How Cuonzo Martin sold Vincent Brady II on Missouri State basketball's championship future
On a recent visit, Vincent Brady II toured the Missouri State men's basketball locker room and saw the photos that hung on the wall. Images of championships and a packed Great Southern Bank Arena showed him the possibilities if he decided to become a Bear.
Brady, a 6-foot-4 guard in the transfer portal, hadn't done much winning in his first two seasons of college basketball. At IUPUI, the Jaguars never won more than six games and finished 2-18 in the Horizon League both seasons.
Winning is a must, Brady said. It doesn't matter if he had a bad game and a teammate shined. If the Bears won at the end of the day, there would be a smile on Brady's face.
Martin sold Brady on the idea of championships and runs in March Madness. And the coach doesn't plan on waiting long for it to happen.
More: Transfer portal names connected to Missouri State basketball after Cuonzo Martin hiring
"Coach Martin has said many times to me that he doesn't want to build throughout the years to become a winning program," Brady said. "He wants to come in this year, win the tournament and then obviously go on to play in March Madness. That's a big aspect of what I want to do."
Brady became Martin's first commitment since he became Missouri State's head coach 13 years after he left. The Bears still have not played in the NCAA Tournament since 1999. There's a sense of unfinished business after Martin led the Bears to a regular season championship in 2011 only to fall short in the Arch Madness championship game.
Martin and his staff, which has yet to be announced, have a lot of work to do after seven scholarship players entered the transfer portal. Martin and Tarrance Crump, a former Purdue player who spent time on Martin's staffs at California and Mizzou and spent recent years at DePaul, were his primary recruiters. Brady said Crump will be an assistant coach.
Toughness is a staple in Martin basketball teams and that's what the two coaches told Brady they like about him. He said he prides himself in the intense way he's played his entire life. He considers himself an athletic wing and a guard who wants to shoot and get assists. He's not one to shy away from throwing down a posterizing dunk, as he's produced No. 1 and 2 highlights on SportsCenter's Top 10.
"My favorite thing is to shoot," Brady said. "I like making highlights, too. I'm pretty athletic and I like, you know, I like to attempt to dunk on people at times."
Brady will wait for the rest of his teammates to commit over the next several weeks leading up to the 2024-25 season. Martin sold him on the idea of having a family-like atmosphere and making Springfield feel like it would be a good home. The facilities didn't hurt and neither did his tour around campus.
Brady's done his research, as well. Outside of seeing the locker room photos, he's read up on Missouri State's history hoping he can lead it back to where it once was. He's also seen Martin's successful stops, at MSU, Tennessee, California or Mizzou, knowing that an NCAA Tournament appearance is possible.
More: How Cuonzo Martin will go about returning Missouri State basketball where it needs to be
It's why Brady doesn't think twice when Martin preaches that championships and postseason runs are in the Bears' future.
"I definitely think we can," Brady said. "I do believe once he gets the roster built we will have a great chance at winning the championship."
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Vincent Brady II commits to Missouri State basketball, Cuonzo Martin
