After Missouri parted ways with Cuonzo Martin on Friday, athletics director Desiree Reed-Francois is in search of a new basketball coach. Martin's replacement will take over a program that made the NCAA Tournament twice during his tenure, in 2018 and 2021, but went just 12-21 a season ago.
A list of potential replacements for Martin can be found within our most recent hot board. Each day, we'll go a little bit more in depth to break down candidates in whom Missouri has expressed interest.
Today, we take a look at one of the hottest mid-major coaches in the country, both on the coaching carousel and the court. Matt McMahon's Murray State team has won 20 games in a row to bring its record to 30-2 on the season. The dream season has landed the Racers a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament (they'll face San Francisco on Thursday) and landed McMahon on the radar of several larger schools looking for new coaches. Missouri is among them. Sources have indicated to PowerMizzou that McMahon is likely to be a candidate to replace Martin.
Matt McMahon
Age: 43
Current position: Murray State head coach (seventh season)
Past head coaching experience: none
Salary: $500,000
Buyout: $500,000
Murray State has long been a force in the Ohio Valley Conference, and that hasn't changed during McMahon's seven years at the helm of the program. McMahon took over for Steve Prohm when Prohm left for Iowa State following the 2014-15 season. In the time since, he has guided the Racers to four OVC regular-season titles, three NCAA Tournament appearances and two 30-win seasons.
McMahon played his college basketball at Appalachian State from 1996-2000. He got his coaching start there, as well, spending one season as a graduate assistant. He then made the move to Tennessee, where he also spent two seasons as a GA.
McMahon returned to Appalachian State as an assistant coach in 2002 and would spend eight seasons there as an assistant to Houston Fancher and Buzz Peterson. When Peterson got hired to be the head coach at UNC-Wilmington in 2010, he brought McMahon along as an assistant. After one season there, McMahon jumped to Murray State, where he was an assistant under Prohm.
McMahon spent four seasons as an assistant for the Racers. He actually left briefly in 2015, accepting an offer to be the associate head coach at Louisiana Tech. But two weeks later, Prohm got hired by Iowa State and Murray State brought McMahon back to replace him as head coach.
Murray State hovered around .500 for McMahon's first two seasons at the helm, but broke through in 2017-18, thanks in large part to an unheralded point guard from South Carolina named Ja Morant. In Morant's first college season, Murray State went 26-6 overall and 16-2 in the OVC, earning a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Racers lost to West Virginia in the first round. But the following season, Morant averaged 24.5 points and 10.0 assists per game and Murray State once again earned a tournament berth. A No. 12 seed again, they upset Marquette in the first round before falling to Florida State.
Even without Morant, Murray State went 23-9 and won the OVC regular season again in 2018-19, but they fell to Belmont in the conference tournament. After a down season a year ago, the Racers have rebounded in a major way this year. They haven't lost since Dec. 22. Murray State is balanced, ranking 35th nationally in offensive efficiency and 40th in defense. It marks the third time under McMahon that the team ranks among the top 100 in both categories.
Despite spending virtually his entire coaching career at mid-major programs, McMahon has had a hand in recruiting and coaching several NBA players. The headliner, of course, is Morant, who was the second overall pick in the 2019 draft and is averaging 27.5 points and 6.7 assists per game for the Memphis Grizzlies this season. McMahon was also on the Murray State staff when Isaiah Canaan and Cameron Payne played for the Racers. Canaan spent six seasons in the NBA and Payne currently averages 11.2 points per game for the Phoenix Suns.
The one question about McMahon is how much of his success is attributable to the Murray State program. The Racers have long been a force in the OVC, regardless of their coach. Each of the team's past seven coaches has won at least one league title and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Of those, only Mark Gottfried, Mick Cronin and Billy Kennedy went on to win more than 55 percent of his games at his next job.
Previous Candidate Profiles:
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