When Frank Martin found out the NCAA Tournament was canceled, one of his first thoughts after getting his team squared away was on the people he shares a facility with.

As he got ready to head back from Nashville and he’s coordinating his team, he began to think about the chance Dawn Staley’s won’t get this March.

On the Dan Le Batard with Stugotz radio show, he got to explain why he’s so disappointed for them.

“They have the number one team in the country. I see it. We’re extremely close as staffs and we’re friends” Martin said on his radio spot. “I see how hard they work and where they’re at. To know what was in front of them—the opportunity to be the overall number one seed—then all of a sudden they don’t get the ability to do that.”

Also see: More from basketball, recruiting

The women’s basketball team was winners of 26 straight games and coming off an SEC Tournament championship where they cruised to their fifth conference title in six years.

They were lined up to be the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament with arguably the best shot of any team to be cutting down the nets in New Orleans at the Final Four.

The NCAA canceled the tournament Thursday trying to limit the spread of the Coronavirus, meaning the Gamecocks won’t get a chance to vie for their second national championship in program history.

Martin said he hurts for Staley and her program along with longtime friend Anthony Grant, the head coach of the Dayton Flyers, for not being able to compete in the postseason.

“It breaks my heart,” Martin said. “I know what they’re about.”

The Gamecocks saw their season prematurely end with the SEC and NCAA’s decisions to cancel the conference tournament and all subsequent postseason events like the NCAA Tournament and NIT.

The decision ends the careers of seniors Maik Kotsar and Micaiah Henry, and Martin said he’d like to see those seniors get an extra year of eligibility.

Also see: The latest from football

“It’s an unknown. When we’re dealing with an unknown, no one has the right answer. What I believe is everyone needs to take a step back, take a deep breath and realize some folks’ careers, student athletes that is, were ended prematurely,” he told Le Batard. “That’s whether they were in the conference tournaments or baseball players or track athletes. We have to figure out a way to give those seniors an opportunity of competing one more time. I know there are conversations about that right now. Will it happen? I don’t know.”

If Kotsar and Henry both opt to come back, the Gamecocks would be two players over the 13 scholarship limit with signees Patrick Iriel and Ja’Von Benson set to enroll this summer.

“We have 13 scholarships. We have two seniors and signed two players," he said. "Next year, allow us to live with 15 scholarships and give those two seniors the opportunity, if they choose to, come back and compete one more time.”