Report: Martin returning to Missouri State
MBB: Martin previously coached the Bears from 2008-11
Two years ago, Steve Prohm took an opportunity to return to coach again at Murray State.
Tonight, it appears Cuonzo Martin is ready for his own sequel in Springfield.
Multiple media outlets are reporting Martin has agreed to a five-year contract to become the head coach at Missouri State. Martin previously coached the Bears from 2008-11. In 2010, Martin led Missouri State to a CIT championship. The following year, the Bears went 26-9 and won a Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship. It’s the only Missouri Valley Conference title in program history.
Martin parlayed his success at Missouri State to getting the job at Tennessee in 2011. In his three years in Knoxville, Martin took the Vols to the NIT twice. In 2013-14, he finally got Tennessee back to the NCAA Tournament as they made a trip to the Sweet 16.
After the 2014 season, Martin moved on to California to coach the Bears for three seasons, resulting in one trip to the NCAA Tournament. After 2017, he moved on to Missouri, where he led the Tigers for five seasons. Martin made two trips to the NCAA Tournament with Mizzou, but was fired after the 2021-22 season after going 78-77 in his five seasons in Columbia.
Martin will return to Springfield and take over a Missouri State team that finished 17-16 overall and 8-12 in the Missouri Valley Conference this past season. He will replace Dana Ford who was fired two weeks ago.