Rick Barnes to Jeremy Pruitt: Tennessee Vols 10 notable 2010s coaching hires

Funny enough, on paper, Cuonzo Martin had fewer accomplishments than Butch Jones. But given all the circumstances surrounding the Tennessee Vols basketball program at the time, this is one hire that Mike Hamilton deserves a pass for.

Now, he doesn’t deserve a pass for mishandling the whole Bruce Pearl fiasco that resulted in Martin being hired to begin with. By that we mean that Hamilton should have challenged any potential NCAA ruling in court and gone to bat heavily for Pearl. Instead, he caved and fired the guy.

But the extenuating circumstances made UT basketball a toxic job. So throwing all that out, this was actually a solid hire. Martin had an extensive track record as a recruiter when he worked as an assistant for the Purdue Boilermakers.

Also, when it came to coaching, Martin’s heavy focus on defense and three-point shooting was a good system to have for a solid college program. He was considered the best leader Gene Keady ever had. And, most importantly, his resume with the Missouri State Bears included back to back 20-plus win seasons and a conference title.

So Martin was a solid hire, and he was solid with the Vols. He was also a guy who could help clean up the program, and he did just that. In addition to cleaning things up, he had two straight 20-plus win seasons and one 19-win season along with a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2014. The hire was a solid hire that worked out fine, although Rick Byrd still would have been a better move here.