The Boiling Springs administration has made their selection for their open boys’ basketball job by naming former Myrtle Beach coach Craig Martin as the new leader of the Bulldogs program. Martin said that the opportunity to take over the Boiling Springs basketball job was ideal timing for his family as well as being a great opportunity to reunite with a familiar face in the Upstate.
“It was a good time to make the move for my family as I have one kid graduating high school, one kid going into middle school, and one kid going into kindergarten,” said Martin. “There is a great group of leadership at Boiling Springs, including Mr. McQuigg who I worked with at Myrtle Beach, who are eager to put in the work to be successful. The facilities are amazing and you can see the desire to be successful all over the place when you just look around. I’m just excited for the opportunity to get up there and get things started and get things moving in the right direction.” Martin, who takes over for former Boiling Springs basketball coach Curtis Nash, has been the head coach at Myrtle Beach High School since 2009. During his time at Myrtle Beach, Martin has taken his teams to twelve playoff appearances including two trips to the Lower State championship game and a trip to the 4A state championship game in the 2019-2020 season. He has coached over 50 All-Region players and has many former players currently playing at different levels of college basketball. While Martin is happy with the success of his former players, he says it was their hard work that got them there and that he just put them in the right position to succeed. “All of our kids that have gotten a chance at the next level have been guys that have put in the work and done the extra things on their own before and after practice,” said Martin. “In our system we just try to put the kids in the best position to showcase their talents and with that combination those guys have gotten the opportunities to play at the next level. Our attention to detail in practices I believe has helped those guys when they go to the next level and I’m so proud of those guys but one of the biggest things I’ve been proud of is that this past years three of our guys were named team captains of their college teams. I’ve never heard of anything like that before but when I found out those guys weren’t just playing on the college level but were leaders of their college teams it was one of the biggest gifts I could ever receive.” Martin’s teams at Myrtle Beach have been known for having hard-nosed defenses that give great effort and he says that he’s going to bring that same approach to his team’s at Boiling Springs. “We’ve always instilled in our kids that success starts on the defensive end,” said Martin. “We want to be a team that has a team first mentality along with being a tough group that gives great effort while being great communicators on the court. We don’t want teams putting us on the schedule because they think it’s going to be an easy win but instead we want teams knowing that when we’re on the schedule you’re going to have a game that you’ll have tough competition and fight on your hand, whether it’s win or lose, we’re going to be a tough team to face.” He said that as a coach he believes in scheduling a very tough schedule because it prepares his team to be its best when it means the most, when the playoffs arrive. “We’ve had good years and bad years at Myrtle Beach but the one thing we’ve always done every season is that we’ve maximized our potential and gotten the most out of each kid in the program which is our goal,” said Martin. “We’ve played a very demanding schedule as we usually rank in the top five of toughest schedules each year as we’ve played a lot of great teams in holiday tournaments that also included the Beach Ball Classic where we’ve played the number one team in the nation and other great teams each year. Whoever shows up we want our team to get after it each game.” The practice of playing a tough schedule is only going to prepare Martin and his team for the Bulldogs return to Region II-5A next season. He said he’s very familiar with those teams and is looking forward to the opportunity to compete against teams with a history of success as it’s the only way to make your team one of those type programs. “I have nothing but respect for those other guys as we’ve played a few of them over the years during the summers and they’re all well coached groups,” said Martin. “I’m excited for the challenge and the opportunity to get to face off against some of those well-established programs that carry with them a lot of tradition. The way we schedule our non-region games we believe in only scheduling teams that will get us ready for the teams we’ll face in the region and in the playoffs, as we don’t want to face teams that won’t prepare us for those games. If you want your program to be an elite program, you have to play those type of teams and prepare for those type of teams.” While Martin has been a very successful basketball coach, he’s also been very successful in the classroom as a US History teacher, where he also wants the kids to compete to be the best. He says he also loves being in the classroom because it gives his students another view of him than just the basketball coach. “We, as a social studies department at Myrtle Beach, have taken it personal to be the best department in the state and I treat the classroom no different than I do basketball practice,” said Martin. “We want to win and have higher scores in our yearly testing than the other schools around us. I also love the side of teaching that gives students the opportunity to see me more than just a coach but also as a teacher and a father.” He said that he uses some of his US History lessons when it comes to the court as well and he’s big into using famous quotes to motivate. “I’m a quotes guy and lots of times I bring lessons from US History into the locker room and sometimes we take things from the locker room into US History,” said Martin with a laugh. “I like the Teddy Roosevelt quote about stepping out of your comfort zone and not worrying about what your critics have to say about you but knowing that you’ve done everything you can do to be successful. I hear these other coaches talk about going to war when you’re going on the court and I just think ‘No, you’re not going to war’ as the worst thing on a basketball court is you may lose or get hurt but you’re not going to war. You have to have perspective and I think my time as a US History teacher has given me that.” Martin, who is originally from Michigan, will be joined in the Upstate by his wife Kate and their three children: Xavier, Cass, and Sadie. He said that his whole family is looking forward to the move and that they’re a family that will be all-in when it comes to being part of the Bulldogs community. “When you talk about all-in, my family is a group that is all-in as we’re going to be a group that’s bleeding red and black,” said Martin. “We’ll be at all the games and develop those relationships to make sure the kids are successful at both basketball and at life. At the end of the day for me it’s about seeing our kids being successful and eventually becoming great husbands, fathers, and just good people. It’s something that’s very important to both me and to my family. I’m just ready to get started and we’re excited about being a part of the community.” Comments are closed.
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