South Carolina Basketball

Despite a disappointing 2020-21 season, South Carolina has given men's head basketball coach Frank Martin a contract extension. 

Per Pete Iacobelli of the Associated Press, Martin's extension was approved by the school's board of trustees and ties him to the Gamecocks through the 2024-25 season. 

Iacobelli did note that Martin's extension doesn't come with a raise, nor will he receive a buyout if the school fires him in the final two years of the deal.

Martin has been at South Carolina for nine seasons since being hired in March 2012. The 55-year-old previously spent five years as head coach at Kansas State, where he led the program to the NCAA tournament four times. 

During his nine-year run with the Gamecocks, Martin has posted two 20-plus-win seasons in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Their one appearance in the NCAA tournament during the 2016-17 season included a run to the Final Four before losing to Gonzaga. 

South Carolina's 6-15 record in 2020-21 was its worst since going 8-21 in 1998-99. It was also the program's first losing season since Martin's second year at the helm in 2013-14. 

The Gamecocks have gone 153-134 overall with Martin as head coach. 

South Carolina men's basketball coach Frank Martin said Friday he's tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time after an initial coronavirus diagnosis in May.

"I'm feeling good now, but this thing kicked my tail this time around," Martin told reporters. "Physically, I feel fine right now, just waiting to get out of isolation and then do all the medical tests that come with the aftercare of this thing. I think it's important that we comprehend that I have dealt with it on two different occasions."

The Gamecocks announced Martin, along with assistant coach Chuck Martin and staff member Doug Edwards, won't travel to Saturday's SEC road game against LSU because of COVID-19 protocols. Bruce Shingler will serve as the team's interim head coach.

This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.

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South Carolina men's basketball coach Frank Martin announced Tuesday he tested positive for COVID-19 on May 8. 

Per The Athletic's Josh Kendall, Martin said he was asymptomatic for the most part aside from feeling fatigued. Upon learning of his positive test, he self-quarantined at his home and was confirmed negative May 23.

Martin said he was preparing for knee replacement surgery and took a COVID-19 test on May 8. Two days later he learned of the results. 

Georgetown men's basketball coach Patrick Ewing announced May 22 he tested positive and was being treated at a local hospital:

His son, Patrick Jr., said three days later the Hall of Famer had returned home and was "getting better."

Cleveland State announced March 14 that Vikings women's basketball coach Chris Kielsmeier tested positive, making him the first coronavirus case at the school.

"It has been a very challenging couple of days," Kielsmeier said in a statement. "I am beginning to feel better and look forward to getting back to 100 percent."

The coronavirus pandemic brought an abrupt end to the 2019-20 college basketball season. The NCAA announced March 12 it was canceling the remainder of its winter sports season and the 2020 spring season as well.

According to the World Health Organization, the United States' nearly 1.8 million cases of COVID-19 are the most of any country in the world. More than 100,000 Americans have died from the disease.

The NCAA reportedly has alleged that South Carolina committed a Level I violation in a Notice of Allegations sent to the school, according to Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated. 

Per that report, the alleged violation is related to the federal investigation into corruption in college basketball:

"The association charged the school with a single Level I violation for [former assistant coach Lamont Evans] allegedly accepting at least $5,865 in bribes in 2015-16 from agent and runner Christian Dawkins. The bribes were in exchange for Evans arranging meetings between Dawkins and former Gamecocks guard P.J. Dozier and his family, in the hopes of swaying them to retain the agency Dawkins was working for, ASM Sports, which was run by Andy Miller."

In June, Evans was sentenced to three months in prison for accepting bribes in a part of the investigation into college basketball recruiting that also implicated a number of former college basketball assistants, former Adidas executive James Gatto, former Adidas and Nike employee Merl Code Jr. and sports agent Christian Dawkins.

Emanuel "Book" Richardson, a former Arizona assistant coach, was also sentenced to three months, while former USC assistant Tony Bland received 100 hours of community service. Former Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person was sentenced to 200 hours of community service. 

Gatto was sentenced to nine months in prison, while Code and Dawkins each received six-month prison sentences. 

Evans pleaded guilty in Jan. 2019 to bribery conspiracy for accepting $22,000 in bribes between 2016-17. Oklahoma State, where Evans also worked as an assistant, received a Notice of Allegations as well in November and is disputing its own alleged Level I violation, per Forde. 

NC State, Kansas, USC and TCU have also received NOAs, while Forde noted that Auburn, Louisville, Arizona, LSU and Alabama are currently under investigation. 

The South Carolina NOA, however, is more "limited" than those other schools have received in the wake of the federal probe, with Forde noting that "there are no allegations of failure to monitor the program, head-coach responsibility or lack of institutional control."

He also noted that the NOA doesn't accuse Dozier of accepting money from Evans or Dawkins, and that his season at the school doesn't appear to be in danger of being vacated. 

Dozier, 23, is in his third NBA season and currently plays for the Denver Nuggets.