Report: Missouri makes decision on head coach on Cuonzo Martin

According to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, the Missouri Tigers have “parted ways” with head coach Cuonzo Martin after five seasons. Missouri ended their season on Thursday with an eight-point loss to LSU in the SEC Tournament, finishing the year with a losing record.

Martin decided to leave California to accept the Missouri job back before the 2017 season. Since then, the Tigers have only made two NCAA Tournaments and won neither of their Round of 64 matchups. Martin saw his two appearances in the big dance as an eight and nine-seed.

Missouri finished the year with a 12-21 record this season, finishing 12th in the SEC. Even before getting into conference play, the Tigers struggled, having bad losses to Missouri-Kansas City alongside a blowout loss to old school Big 12 rival, Kansas.

Now, Missouri will have to conduct a coaching search to find their next head coach. There are already a few candidates lined up for the Tigers, with San Francisco’s Todd Golden being one of the biggest names.

Missouri Tigers atheltic director explain firing of Martin

On Friday night, the Missouri Tigers Director of Athletics Desiree Reed-Francois formally announced in a statement that Cuonzo Martin will not return as their head basketball coach for the 2022-2023 season. In the statement, she wished the former Missouri head coach and his family well.

“Coach Martin represented the University with an extremely high level of class and dignity”, Reed-Francois said. “He is a man of high character whom I have the upmost respect for, and we are grateful for his contributions to our program, on and off the floor. He is not only a coach, but is a teacher, and he has impacted the lives of every student-athlete who came through the program over the last five years. We wish him, Roberta, and their family nothing but the best in the future.” Martin had just wrapped up his fifth year as the head man of the Tigers, finishing with an overall record of 78-77. His career record currently sits at 264-198.

This past season, the Missouri Tigers finished 12-21 during the regular season, including 5-13 in SEC play. The team made the NCAA Tournament twice during his tenure in Columbia, during the 2017-2018 season and the 2020-2021 season.

Now, the search begins for Missouri to find a new head coach to lead their basketball program. According to the release, the Tigers will be utilizing the services of former college basketball coach and now college basketball coach search consultant, Eddie Fogler. He has 15 years of college basketball coaching experience. including at Wichita State, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina.

On3’s Wade Peery contributed to this report