The Kansas St. Wildcats recently lost their head coach, Frank Martin, to conference rivals the South Carolina Gamecocks. There were many rumors swirling about why Martin chose to leave the school. One of the most recent reports indicated that there may have been irreconcilable differences between Martin and school athletic director John Currie. While there are indications the two had butted heads in the past, a report suggested that the final straw may have been Currie's handling of a situation involving Jamar Samuels being held out of a game.
On Tuesday, Currie and school president Dr. Kirk Schulz commented on Martin's departure, according to the official Kansas State athletics website. Here is what Schulz had to say regarding the Samuels situation:
One of the things that social media that has been out there over the last three or four days has really focused around John's and the Universities handling of the Jamar Samuels situation. We handled that in a completely appropriate fashion. I had several people write to me and say that if I wanted to show support for your coach, you should have played a player that you knew was ineligible. We are simply not going to do that. That is not the way Kansas State athletics and the University operates. While I completely appreciate Coach Martin's passion at that time, if I am head men's coach I would want the best players out there. At the same time it is up to the President of the University and the Athletics Director working with our coaching staff to be sure that we maintain complete academic integrity. I think that it was handled really the way that we need to.
Schulz and Currie had nothing but praise for Martin and wished him the best of luck in his future endeavors.
For more updates and news regarding the Frank Martin situation, keep checking this StoryStream. For more on the Kansas State Wildcats basketball program, check out Bring On The Cats.
