this investigation.
Martin isn’t one of those coaches, and he continues to reiterate the university isn’t under investigation. He hasn’t talked to Evans since the arrest and investigation were announced. He said if he had to guess, the university has been contacted by the FBI but is not under scrutiny.
What Martin said he loves about Tanner is his desire to not cut corners, something he tries to employ every day in his daily life and program.
“I have not worked so hard to overcome the odds, to attain the jobs and the trust of the people that have employed me to circumvent it for a couple dollars,” Martin said. “I’m not doing that. I’d rather lose working the right way than win taking any kind of shortcut. It’s the way I’m cut, and I don’t budge from that.”