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.
Cedarville posted an 18-10 record in 2013-14 and was 13-3 in the G-MAC. The women were among the G-MAC leaders the entire season and advanced to the league tournament semifinals.
The Lady Jackets ended up 20-10 in their first active NCAA season in 2012-13 and posted a 24-8 mark during its NCAA provisional year in 2011-12. CU captured the NCCAA Midwest Region banner each year, was the 2012 NCCAA runner-up, and also claimed the 2012 Ohio Independent Championship title.
Cedarville made its eighth and final appearance at the 2011 NAIA Division II National Tournament which featured a surprising run to the quarterfinals. The Lady Jackets knocked off perennial powers Saint Francis (Ind.) and Ozarks (Mo.) before losing to unbeaten Davenport (Mich.) to finish the season 24-10.
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. He was named the NCCAA National Coach of the Year.
Martin 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 came 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. He earned his master’s degree in Educational Administration from the University of Dayton in 1982.
Martin coached Southeastern, located just eight miles away in South Charleston, Ohio, 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 ten 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. The Martins have three children, who are all Cedarville graduates: older daughter, Amy Fourman, who is a former Lady Jacket volleyball and basketball player, resides in Worthington, Ohio with her husband, Aaron, and their three children; younger daughter, Kelly Mangin, lives in Fairborn, Ohio with her husband, Bryan, and their two children; and son, Brent, is a former member of the Yellow Jacket golf and tennis teams, resides in Columbus, Ohio.
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The Martin File:
- NCCAA National Champions - 2008
- NAIA Division II National Runner-Up - 2004, 2005
- NCCAA National Runner-Up - 2012
- NAIA Division II Semfinals - 2007
- NAIA Division II Quarterfinals - 2006, 2011
- NAIA Division II Second Round - 2003, 2010
- NAIA Division II First Round - 2009
- NCAA Division II First Round - 2015
- NCCAA National Coach of the Year - 2008
- NCCAA Midwest Region Champions - 2012, 2013
- Great Midwest Athletic Conference Champions - 2015
- American Mideast Conference Champions - 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010
- G-MAC Coach of the Year - 2015
- AMC Coach of the Year - 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010
- Ranked No. 1 in final 2005 and 2006 NAIA Division II national polls
- Ranked No. 17 in 2015 USA TODAY Sports Coaches' Poll
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- 12 NAIA All-Americans
- 18 NCCAA All-Americans
- 1 NAIA National Player of the Year
- 4 NCCAA National Players of the Year
- 1 NCCAA National Tournament MVP
- 1 NAIA Emil S. Liston Award Recipient
- 8 Conference Players of the Year
- 8 NCCAA Midwest Region Players of the Year
- 1 Ohio Independent Championship Player of the Year
- 14 NAIA Scholar-Athletes
- 31 NCCAA Scholar-Athletes
- 31 All-Conference players
- 41 All-NCCAA Midwest Region players
Career Record at Cedarville University:
Overall Conference
W L Pct W L Pct Place
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2001-02 23 10 .697 15 5 .750 4th
2002-03 31 3 .912 17 1 .944 1st
2003-04 35 3 .921 18 0 1.000 1st
2004-05 35 2 .946 18 0 1.000 1st
2005-06 29 4 .879 18 0 1.000 1st
2006-07 27 7 .794 15 3 .833 1st
2007-08 17 14 .548 7 7 .500 tie 4th
2008-09 21 9 .700 12 3 .800 2nd
2009-10 27 6 .818 17 2 .895 1st
2010-11 24 10 .706 12 4 .750 tie 3rd
2011-12 24 8 .750 0 0 .000
2012-13 20 10 .667 5 3 .625 3rd
2013-14 18 10 .643 13 3 .812 2nd
2014-15 27 4 .871 15 1 .938 1st
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Totals 358 100 .782 182 32 .850
