Earlier this afternoon, Gamecock Scoop reported that the University of South Carolina was moving on from Head Basketball Coach Frank Martin. AD Ray Tanner released a short statement wishing Coach Martin the best but emphasizing, "Our expectation is to compete for Southeastern Conference and national championships," said Tanner. "We have great facilities, a passionate fan base and we provide our student-athletes an outstanding experience at the University of South Carolina. We will hire someone with a winning coaching history, who has the energy, passion, and commitment to excellence in all areas of the student-athlete experience." Now the Gamecocks will join several other SEC schools, including Missouri, LSU, and Florida in a coaching carousel that Gamecock fans hope elevates the program to new heights.

As we covered extensively last week, Frank Martin had an overall record that matched the historical record of South Carolina's basketball program. That is to say that he mostly had mediocre seasons, making only one NCAA Tournament in his 10 seasons with the program. Granted, he made the most of that run, notching the Gamecocks their first-ever Final Four thanks to a magical run with Sindarius Thornwell, P.J. Dozier, Chris Silva, and Duane Notice, all players that saw improvement over their careers under the tutelage of Martin. Martin however failed to capitalize on that run, and the program slipped back to a 69-58 (.543( overall record, even if you leave out an atrocious 6-15 covid year.

Ultimately, it would seem that the expectations he created during the Final Four run, would be the same expectations that left fans and administration dissatisfied with his tenure since. There was some thought he might get one more year, due to seemingly having a good relationship with the nation's number one recruit, GG Jackson, but ultimately all the "maybes" about next year lost out to the realities of the last few. Now Ray Tanner and the Gamecocks will search for someone to take the program to the next level.

It is still very early in this process, so we will continue to update as we get more information; make sure to follow the forum for all the latest. That said, we do have some ideas of names that Ray Tanner is likely to consider and reach out to. It's important to note that in the past, former coach Eddie Fogler and his consulting firm have been used to assist with other searches, but he is already working with Missouri on their own coach search, so it's unlikely he will be as big of a factor in South Carolina's search. Let's take a look at some possible names and they might make sense as the next coach of the Gamecocks.

I'm going to go ahead and get this out of the way, you have to give former Gamecock point guard and assistant coach Mike Boynton a call, but I wouldn't consider him a likely candidate at this time. If something changes on that front, we will let you know.

Niko Medved

Niko Medved is a name that has been on many Gamecock fans' wishlists since the possibility of Frank Martin being fired entered the picture. He is currently coaching Colorado State, which is a 6-seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. He has ties to the state, after having a successful career at Furman before moving up to Colorado State. Colorado State is also not a traditional power, so some of the tactics used to build that program might be replicated at a non-traditional power like South Carolina. All of that said, Medved literally signed a contract extension over the weekend on March 13th. Obviously, that hasn't stopped other coaches from changing their minds in the past, but it's certainly a factor and we can assume the buyout is at its highest currently since the ink isn't even dry yet.

Bob Richey

Speaking of coaches familiar with the state of South Carolina, current Furman head coach Bob Richey could make some sense as a possible candidate. He has had a lot of success so far at Furman with a 111-46 overall record and 63-24 mark in the Southern Conference. He was just one shot away from making the NCAAT this year, but his team is also now done with their season. If this was the direction, we would expect this one to move quickly, but there are questions on Richey's ability to build a program from scratch, given that he inherited a successful program from Medved.

Lamont Paris

Speaking of mid-major candidates, the team that eliminated Furman from the NCAA field is UT-Chatanooga and their head coach Lamont Paris. Paris has some ties to the state and has proven he can build a program. He also spent time coaching as an assistant under Bo Ryan at Wisconsin and was a part of many of their NCAA runs. South Carolina would certainly be a step up for Paris, both financially and competitively, but it's always a risk to test if mid-major success will translate to the SEC.

BJ McKie

Another unproven but interesting name would be Wake Forest assistant BJ McKie. In January 1999, he became the Gamecocks' all-time leading scorer and his son Justin also played at South Carolina during the Final Four run in 2017. You would think the Gamecocks would prefer he had more experience, and perhaps some mid-major head coaching experience, before hiring him for such a big stage, but Ray Tanner has shown he's willing to roll the dice on unproven coaches if they are the right fit for the program, the clearest example being current head football coach Shane Beamer.

There are some other mid-major possibilities like Murray State head coach Matt McMahon and Cleveland State's Dennis Gates and we will let you know if either of those emerges as more serious candidates in the coming days.

It is also possible that this search could take a bit, particularly if Tanner is targeting coaches that are currently still alive in postseason play. As always, Gamecock Scoop will keep you updated through every step of the process. Don't forget to check in on the forum to let us know your wishlist, and get other tidbits throughout each day.