The 2016 Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Award recognized Kirk Martin, head women’s basketball coach at Cedarville University, who was honored yesterday morning, April 3, during the FCA/Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Breakfast at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association convention in Indianapolis.
Named for the late North Carolina State coaching icon Kay Yow, the award is presented annually by FCA to honor a basketball coach who has exemplified biblical principles over the course of his or her career. The late Kay Yow, who passed away from breast cancer in 2009, was presented with the inaugural award at the 2008 Women’s Final Four in Tampa.
Cedarville's Kirk Martin with 2011 Kay Yow recipient Sue Ramsey and FCA National Director of Events Donna Noonan.
Kirk Martin has been the head women’s basketball coach at Cedarville University since the 2001-02 season. After building the Lady Jackets into one of the top NAIA programs in the country, he has guided them to a successful transition in NCAA Division II. Martin’s teams have averaged 25.6 wins per season during his tenure. CU has amassed one NCCAA title, two NAIA Division II national runner-up finishes and seven conference championships.
Prior to Martin’s arrival, the Lady Jackets had won 20 games in a season twice. He has accomplished the feat 12 times, including back-to-back 35-win campaigns in 2004 and 2005. Cedarville posted an impressive 27-4 mark in 2014-15 and earned the program’s first-ever bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. The Lady Jackets, who won the G-MAC regular season (15-1) and tournament titles, were ranked as high as 17th in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches’ Poll.
Martin guided Cedarville to five straight NAIA national tournament appearances from 2003 through 2007 including back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2004 and 2005. The Jackets ended up with a 17-8 record at the event with a semifinals achievement in 2007, quarterfinals efforts in 2006 and 2011, and a pair of second round showings.
Martin’s club owned American Mideast Conference titles from 2003 through 2007 assembling an 86-4 record during that timespan. CU ran off three straight undefeated league campaigns in the AMC South Division from 2004 through 2006 which included a conference-record 72-game winning streak.
Martin was able to lead a young Lady Jacket squad to a strong finish and the NCCAA national title in 2008, also named NCCAA National Coach of the Year. He took over the coaching reigns at his alma mater in 2001-02 and promptly guided Cedarville to a 23-10 record—at the time a school record for the most wins in a single season. The Jackets posted a 15-5 mark to finish fourth in the 19-team AMC. They were the only league school to beat the top three teams in the standings and all three were ranked in the NAIA Division II Top 25.
Martin moved to Cedarville after developing Southeastern High School into one of Ohio’s elite Division IV girls’ basketball programs. He brought with him an impressive list of credentials produced at a school where he was employed since graduating from Cedarville College in 1976.
Martin coached Southeastern to a 297-34 record for a .897 winning percentage during a coaching career that spanned 1986-97 and 1999-2001. He led the Trojans to the Ohio Division IV state championship in 1996, one state runner-up finish, and to 11 Kenton Trace Conference championships, including 10 straight. Southeastern assembled a 162-game KTC winning streak, won all 11 district title games they ever played in, and advanced to the Division IV Sweet 16 in 11 of his last 12 years.
Martin never had a losing season at Southeastern and earned numerous honors for his team’s accomplishments. He was tabbed state Coach of the Year in 1989, was twice named Southwest District Coach of the Year, was a four-time District 9 Coach of the Year, and was a six-time Clark County Coach of the Year. He was inducted into the Cedarville University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998 for his coaching accomplishments.
Kirk and his wife, Vicki, reside in Springfield, Ohio. The Martins have three children, who are all Cedarville graduates: Amy Fourman, a former Lady Jacket volleyball and basketball player, Kelly Mangin, and son, Brent, a former member of the Yellow Jacket golf and tennis teams. Five grandchildren complete the family.
Past winners of the FCA Kay Yow Heart of a Coach Award include:
- 2008: Kay Yow, North Carolina State
- 2009: Jane Albright, Nevada
- 2010: Nancy Wilson, College of Charleston
- 2011: Sue Ramsey, Ashland
- 2012: Deb Patterson, Kansas State
- 2013: Sue Semrau, Florida State
- 2014: Kristy Curry, Alabama
- 2015: Matt Bollant, Illinois
Photos courtesy of Donna Noonan