Missouri State basketball coach Cuonzo Martin’s bold preseason statement didn’t pan out

The honeymoon period under Missouri State basketball coach Cuonzo Martin was still ongoing when his team was picked to finish 11th in the Missouri Valley Conference heading into 2024-25.

Those with maroon in their hearts thought there was no way a team coached by Martin, who returned after leading the program to its lone regular-season championship 13 years before, would finish in second-to-last place. He was brought back to save the program, they thought, and elevate the coaching position to a place it hadn’t been since he cut down the nets in front of the largest crowd in Great Southern Bank Arena history.

The soft-spoken Martin, one to speak of life lessons and values that go beyond the hardwood, believed his team was capable of better, too. He unleashed a quote that no one forgot throughout the Bears’ final season as a Valley member.

“If we have the 11th best team in the Missouri Valley Conference, then this will be the best season in Missouri Valley Conference history,” Martin said during the team’s annual media day.

The Bears didn’t finish 11th, but they finished in 12th, and it wasn’t the best season in the Valley’s history. Although the team suffered much heartbreak and close losses, it simply wasn’t good enough to compete for a championship.

“I certainly thought we’d be higher,” Martin said ahead of the team’s final Arch Madness appearance.

Barring an unforeseen run at this week’s conference tournament in St. Louis, Missouri State (9-22, 2-18 MVC) will finish its time in the Missouri Valley Conference with perhaps the worst season in the program’s history.

If the Bears don’t win Thursday’s 2:30 p.m. game at the Enterprise Center against fifth-ranked Illinois State, it will be the first time the Bears didn’t crack 10 total wins since becoming a Division I program. If they don’t advance to Saturday’s MVC semifinals by beating the Redbirds and fourth-seeded Belmont, they will finish with the program’s fewest wins in a single season.

“I certainly thought we’d be better, but I’m not ashamed or disappointed in anything,” Martin said. “We scratched and clawed, and our guys stayed steady through the storm. It’s a test of their resiliency as a team. Nobody’s going to make excuses for wins and losses.”

The Bears’ effort never wavered, winning just two games between January and February, when other Missouri State teams of the recent past might have. Even after a late-season loss to Belmont, his players spoke of their belief that they could still make a run to the NCAA Tournament. They turned around and almost ruined league champion Drake’s potential at-large bid, only to lose to it again in overtime.

Such heartbreaks were common for the Bears throughout the year. Of their 22 losses, only four weren’t competitive in the second half. Missouri State should have won a handful of games but failed to close out. The Bears seemed close but still somehow far away.

“When you turn on the TV, you take the records off, you look at them and say ‘Man, that’s the bottom team in the Valley? Wow,’” Martin said. “You look at the fight and grit of that team that keeps coming back with guys down, guys injured, and guys out, whatever the case may be, we just keep pushing and keep getting better.”

The Bears have one guaranteed game remaining before what is shaping up to be another offseason with drastic roster changes. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bears near double-digit departures and additions before they tip off their first season in Conference USA.

The 2024-25 season will be remembered as a disappointment, likely joining the long line of Bears teams that haven’t qualified for the NCAA Tournament since 1999, but it can also be applauded for never quitting, which is a staple of a Martin-led program.

Heading into next year, the standard will have to be higher, and more will be demanded.