Frank Martin’s barking and berating has led South Carolina to Final Four

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The bully is in the eye of the beholder.

They used to say the same things about Bobby Knight as a basketball coach, that more important than the intense, barking, at times profane delivery was the message being conveyed.

Which is easier to accept, I suppose, when you’re not the one being berated.

But those who play for Frank Martin are unabashed in their defense of his style, adamant that what those watching at home see does not paint the entire narrative.

“When you’re not in the inner circle and see the blood, sweat and tears that are put into this, the preparation — everyone just sees the yelling and the cussing,” said South Carolina senior guard Duane Notice. “And that’s not what he’s about. He’s about making sure we become better men, first and foremost.

“When you meet a man like that, who has your best interests at heart and doesn’t want anything from you, you’ll run through a wall for him … I wouldn’t want to be coached by anybody else in this business.”

There is no denying Martin’s coaching this season has paid historical dividends for the Gamecocks, who have reached their first Final Four and meet Gonzaga in a national semifinal Saturday at University of Phoenix Stadium.

South Carolina is, if nothing else, a mirror image of its coach’s aggressive nature, one of the better defensive sides nationally that never met a screen it didn’t enjoy fighting through.

It’s the least talented side among four standing, and yet also the toughest.

Wonder why.

Martin arrived in Columbia five years ago, having made a lateral move from Kansas State for a list of reasons that included a rift with his athletic director and his own fears that his browbeat tactics had finally caught up with him and half his scholarship players would transfer if he remained in charge.

Some in Manhattan have dubbed that time The Cult of Frank.

But he has now led South Carolina to its greatest season — we’re talking a program that until this month hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game in 44 years — the only way you would expect from a guy who got his first job at age 12 at a Dairy Queen when his father bailed on the family and began his coaching career overseeing a junior varsity quad while teaching high school math in Miami.

In other words, the Gamecocks work for everything they get.

Much like with Knight back in those Indiana days, you shouldn’t sign to play for Martin without having at least a base knowledge of what is in store when it comes to his temper. It’s one reason Martin requests all recruits watch one of his practices before committing, sort of a preview to what can be a horror flick one minute and a (tough) love story the next.

“You know, what is tough love?” said Martin, 51. “It’s either love or there is no love. Right? If people love you, they tell you the truth. They don’t lie to you. If you love people, that means that you’re honest. That means there’s trust in your relationship, and that means that there’s loyalty in your relationship. All those words are two-way streets. If you get the love, then you deal with the good and the bad the same way because of the commitment that you have to one another.

“If you’re not being honest with your players and you’re not giving them passion, then there is no love. That’s phoniness. If you’re honest with them, they give you their hearts because then they realize you’re trying to help them as people. When you’re trying to help people as people, then you’re being genuine. You’re not being phony about a scoreboard. And that’s what I’ve tried to do my whole life.”

No player defended him more vehemently Friday than Notice, ironic when you consider it was he whom Martin scolded in such a vile and irate manner during a timeout in 2014 that South Carolina suspended its coach for a game.

But as the guard stated, if there were a wall nearby five breakout interview sessions with the South Carolina starters, and Martin asked each to stop answering questions and run through it, you would have heard a lot of concrete cracking in the tombs of University of Phoenix Stadium.

If the bully is indeed in the eye of the beholder, those wearing garnet and black view him in a context most can’t or don’t want to understand.

“He has the same personality every day,” said sophomore guard PJ Dozier. “That’s honestly the great thing about him. You know exactly which Frank Martin you’re going to get. You’ve got to be tough, you’ve got to be tough-minded.

“You definitely have to take it for what he is. You don’t listen to how he’s saying it. You listen to what he’s saying. That’s the key. It’s not easy. It takes some time, because I’m pretty sure no one’s ever been coached like that. Our guys have done a good job adjusting to it, and that’s why we’re here now, because we listened to him.”

Well, he is easy to hear.

Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.