Missouri State University's men's basketball kicks off its second year in Conference USA Tuesday night at home. Coach Cuonzo Martin is heading into his third straight year of coaching the Bears. He said he's very excited to start the season.
"I like the team. I like the progress, of course, ready to get started, man, you know, this time of year's always exciting. It seems like the weather slowly starts to change on you," he said, "just really, ready to play some basketball, have some fun doing it and just to see these guys in a live game with fans, get a feel for them because, again, of course you're trying to win every game. But just to see how they play, how they pass the ball, how they share it and all those things."
Coach Martin coached the Bears from 2008 to 2011 before returning in 2024. He said he's learned a lot of things over the past three years, and wisdom is the thing that he will carry over into the new season.
"I think with anything you always want to go back to the attention to detail," he said. "Did you put your team into a position to win? So, I always go back and watch a lot of film. I mean, regardless of what your personnel is did you put them in a position to get a good shot? Did you execute the play down the stretch? All of those things, and that'll never stop. As long as you coach, that will never stop. And so, for me, that is always the teaching part and making sure you put your guys in the best position to win games."
Missouri State is in its second year with Conference USA. Last spring, the team was defeated by Louisiana State in the semifinals. Martin said they're ready to go up against any team.
"You're set for battle, and you're ready. I always say war, and, again, relatively speaking, but just competing, man. I mean, competition's competition," he said. "It doesn't matter who we're playing against, we're competing, and, for me, whatever's in front of me that's the most important game."
Cam Boone, a 6' 10" forward from East St. Louis, Illinois, is a senior this fall. He said he's really excited about what this team has to offer.
"I'm mostly just excited about playing with the new guys," he said. "We're a more athletic, stronger, faster team. I feel as if we have more grit on the court together and just...we came together as a family a lot quicker than last year, and I feel as if that's just going to set if off even better."
Last season, the Bears went through a 7-game losing streak, but Boone said that just made the team work harder. He said they're ready to go.
"It showed me the mistakes that we can't commit to," he said. "Like last year I want to say that once we got to those losing streaks a lot of players took their head out of the game, but this year it shows that you really can't do that. We have to stick with it and just be ready for anything that comes our way. We have the pieces...to do that. We just have to put it together."
Boone said he's better defensively and that he's "just a bigger person on the court" than last year.
