Cindy Martin

    Cindy Martin, a proven winner who has already helped lead rebirths for two programs in her young career, is hoping to continue Youngstown State’s turnaround during her second season as the Penguins’ head coach.
    Martin, a passionate, blue-collar worker who describes herself as the most competitive person someone will ever meet, saw her squad improve drastically over the course of her first season in Youngstown. She installed her up-tempo, aggressive style of play; emphasized pressure on defense; and she implemented her Three C’s to success: classroom, community and court. Most importantly, in the hardwood classroom in Beeghly Center, she was able to teach a young group of student-athletes to play the collegiate game hard for what promises to be an exciting future in Penguin Country.
    Martin certainly has the resumé to orchestrate YSU’s rebirth. She has been part of rebuilding processes at West Virginia University and, most recently, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). She accumulated an overall record of 70-23 and a .753 winning percentage at IUP and helped West Virginia to two postseason berths as the Mountaineers’ top assistant and recruiting coordinator.
    The team showed signs of the program Martin intends to create, especially down the home stretch last season. At the pinnacle of last season’s development, YSU posted an emotional win over Valparaiso - a team it lost to by 43 early in the year - on senior night.
    Although Martin’s first squad at YSU had five active seniors, there was a definite feeling of the future on the floor. All three of Martin’s recruits, all of which signed after May 1, averaged more than 22 minutes. Her first signee, Macey Nortey, was second on the team with 26.8 minutes per game and led the team in assists.
    Martin and her staff also had a busy offseason, traveling across the country in their first full recruiting season. The Penguins will welcome seven newcomers to the roster - four freshmen and three JUCO transfers - that will play a big part of YSU’s rebuilding.
    After spending four years at West Virginia, Martin earned her first job as a collegiate head coach at Division II IUP. In just three short years, Martin turned IUP into a national power.
    In her final season coaching the Crimson Hawks, Martin was named the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s (WBCA) 2007-08 Division II East Region Coach of the Year. She guided the team to a school-best 27-5 record and its second consecutive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship. IUP spent the entire season ranked in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA top 25 poll, climbing as high as fifth. IUP also secured the No. 1 seed in the NCAA East Region.
    That same season, Jahzinga Tracey became the first IUP women's basketball player in 15 years to be recognized as an All-American when she was selected by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.
    During the 2006-07 season, Martin was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year after leading IUP to a mark of 24-9 and its first PSAC West championship since 1988. The Crimson Hawks also earned the No. 3 seed in the East Region Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16.
    Martin guided IUP to a 19-9 overall mark and an 8-4 record in the PSAC West during her inaugural season in 2005-06. The Crimson Hawks finished second in the division after being picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll. The 19 wins marked a nine-and-a-half game improvement from a 9-18 campaign in 2004-05, which is the seventh-highest increase in the history of Division II women’s basketball.
    Prior to IUP, Martin spent four years (2001-05) as the top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Big East member West Virginia. Her efforts helped lead the Mountaineers’ program back to respectability, culminating in consecutive 21-win seasons and a pair of postseason appearances during her final two years.
    In 2003-04, the Mountaineers received an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 13 seasons. In March 2005, the team advanced to the championship game of the postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.
    Martin helped assemble three straight top 20 recruiting classes according to the All-Star Girls Report, including the class of 2003 that ranked fourth nationally.
    Among the players Martin recruited to West Virginia were Meg Bulger, the 2004 Big East Freshman of the Year, and Yolanda Paige, a second-round selection by the Indiana Fever in the 2005 WNBA draft.
    In 2003, Martin recruited 6-foot-5 center Yelena Leuchanka, the top-ranked junior college player in the nation by the All-Star Girls Report. Leuchanka played for the Atlanta Dream of the WNBA.
    Prior to joining the West Virginia staff, Martin was an assistant coach in the junior college ranks in Florida, including one season each at Santa Fe (1999-00) and Seminole (2000-01). Her Seminole squad posted an overall record of 24-6 and went 8-0 in the Mid-Florida Conference.
    In the summer of 2001, Martin was chosen as head coach of Team Florida USA, an academically selected high school unit that toured Europe. The team went 14-2 and captured the Delfin Cup in Tampere, Finland.
    Martin also has experience at the high school level, serving as head junior varsity coach and varsity assistant at PK Yonge High School in Gainesville, Fla., in 1998-99.
    Martin also enjoyed a stellar college playing career. She spent two seasons at Flagler (Fla.) College where she was an all-conference and all-region point guard, averaging 17 points and 5.4 assists from 1995-97.
    She transferred to the University of Florida, where she was a member of the Gators Sweet 16 team in 1997-98.
    Martin is a 1999 graduate of the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sport sciences from the College of Health and Human Performance. She is a native of Jacksonville, Fla., where her family currently resides.