COLUMBIA, S.C. — On the morning of Feb. 15, 2013, Frank Martin heard his cell phone ring. The first-year coach at South Carolina snatched his iPhone and heard his longtime friend, Buzz Williams, on the other line. Martin figured Williams, then the head coach at Marquette, was calling to talk hoops. But Williams had a different conversation in mind.
The night before, Williams had watched Martin's Gamecocks suffer a 64–46 loss to LSU on national television. He saw South Carolina drop to 2–9 in SEC play, after which a dejected Martin compared his players to zombies during his postgame press conference.