Is Cuonzo Martin A Good Fit?

Returning to Former Glory?

(St. Louis, MO) – Is Cuonzo Martin a good fit as Missouri State’s next head coach? After stints at Tennesee, California and Missouri, national writers are announcing that the former Bears’ head coach is coming back to Springfield.

The well-respected Martin’s record of 264-198 doesn’t jump off the page, but during his first three stops (Missouri State, Tennessee and Cal) his teams made marked improvement after his first season on the job. Hidden in his 61-41 record in Springfield, is the fact that 50 of those victories came during the final two years of his three-year Missouri Valley run.

While never taking the Bears to the NCAA Tournament, Martin’s team won the 2010 CIT Championship and were the 2011 Valley regular season champions. Those are the only MO State basketball titles of any kind in the past  25 years.

Missouri State is looking for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999 and its third ever.

Tennessee (2014), Cal (2016) and Missouri (2018 and 2021) all went dancing under Martin’s leadership. After a 12-21 season in 2021-22, Martin was released by Mizzou. His time in Columbia was his longest. After three seasons each with the Bears, the Volunteers and the other Bears, Martin coached the Tigers for five.

Is He a Good Fit Today?

College basketball has dramatically changed since Martin left Missouri. The Portal Pandemic (the combination of freedom of movement and NIL) has created a whole new recruiting environment. While recruiting has always been the life-blood of every basketball program, it is even more so in 2024.

Signing and retaining players is harder than ever before. The questions surrounding any coach that would come to Springfield have more to do with how that coach interacts with boosters and NIL collectives than almost anything else.

This week we watched the third 16-point scorer from Belmont enter the transfer portal. We know Casey Alexander is a good coach, Nashville is a great city and Belmont graduates their players and they go on to successful post-college lives. The Bruin program has sent several players to the NBA, but its three best players just left for greener pastures.

So is Martin, or anyone else Missouri State would sign a person that attract good talent and then with the backing of the university and its NIL supporters retain them. Missouri State believes it can be a regional, if not national program, but now is the time for that to be proven true.

A Signature Move

Missouri State’s next basketball coach needs to be a signature move that ushers in a season of basketball revival and relevance. During this season of basketball and Missouri Valley uncertainty, MO State has an open door to put their name at the top of the Valley pack.

Landing the right coach for the next five years of growth and success is pivotal. Martin could really be that man.

Valley Hoops Insider believes Martin is a very solid coach and would be a good move. It is step one to a very important season in the future of Bears basketball. Athletic Director Kyle Moats can’t afford to miss on this one.

People around the program cannot fail to build the right kind of financial environment that can retain upper level talent. Missouri Valley Conference teams cannot compete dollar for dollar with ‘power conference’ teams, and perhaps the future is more about one and two-year players, but attracting those players and holding on to them long enough to build a ‘Bears Identity’ is critical.

Who Else Could be a Good Fit?

Cuonzo Martin seems to be destined to be the next Missouri State basketball coach. If not Martin, is Northwest Missouri State’s Ben McCollum a candidate. He was a hot target earlier, but while in Omaha, I heard that interest had waned. Former Bears’ assistant Kyle Smithpeters who is rumored to be on Southern Illinois’ radar, could be an interesting choice.

We wonder if someone like Indiana State assistant Matthew Graves is being considered for any of these Valley openings. He has previous head coaching experience, assisted at Butler and is Josh Schertz’s top assistant. Graves seems to be a possible fit at one of these universities.

We’ve heard no rumblings associating Morehead State head coach Preston Spradlin with MO State. However, his name is thrown around with many different jobs. He is getting noticed by many programs because of his very successful results in the Ohio Valley Conference.

We believe Martin is a good fit. Then the real work begins for the MO State basketball community.

Do Good