Frank Martin, South Carolina Agree to New Contract: Latest Details and Reaction

After leading South Carolina's basketball program to the most regular-season wins in program history, head coach Frank Martin was rewarded with a contract extension Friday.   

Per GamecocksOnline.com, South Carolina's board of trustees approved the extension for Martin that will keep him in Columbia through 2022. 

Per John Del Bianco of 247Sports, Martin's extension will include a salary escalator of $50,000 per season:

South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner said in a statement included in the Gamecocks' release that Martin's leadership on and off the court made extending him an easy decision:

"

During Frank’s tenure, our basketball team has had tremendous growth, not only on the court, but also in the classroom. Frank is passionate about academics and community outreach, and that translates to his team as well. Our program has taken tremendous strides under Frank, and is in position to be an NCAA Tournament team. Frank is building a winning culture and we are very excited to have him as the leader of our men’s basketball program.

"

After a successful five-year stint at Kansas State in which he led the Wildcats to four NCAA tournament appearances, Martin took over at South Carolina before the 2012-13 season. 

The Gamecocks had fallen on hard times under previous head coach Darrin Horn, bottoming out with a 10-21 record in his final season. Martin has slowly brought the program back to prominence, leading it to 25 wins this year for the first time since 1970. 

Even though South Carolina missed out on the NCAA tournament this year, despite originally being told by NCAA officials it had been invited, Martin has turned the program into one of the rising groups in the SEC. 

There is still that final tournament hurdle to get over, but Martin's ability to find and develop talent for the Gamecocks will make that a reality soon.