Martin was rumored to be in the running for the position for some time, along with other former St. Ray’s alumni, Gary DeCesare; and the current Ravens coach Oliver Antigua.
Those rumors were proven true during a press conference at Marist where Tim Murray, the school’s athletic director, officially named Martin as the sixth Division I coach in the school’s history.
“I am pleased to welcome Chuck and his family to Marist College,” Murray said. “Chuck has worked hard over the past 15 years coaching and building strong relationships in the basketball community.”
This will be Martin’s first head coaching job.
The newest addition to the Poughkeepsie school comes by way of the University of Memphis where Martin had his greatest success as an assistant coach helping lead the team to the 2007/08 national championship game, setting a single-season Division I record for the most victories with 38.
The hard work did not go unnoticed.
“Tim Murray and the search committee were convinced that Chuck Martin would embrace the Marist values and embrace the highest academic standards of the college,” said president Dr. Dennis Murray, of Martin, whose contract runs until 2013/14.
Martin knows his basketball, first as a star athlete for St. Raymond’s during a three-year run that earned him induction into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1998, and then leading Champlain Junior College in Vermont to two NJCAA tournaments, as the team’s captain. Martin would play for two seasons at Monmouth University, as a point guard, averaging 7.1 points per game, before graduating in 1993.
The Bronx basketball star would move on as a director for the Eastern Invitational Basketball Camp, while serving as an assistant coach for both St. Raymond’s and LaSalle Academy.
Martin moved on to the college level in time for the 1999-2000 season, serving as an assistant at Manhattan College, before moving to work under James Flint, as assistant coach for the University of Massachusetts in 2000/01. The team reached the Atlantic-10 tournament championship game.
When Flint moved to Drexel University, Martin followed, working for three years with the school, two of which saw the Dragons receive NIT playoff berths.
Martin then come back to New York, as an assistant coach for St. John’s University, where he remained from 2004-06, helping to upgrade the team’s talent, which enabled the Red Storm to beat two nationally ranked powerhouses – then undefeated Pittsburgh and Louisville – within a span of five days in January 2006.
Martin is looking forward to getting his new career underway.
“My family and I are extremely happy to be a part of the Marist community,” Martin said.
