Coming off historic runs through the NCAA Tournament, the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees has approved new contracts for head men’s basketball coach Frank Martin and head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, it was announced today.

Martin, who guided the Gamecocks to their first Final Four in program history, had one year added to his deal, extending his contract through the 2022-23 campaign, while Staley, who led the Gamecocks to their first National Championship in women’s basketball, received a four-year extension through the 2024-25 season.

“Not only did Frank Martin and Dawn Staley lead their teams to record-setting seasons, but through their leadership, teaching and development of student-athletes, they have established highly successful all-around college basketball programs,” said Athletics Director Ray Tanner. “I believe that through the core principle of growing the student-athlete experience, Frank and Dawn are set for continued success in their programs for years to come.”

Martin’s team has steadily improved in each of the five years under his direction, advancing to the first Final Four in school history in 2017, while posting a school record 26 wins along the way. Following the record-setting campaign, Martin earned Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year honors. South Carolina tallied 25 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history and the Gamecocks posted double-digit league wins in consecutive seasons (11 in 2016, 12 in 2017) for just the second time in its 26 seasons in the SEC. Under his direction, several Gamecocks have earned postseason accolades, highlighted this season by Sindarius Thornwell’s nod as the SEC Player of the Year and First-Team All-America honors by CBSSports.com. South Carolina advanced to its first NCAA Tournament since 2004 this March, and posted its first Tournament win since 1973 in a 93-73 victory over Marquette. The Gamecocks went on to defeat three of the top four seeds in the East Region – No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Baylor and No. 4 Florida – en route to the school’s first Final Four.

 

 

“Since Frank has been at South Carolina, he has continued building a program that has seen increased success each season,” noted Tanner. “I believe his team’s Final Four run is representative of the foundation that he has used to build our program. Frank’s caring for his student-athletes is something that I think will help sustain his successes here for a long time.”

“I can’t express how grateful I am to know the trust and belief that Dr. Pastides, Ray Tanner and the Board of Trustees have in me, our staff and our program,” said Martin. “My wife, Anya, our children and myself are ecstatic to continue to call Columbia our home. Continuing to build our program and help grow basketball in our state are two things that I’m excited about every day.”

http://www.gamecocksonline.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/042117aab.html