ROCK HILL, S.C. — South Carolina head coach Frank Martin had a leisurely drive on I-77 Thursday morning.
The coach made the short drive to Rock Hill to take part in a joint news conference for the upcoming "No Room For Racism Classic", an eight-team event which will take place at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center from December 10-12.
Martin's team will face Florida State in the final game of event which also features in-state teams South Carolina State and Winthrop.
The neutral-site game with Florida State is part of a challenging non-conference schedule which features a home game with the Georgetown Hoyas along with the annual game with arch-rival Clemson.
“This is the way it should be," Martin said.
"When you’re in a Power 5 league you have to play good teams. If not, your team won’t be prepared to deal with SEC-caliber opposition. It is what it is."
Martin can recall those days when coaches would load up their schedule with games designed to pad win-loss record. But in this day and age when every aspect of a program can be tracked through the various metrics and power rankings, any coach who does not challenge his team will have to answer for that at some point. But Martin has long been aggressive in stacking his schedule with some heavyweights and there are teams on his schedule that may not have the name-recognition of other programs but will provide a stern test for his team.
“We have to schedule a certain way because it’s important to play power teams," he said.
"Even some of the lesser-known name teams we’re playing against, Princeton is a really good basketball team,” Martin said.
"We're playing some powerful opponents. That's the way it should be. It's about playing good opponents and hardening your team and preparing your team so it can be as united and as good as it can be come March."
No Room For Racism Classic Schedule:
December 10: High Point vs. South Carolina State
December 11: Winthrop vs. Carver College
December 12: Clinton College vs. Edward Waters
December 12: South Carolina vs. Florida State