UPDATED: MSU names Martin as basketball coach

Martin replaces Barry Hinson, who was fired March 9 after nine seasons.

The school’s Board of Governors formally hired Martin Wednesday morning, and he was later introduced at a news conference.

Martin, the only candidate to tour campus and one of six interviewed, spent the last eight years as an assistant coach at Purdue University in Indiana. He was promoted to associate head coach in September 2007. Before that, the 36-year-old native of East St. Louis, Ill., was a star basketball player at Purdue and played 1995–1998 for professional teams in the National Basketball Association, Continental Basketball Association and Europe.

Martin begins April 1 as the school’s 16th head coach. He’ll take over in time for the basketball program’s 100th anniversary and its move into the $67 million JQH Arena.

His compensation package will be about $300,000 – about $100,000 more than Hinson’s package – with the opportunity to earn performance incentives. His base salary from the school is $140,000; he’ll receive $70,000 from radio and television revenue, and the remainder of that package will come from the MSU Foundation.

Martin said he didn’t sleep soundly Tuesday night, because he was so excited about his new job.

“For me this is truly a blessing to be part of this program, and I plan on being here for the next 10, 15, 20 years,” Martin said at the news conference. “I mean that when I say, this is not a pit stop for me.”