Kansas State Introduces Martin As Coach

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) _ Frank Martin was introduced as the successor to Bob Huggins on Monday, a move that Kansas State hopes will bring a quick end to an embarrassing situation. <br/><br/>Athletic director

Monday, April 9th 2007, 1:02 pm

By: News On 6

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) _ Frank Martin was introduced as the successor to Bob Huggins on Monday, a move that Kansas State hopes will bring a quick end to an embarrassing situation.

Athletic director Tim Weiser referred to the past few days as ``very challenging'' and said the departure of Huggins had almost been a ``perfect storm.''

Huggins left abruptly last week after only one season to take the head coaching job at his alma mater, West Virginia.

Martin, 41, spent the past season as Huggins' top assistant and recruiting coordinator, helping turn around a program that had been dismal for years. The Wildcats went 23-12, reached the NIT and had their best conference finish since the start of the Big 12.

But Martin has never been a Division I head coach and his only other experience leading a program came to an embarrassing end at Miami (Fla.) Senior High, where he was fired and the school was stripped of a state championship because of recruiting violations.

He went on to become an assistant at Northeastern from 2000-04 before joining Huggins at Cincinnati. When Huggins was forced out by university president Nancy Zimpher in 2005, Martin stayed on as an assistant to new coach Andy Kennedy.