Frank Martin addresses double standard, Josh Gray injury

Frank Martin expressed a lot of frustration after a road loss against Auburn, but did have positive thoughts about the return of center Josh Gray after an injury held him out in recent weeks. Despite showing his appreciation for the player, the coach remained on edge about other issues.

During the postgame press conference, Frank Martin explained why Josh Gray did not play until Saturday and expressed frustration about the way people treat him as a coach.

“I’m the only coach in America that, when a good player gets hurt, nobody ever mentions it,” said Martin. “It’s like I’m supposed to snap my fingers and have a new guy come in there. Losing him was a big loss for our team. The cast came off after our last game, so now without a cast on his hand he can actually run around. Think about this, if you’ve got a cast on your hand, can you imagine if you fall down and you put your hand to break your fall? That cast ain’t gonna give. Now you snap your forearm. Now you’ve gotta problem.

“It’s a little irresponsible of me to play somebody with a cast. At least that’s the way I think. And then you can’t catch the ball. So having him back was good and he gave us a presence at the rim. We need him to play better offensively but he’s a good player, and he’s a freshman, and I’m excited for what he’s going to become as a player for us.”

Josh Gray joined LSU in the 2020 recruiting class as an unranked prospect in the On3 Consensus rankings and transferred to play for Frank Martin this season. Although Martin references him as a freshman, he is officially listed as a sophomore by South Carolina.

Frank Martin blasts player

South Carolina forward Wildens Leveque started Saturday’s 82-71 loss against Auburn but played just two minutes overall before sitting the remainder of the game on the bench. After the final whistle, head coach Frank Martin was asked whether an injury kept the player out or a coach’s decision.

“Watching him play has hurt my eyes,” said Martin. “So you can say the injury is my eyesight.”

Immediately after the answer, South Carolina ended the press conference feed.

Wildens Leveque is a junior who has played three seasons under Frank Martin. He was averaging more than 10 points per game at one point this season but has only scored in double digits once over the past 16 games. Since scoring 16 points against Kentucky on Feb. 8, he has not scored more than six points in a game, including three scoreless outings.