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Veteran savvy: Longtime hoops coach Martin finds fit at JPII
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
In a coaching career that has already covered roughly 500 miles of Texas soil over the past 38 years, Mike Martin is giving it a go in the Metroplex.
And when factoring in the situation on and off the court, the stars have aligned to where the veteran head coach will helm the John Paul II girls basketball team.
"It's a change going from a public to private school," Martin said. "It was something I had been thinking about and after visiting with the folks from John Paul, it seemed like a great fit. Their academics are very stringent and it just seems like a great school. Being associated with that was a big deal for me."
The locale seemed opportune since Martin's wife, Kit, had recently taken a head coaching gig for the basketball program at Mansfield Timberview. Kit previously coached at Barbers Hill, based between Houston and Beaumont -- nearly four hours east of Mike's last coaching post at Cedar Park Vista Ridge.
Coming to the Metroplex will alleviate that distance.
"This was an opportunity for my wife and I," Martin said. "We've been married a couple years and have actually been coaching in two different communities, so this gives us an opportunity -- although it's still a bit of a commute for both of us -- to be in the same place."
Vista Ridge was the latest venture in Martin's lengthy coaching career, one that has spanned no shortage of stateside quadrants.
During his four-year stay with the Lady Rangers, Martin helmed the program to a pair of back-to-back Class 4A regional finals appearances and respective records of 32-6 and 34-3 over the past two seasons.
Martin began his career in the state's northwestern corner, most notably coaching at Sudan, where he captured a pair of state championships and strung together a 63-game winning streak that spanned three seasons and included a 39-0 campaign in 1994-95. From there, Martin made coaching stops at Amarillo, Austin Westlake and as an athletic director in Snyder before arriving at Vista Ridge.
A two-time Texas Sports Writers Coach of the Year and with 18 district titles plus 794 wins to his name, Martin hopes to enjoy similar success with the Lady Cardinals.
"The people at John Paul have been super nice to me," he said, "and I look forward to working with them and trying to keep this program where it's been headed over the past seven or eight years. I think this is a good situation."
Martin will be tasked with keeping the Lady Cardinals at their current level.
The team has made consecutive appearances in the TAPPS 5A State Tournament -- suffering a 62-58 setback in the 2011 championship game to Argyle Liberty Christian.
"I accept those challenges," Martin said. "The last few stops I've been at have also been very successful programs. I've gone into programs with lots of success and still kept them on the right track and I accept this challenge. These are good kids who have been well-coached in the past and I'm looking forward to it."
With the Lady Cardinals suffocating opponent's offenses with air-tight defense and a versatile offensive array, it's unclear as to how different John Paul will look under Martin compared to former coach Katie Hensle, who ended a three-year run with the program in June when she accepted an assistant post at Texas Tech.
Fortunately for Martin, he's got plenty of flexibility in his style.
"My philosophy is that we're going to try to do what gives our kids the best chance to be successful," he said. "I've won with a high-pressure, up-tempo game and I've had success with a bit of a more conservative approach. It depends on your kids; if you have kids who run well then that needs to be part of your game."
Martin emphasized fundamentals and defense as the building blocks and developing offensive skills from there.
Then, it's about towing the program line.
"I always go into this with the idea of making the playoffs as the first goal," Martin said. "I know this is a tough league we're in, so it'll be a challenge for sure. But hopefully we'll be able to be competitive with all those schools, get into the playoffs and go as far as we can."
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