When interviewed to return as Missouri State’s basketball coach, Cuonzo Martin was told the school was exploring the idea of changing conferences.
About a month and a half after Martin accepted the position, Missouri State announced it was leaving the Missouri Valley Conference for Conference USA, beginning with the 2025-26 season.
In what has traditionally been a basketball school, Missouri State has changed with football in mind, with television and bowl revenue being new sources the school did not have before. He will also find additional exposure with more nationally televised football games and the chance to compete in bowl games in the future.
CUSA’s strength as a men’s basketball league has been questioned. It’s not Conference USA that had national championship teams like Louisville and Memphis back in the day. It is a conference that has not been a league with multiple proposals since 2012.
Martin doesn’t see a problem with that.
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“Basketball is basketball,” Martin said. “It’s not like we’re leaving a league where we have four or five teams in the tournament every year. Financially, the numbers say it’s a better change. What if it’s a football change or something? Great. I like watching football I think we can have great Saturdays with football at any time, I’m all for it because I like to have fun and it helps us with recruiting and everything.
Martin said he didn’t adjust how he recruited knowing he was headed to a new league during the second year of his contract. He said that he will always try to get the best players he can and that he will try to find those who will impose his will.
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What could change a little in the future is where Missouri State recruits. He could see the Bears getting into Texas more because there are several Texas teams in CUSA, including Sam Houston and UTEP. The team has already talked about getting more into Texas, among other states, trying to explore places where the state of Missouri will be more recognizable.
“One thing my college coach always said was to expect the unexpected,” Martin said. “He used to say it all the time and we players didn’t understand it. We listened. But as you get older, you understand that you have to expect the unexpected. That’s life. These changes are part of it. At the end of the day, You have 13, 16, 17 guys on your team and every single one of them is still trying to be the best version of themselves every day. That’s all that matters.”
This article originally appeared in the Springfield News-Leader: Cuonzo Martin Welcomes Missouri State Basketball’s Transfer to Conference USA
