Spurs & Feathers: Exclusive Interview With Frank Martin

Aug. 7, 2015

By Brian Hand

S&F: You obviously have a tremendous passion for the game of basketball. What is it about the game that made you want to become a basketball coach?

Basketball is the last sport that I picked up. It’s the sport my grandmother played in Cuba, but it’s the last sport I ever picked up. Once I got around it, it’s the sport I knew I wanted to be a part of. Even when I got my first coaching job it wasn’t like “hey, I like this job.” No, it was my high school coach said, “hey, I need you to do this” and I said “okay” because I wasn’t going to say no to him and here we are 31 years later and it’s worked out pretty good.

I got into coaching to help the guys in my neighborhood. That’s it. That’s all I ever aspired to do. The same way that people in my neighborhood helped me, I got into to coaching to help that next group of guys in our neighborhood. And it went from the helping the guys that were my age group and just a little bit younger to helping them and helping the younger brothers of people in my neighborhood to then the children of the people I grew up with.

That’s still who I am today. When I walk out on the floor, I’m not trying to win a game, I’m still that guy that’s trying to help the guys. I go in their homes and I tell their parents that I’m going to stay in their child’s corner in their journey to be a man. And that’s who I am. I don’t deviate from that.

Full Interview