POCATELLO, Idaho- Idaho State men's basketball coach Joe O'Brien has announced the hiring of Deane Martin as the new assistant coach, replacing Geoff Alexander who accepted a job as an assistant at Eastern Illinois.
“Deane's diverse background in college and professional coaching will add a new perspective to our basketball program,” O'Brien said. “Our relationship goes back 26 years. I have followed his career from a JUCO assistant coach, to assistant coach at UNLV and St. Louis University, as a professional head coach, and recently for two seasons in the NBA D- League. Obviously, I am very excited to have Deane here and look forward to working with him, and him working with our players.”
The relationship between the two coaches started when O'Brien was an assistant at Central Missouri State where he coached Martin for two years.
Martin spent 2010 as the head coach of Potros Itson, a professional team in Mexico. The team was a part of the top professional league in the country.
Martin has also spent time coaching in the NBA Development League. He spent the 2008-09 year as an assistant coach and assistant general manager with the Bakersfield Jam and in 2007-08 he assisted the Dakota Wizards to the Central Division Championship.
From 2001-2004 he served as an assistant coach at UNLV where he was the recruiting coordinator and assisted practice planning, scouting and coaching. During his time in Las Vegas he coached NBA lottery pick Marcus Banks. Along with Banks, Martin played a significant role in recruiting the Midwest and Northern California areas.
“This is a good opportunity for me,” Martin said. “I have been out of college for a while doing the pro thing and I told Joe that if something became available that I would be willing to take it. I have always wanted to hook on with him before but the timing hadn't been good. I look forward to recruiting and teaching again.”
Martin was the Associate Head Coach at Tennessee-Martin from 1999-2001 and from 1997-99 he was an assistant at St. Louis University. While at UT-Martin, he helped recruit a class that turned in the first winning season in the school's 10-year history at the Division I level.
At Saint Louis University he served on coach Charlie Spoonhour's staff for two seasons (1997-99) and helped tutor a team that defeated Massachusetts in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament before losing to eventual national champion Kentucky in the second round.
Spoonhour added Martin to his Billikens staff after Martin had spent four seasons as an assistant at his alma mater Central Missouri.
A native of Mercer, Mo., a town of about 400, Martin earned unanimous first team all-state honors at North Mercer High School.
He played two seasons at Trenton (Mo.) Junior College before transferring to Central Missouri, where he graduated with a degree in physical education in 1987.
Martin began his coaching career at Neosho County (Kan.) Community College, in 1998-89, then spent 1989-92 at Cowley County Community College, in Arkansas City, Kan. Cowley won the Jaykawk Conference title in each of Martin's three seasons and was known for a pesky match-up zone that kept opponents off balance.
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