It’s no secret that Missouri men’s basketball coach Cuonzo Martin is familiar with the St. Louis area. Born in the city and raised just across the Mississippi River in East St. Louis, Illinois, he came to Columbia last year attempting to shorten the 120 or so miles of Interstate 70 and bring St. Louis’ top basketball talent to Mizzou Arena.

In the 2016-17 season, the program’s last under coach Kim Anderson, just two players on the roster hailed from the St. Louis area.

With Martin’s second season at the helm fast approaching, his home area’s influence can already be seen on the court. The team now has five active players from the St. Louis area, all of whom are freshmen or sophomores. A sixth, Mario McKinney, committed in September to joining the team for the 2019-20 season.

“I’ve been around the basketball scene for a long time, and you’ve never really heard of the head coach of Mizzou actually being around and having a presence in the city,” Bryan Turner, coach of the men’s basketball team at St. Mary’s High School in St. Louis, said. “You can actually tell that he’s around and knows what’s going on.”

Turner, who has been on the staff at St. Mary’s since 2014, said Martin’s involvement in the St. Louis community is part of what makes him stand out as a recruiter.

“Recently within the last two years, [Martin has] done a lot of satellite camps and camps that basically have been around the YMCA and certain parts of St. Louis that other coaches haven’t really touched base with,” Turner said.

Jay Blossom, who has coached at Webster Groves High School since 1999, also emphasized Martin’s presence in town as a recruiting strength.

“Recruiting is all about relationships,” Blossom said. “I think [Martin is] good at forming them. I know he’s made an effort, I know he’s spoken at a lot of different clinics and fundraiser-type deals in St. Louis. He makes his presence known.”

Getting involved in a community can be a group effort. Martin and assistant coach Chris Hollender have each worked hard to raise awareness of Mizzou, according to Michael Potsou, the coach at Whitfield School in St. Louis.

“[Martin] and coach Hollender have really made the trek several times back and forth between Columbia and St. Louis, and there’s definitely more of a buzz around the program in this area,” Potsou said.

One of Martin’s first tasks as the Tigers’ new coach was to approach Potsou and his four-star prospect, Torrence Watson. Potsou said that shortly after taking the job, Martin reached out to him and Watson, expressing his interest in bringing Watson to Columbia. He soon made an official scholarship offer to the then-junior.

During the summer that followed, Watson committed to Ohio State before de-committing and signing with Missouri in September 2017.

Martin’s personality also stood out to coaches as a strong feature of his recruitment efforts.

“I think one of the main reasons why the [St. Louis] interest [in Mizzou] has risen is not only because of coach Martin’s background and reputation as an excellent coach and human being, but it’s also the little things that he has done to make himself visible in the area,” Potsou said.

That reputation can help Martin make connections with coaches and their programs in addition to the prospects themselves.

“Any time I have any questions about certain things, he’s always given me great advice when it comes to not just basketball, but life,” Turner said. “I think that’s huge for me as a coach to be able to express that to high school players.”

Potsou notes that these qualities can make an impression on prospects’ families as well.

“[Martin is] really able to get the most out of his players,” he said. “I think that’s an attractive thing for a lot of athletes when they’re making that decision and for their families, too, that they’re going to be not only in good hands on the floor, but also looked after by him and the rest of his coaching staff as a human being.”

As Martin seeks to bring St. Louis’ best to Columbia, making long-lasting connections with programs rather than just players can be useful for long-term success.

“He needs to at least have the elite players, every year in every class, at least considering Mizzou,” Turner said. “And even if he doesn’t get those kids, the program and his name is still ringing out there … if you know that the program and the coach came in for that 2019 kid, then it’s a chance that the name is still ringing amongst the underclass.”

Besides local programs such as Missouri, University of Illinois and Saint Louis University, the St. Louis area often sees its top talent recruited by national, big-name programs. Within the past year, five-star prospect Courtney Ramey of Webster Groves signed with Texas and EJ Liddell of Belleville West High School committed to Ohio State. Both were pursued by Martin and his staff.

“You’re not going to win every battle, but you hope that if you do a good enough job, the high school coach and the AAU coaches trust you and appreciate you, and if you lose one kid you’ll maybe come back and get the next kid,” Blossom said.

From a coaching style perspective, Turner points out that Martin’s ability to evolve based on the players he has at his disposal could make him stand out to recruits in another way.

“He seems as like a players’ coach,” Turner said. “You may get some coaches that have a system, and [are] just bent on having the system the way that they want, but I think a lot of times [Martin is] making adjustments to the players that he’s getting, and even some of the players that he’s trying to go out for … I think for prospects around St. Louis, they look at that as their game can possibly translate to a Mizzou-caliber type of basketball.”

_Edited by Adam Cole | acole@themaneater.com_