Missouri Tigers Basketball: Coaching Offer Made To Cuonzo Martin

The Missouri Tigers basketball team is hoping to fill their coaching vacancy quickly. The team has reportedly offered California coach Cuonzo Martin a contract.

In the wake of firing Kim Anderson as head basketball coach, the Missouri Tigers aren’t wasting any time in moving on. The school has reportedly offered Cuonzo Martin, head coach of the Cal Golden Bears, a contract. This would be a huge coup for Mizzou as Martin is one of the hotter names on the NCAA coaching market.

The reported offer to Cuonzo Martin would be a five year deal worth $3.5 million per year. That is no small chunk of change, and represents the seriousness that Mizzou is putting into their search. This deal would actually make Martin the sixth highest paid men’s basketball coach in the country. Only John Calipari of Kentucky would be paid more in the SEC.

Of course, there are other contenders for Cuonzo Martin’s services. Illinois is said to be very interested in hiring Martin. There will certainly be other offers rolling in as time goes by. In the meantime, Martin is still under contract with Cal.

The Missouri Tigers could definitely use a big move in the coaching arena to help bolster the program. Right now the basketball team is all kinds of dysfunctional after being a pretty solid team for some years. The Kim Anderson era set the Tigers back a ways, and they need to rebound.

Next: Missouri Tigers: Candidates To Replace Kim Anderson

If the Missouri Tigers can sign Cuonzo Martin on to coach, they should be able to compete relatively quickly in the SEC. While there are some powerful programs in the conference, there aren’t many that are consistently good from year to year. Mizzou could jump up the board and earn a prevalent spot in basketball with a strong hiring like Martin.