FROM POWERMIZZOU: How Mizzou got Martin | Tigers hire Martin

March 16, 2012 marked the beginning of a downturn for Missouri's basketball program. In one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament, the second-seeded Tigers fell to No. 15 seed Norfolk State in the first round. Fast forward five years later and the Tigers are on their third coach since that day, hiring away former California head coach Cuonzo Martin to lead the program.

What has gone wrong over the last five years for Missouri basketball? While NCAA violations from Frank Haith's tenure on the bench have not helped, the program's inability to keep in-state talent home and challenges of prospering within a new conference played larger roles in the Tigers' struggles.

Now with Martin leading the charge, what should he focus on right off the bat in Columbia?

The Missouri campus is just a two-hour drive from both St. Louis and Kansas City. Martin never had issues landing talent during previous stops at Tennessee and California, and now his focus should be on those two talent-rich areas.

During Missouri's 30-win season in 2012, the Tigers’ roster boasted five players from St. Louis and Kansas City. How many did this past season’s roster hold? Just one, Texas transfer Jordan Barnett. Point being, Missouri needs to get back to its roots and dominate its home region because there is a lot of quality talent in the 2018 and 2019 classes.

The argument exists that Missouri's move to the SEC hindered its ability to achieve on-court success in basketball. The SEC will always be a football-first conference but the conference switch didn't seem to hurt the Tigers' football program, which won back-to-back division titles in 2013 and 2014. Beyond that, the SEC is wide-open in basketball outside of Kentucky and maybe Florida. Martin and the Tigers have a chance to quickly move up the league totem poll.

If Missouri was still in the Big 12, how quickly could the program get to the upper-half of the league? Even the most wide-eyed optimist would agree that such a climb would take several seasons. In the SEC, Missouri could make giant strides in short order thanks to the lack of consistent contenders within the conference.

Martin needs to look toward the SEC's other Columbia, that being South Carolina, for inspiration. The Gamecocks program was a mess before Frank Martin arrived. The former Kansas State head coach rapidly transformed the program, making South Carolina a consistent NCAA Tournament threat by keeping the top talent home and creating a winning culture. Martin can quickly do just that at Missouri.

While the facilities arms race is showing no signs of slowing down across college athletics, and no program is ever satisfied with the status quo, Martin will be able to recruit to quality facilities at Missouri. The university's Mizzou Arena, less than two decades old, features private suites, up-to-date weight facilities, a spacious players lounge and top-notch training centers. From an amenities standpoint, it's one of the best arenas in college basketball.

Facilities are important, but fan support arguably plays a larger role in a program's success or failure. Martin inherits a program that has seen the turnstile numbers decline alongside the Tigers' win total in recent seasons. When Missouri was rolling in 2012, Mizzou Arena welcomed nearly 12,000 fans per game, a mark that ranked No. 32 nationally. Last season the program averaged less than 6,300 fans per game. If Martin can bring a winner to campus, the fans will come and come quickly, making it that much easier to sell Tigers basketball.