Wheeler: Missouri State's gift of Cuonzo Martin's return generates needed buzz

With Clif Smart months away from retirement, the outgoing Missouri State president gave one last gift to the athletics program and Bears fanbase: the return of Cuonzo Martin.

One of the most beloved head coaches to come through Missouri State is coming home, the school confirmed on Wednesday. He coached the Bears for three seasons from 2008-11 and spent the last two years away from coaching.

Martin's the most previous coach to lead Missouri State to a championship.

He's the most previous coach to pack fans in the Great Southern Bank Arena stands.

He's well-respected by everyone who's come in contact with him.

He's the splash hire that many assumed Smart would try to attract while leaving one last stamp on Missouri State athletics on his way out the door.

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It's difficult to criticize Smart and Missouri State athletics director Kyle Moats, who also receives credit for this move, for somehow getting Martin to return home. The basketball Martin's led in recent years will be picked apart but there's no denying he's won everywhere he's been.

He's led every program he's coached to the NCAA Tournament, after all. Well, except Missouri State.

It's safe to assume Martin continues to love a community that's loved him; Why else would he come back? Maybe he feels a sense of unfinished business, wanting to get the Bears back in the tournament. If he pulled that off, Martin's legend would only grow.

One of the biggest parts of the job will be restoring the buzz he left behind when he accepted the head coaching job at Tennessee. Since his departure, that buzz faded away with Missouri State coming off its second-least attended season in program history.

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Martin should be up for that challenge. He'll get out in the community after spending the last two seasons not coaching and helping the less fortunate in the Orlando area. It's a safe bet that he'll go out of his way to try and get fans in the stands. He did it the last time he was here, often trying to meet up with student organizations to try and figure out how to get them in the building.

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More than Martin's deep voice will be needed to make it happen — it's not all on him — but his extra efforts will be a warm welcome.

There's no doubt that a big part of getting fans needs to include winning. It desperately needs to include consistent winning.

Martin has had seven years he's led his teams to 20 or more wins with four NCAA Tournament appearances. He had Mizzou ranking as high as 10th nationally in his second-to-last season with an NCAA trip.

He was fired the next year for going 12-21. Three of his five seasons in Columbia saw the Tigers have losing records. Holes will be poked in what Martin has done lately and how ready he is for college basketball now when the landscape is a lot different than it was two years ago.

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But there's no denying that Martin wins. Before Mizzou, his only season with a record below .500 was in an 11-20 season when he first took over as the Bears' head coach. He knows how to win a heck of a lot more than those on the men's basketball side have known in recent years. How often would a coach in their low 50s with four NCAA Tournament appearances choose to coach at Missouri State? Not often.

This move will be celebrated when Smart and Moats have been under plenty of scrutiny. Some would have preferred for anyone else to hire the next head coach but it's hard to imagine someone else would have landed someone more accomplished.

The hiring of Martin doesn't fix the mess created since his departure. Missouri State basketball is in a bad place and needs to be cleaned up.

Martin could be the perfect coach at the perfect time for Missouri State. His return is one last gift from Smart, working alongside Moats, on his way out. They've delivered a reason to be optimistic about the future with the latest attempt to turn the program around.

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 returns to Missouri State: Column on head coach's return