SUNY Old Westbury head men’s basketball coach Bernard Tomlin announced the hiring of Franklin Martin to his staff as an assistant coach.

The Kingston Springs, Tennessee native attended Cheatham County Central High School.  Martin went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in communications from Hofstra University in 1987, where he played four seasons (1983-87) as a member of the Pride’s men’s basketball team.

Following graduation, Martin began his master’s coursework at Adelphi University as a graduate assistant coach on the men’s basketball staff during the 1987-88 season.  Martin would transfer to Tennessee State University to receive his master’s degree in athletic administration, where he served as a men’s basketball graduate assistant coach from 1988-89.

He then joined the men’s basketball staff at St. Thomas Aquinas College as assistant from 1989-91.  Taking a break from coaching led Martin to a career in athlete representation from 1992-99, where he held the title of vice president at Worldwide Sports Management.  From 1999-2001, Martin helped assemble one of the top recruiting classes in the nation during the 1999-00 season as Fordham University’s men’s basketball assistant coach.

Martin is also an accomplished actor, director, producer and writer.  In 1994, he played himself in Above the Rim.  Martin founded Dutchmen Films in 2005, and in 2008, he directed and wrote Walking on Dead Fish.  He was also the director, producer and writer for Long Shot: The Kevin Laue Story in 2012.  In total, Martin has 11 actor credits, three producer credits and two director and writer credits.

http://www.oldwestburypanthers.com/news/2016/2/1/MBB_0201165746.aspx

Courtesy of Old Westbury Sports Information (written by Harris Rappel)