University of Massachusetts basketball head coach Frank Martin has signed a two-year contract extension, Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford announced on Thursday. Martin now holds a five-year contract, which runs through the 2028-29 campaign.
The extension includes an enhanced compensation package for Martin as well as new contracts with considerable compensation increases for his assistant coaches and support staff.
“In just two seasons, Frank Martin has revitalized our basketball program and with this extension we want to ensure that momentum continues,” said Bamford. “Our investment in Coach Martin and his staff, along with several other programmatic enhancements over the next two years, shows our commitment to building a men’s basketball program that can realize sustained success and advance our recognizable college basketball brand. I want to thank Frank for his partnership, diligence and thoughtful approach to make Massachusetts Basketball regionally and nationally relevant.”
This past season, Martin led the Minutemen to their best campaign since 2014, finishing with a 20-11 overall record and securing a top-four seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship. The campaign marked the program’s first 20-win season since 2013-14 and first top-four seed since the 2007-08 season.
Martin guided the Minutemen to the A-10’s top offense, averaging 77.5 points per game including a NCAA best 9.0 points per game off post-ups. Bringing the best out of the roster, Martin coached two players to First Team All-Atlantic 10 honors. It marked the first time a UMass duo earned the honor since Rashaun Freeman and Stephane Lasme in the 2006-07 season.
“I am unbelievably excited personally, for our staff and players that this university believes in us and asked us to be a part of the present and extend us well into the future,” said Martin. “Together with our supporters, we will continue to build this program and get it back to a championship level like it deserves and assist the university as we transition to a new conference. I have tremendous enthusiasm for this opportunity that Ryan Bamford and Javier Reyes have afforded me.”
Martin was named the 23rd head coach in Massachusetts men’s basketball history in March of 2022. Bringing 15 years of head coaching experience to Amherst, Martin previously led two power five programs in South Carolina and Kansas State. He took the Gamecocks to the program’s first ever NCAA Final Four in 2017.
Under Martin, South Carolina broke the school record for wins in a single season with 26 in 2016-17 on the way to the best NCAA Tournament run in program history. Martin received the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year, leading the Gamecocks to their first NCAA Tournament win since 1973 and to the program’s first-ever Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and Final Four.
Martin’s first head coaching opportunity came at Kansas State in 2007-08 and he brought the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament in four of his five seasons. He guided the Wildcats to their first win over rival and No. 2-ranked Kansas since 1983, took the team to its first NCAA Tournament since 1996 and was recognized as the Big 12 Coach of the Year (2010).
In 2019, Martin was introduced into the Naismith Coaches Circle that was created by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to recognize coaches who have impacted their communities, players, other coaches, and society in a positive manner.
