"There's a 7-point play in that Duke bag": When UMass coach Frank Martin spoke on monumental win vs Coach K during his time with South Carolina

Frank Martin coached South Carolina for 10 seasons before joining UMass in 2022. One of his most iconic wins with the Gamecocks was against Mike Krzyzewski, aka "Coach K's," Duke in March Madness in 2017.

No. 7-seeded South Carolina beat No. 2-seeded Duke 88-81 in the second round. A few days after his most famed win, Martin appeared on "The Dan Patrick Show" to discuss his emotions during and after getting the better of Coach K on one of the biggest stages of college basketball.

"My staff, the players in that locker room that we've stunk," Martin said on March 23, 2017 (01:20). "We were no good. We were no good, not just as a team, but as a program; we were bad. And those kids signed up and they came on board, and all of a sudden, you know, it all hit me when I saw Coach K motion to his players, 'Don't foul.' Everyone thinks that you're up seven with 20 seconds to go and the game's over. No, I'm worried about there's a 7-point play somewhere in that Duke bag that's going to tie the game.

"But when I saw him wave his players off, that's when it hit me. I kind of I kind of stood there and I was like, 'These kids actually got this done, this is unbelievable.'"

After beating the five-time national championship coach, Martin's South Carolina made a historic run to the Final Four. The Gamecocks lost to Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament semifinal, which was, incidentally, the only March Madness run the team had under Martin.

Frank Martin received a handwritten letter from Coach K while working as a high school coach in 1998

Former South Carolina HC Frank Martin - Source: Imagn

Frank Martin also shared a special story about Coach K from when he was out of a job after being let go by Miami Senior High in 1998. Martin recalled how the then-Duke coach was the only one who responded to him with a handwritten letter when he had sent several applications to collegiate coaches across the country looking for work.

"There's another little twist to all that," Martin said (2:10). "In 1998, I went through a situation as a high school coach where I lost my coaching job. I kept my teaching job, but I lost my coaching job.

"So, that's the first time in my life that I said let me try and get into college, and I wrote 120 to 140 letters to coaches around the country. One guy sent me a handwritten note, back it was Coach K, and I didn't even know him back then. He knew who I was because I was part of a very successful high school team. But all that kind of all lumped into that one moment there."

Since Martin took charge of UMass in 2022, he has compiled a 47-47 record across the past three seasons. However, he has yet to lead the Minutemen to March Madness.