Marty Richter - Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- MR184@uscupstate.edu
Marty Richter enters his third season as the head men's basketball coach at USC Upstate during the 2026-27 season after being introduced as the program's 11th head coach on April 5, 2024.
In his second season leading the Spartans, Richter guided USC Upstate to significant improvement, more than doubling its win total from the previous year. The Spartans finished the 2025-26 campaign with a 13-19 overall record and a 5-11 mark in Big South Conference play, a seven-win improvement from Richter's inaugural season. Upstate also established the G.B. Hodge Center as a difficult place for opponents to play, posting a 10-5 record on its home floor.
The 2025-26 season featured several memorable performances, highlighted by a 67-66 road victory over Fresno State, a Senior Day win against Gardner-Webb and a thrilling 100-94 overtime victory over Charleston Southern. The win against the Buccaneers marked the first time in program history that Upstate reached the 100-point mark in a Big South Conference contest.
Under Richter's direction, Upstate averaged 74.2 points per game during the 2025-26 campaign while allowing just 73.7 points per contest. The defensive improvement was particularly significant, as the Spartans reduced their opponents' scoring average by nearly 10 points per game compared to the 2024-25 season, when Upstate surrendered 83.5 points per contest.
Richter also continued his reputation for developing student-athletes, helping Karmani Gregory earn Big South All-Conference Honorable Mention recognition following the 2025-26 season. Gregory became the first Spartan to receive All-Conference honors during Richter's tenure after leading Upstate with 15.8 points per game and recording 10 performances of 20 or more points. Gregory also improved his shooting percentages from the field, beyond the arc and at the free-throw line. In the classroom, senior Isaiah Skinner earned a selection to the Big South All-Academic Team, demonstrating the program's commitment to success both on and off the court.
In his first season with the Spartans in 2024-25, Richter established the foundation for the program's development while helping several newcomers make their mark at the Division I level. His first campaign featured a number of individual accolades, including Mister Dean earning Big South Freshman of the Year honors and Carmelo Adkins being named Big South Freshman of the Week on three occasions before earning a spot on the conference's All-Freshman Team. Breylin Garcia also received Big South Player of the Week recognition following his double-double performance against South Carolina, while Karmani Gregory earned Big South All-Academic Team honors.
Richter joined the Spartan program following a historic six-season stint as an assistant coach at Drake, helping the Bulldogs to 150 victories, five postseason appearances, including three NCAA Tournament appearances, and three Missouri Valley Conference championships. An integral part of Darian DeVries' coaching staff, Richter helped develop 15 Bulldogs who combined for 47 All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, with at least one Bulldog earning each of the league's six major postseason awards during his tenure.
In 2023-24, Richter helped Drake make its second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance after capturing a second straight Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship and matching a program record with 28 victories. Tucker DeVries earned his second consecutive Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year award, becoming the first player since Creighton's Doug McDermott to win the honor in back-to-back seasons. Five Bulldogs earned All-Conference recognition following the campaign.
During the 2022-23 season, the Bulldogs captured their first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship since 2008 while compiling 27 victories, the second-most in program history at the time. DeVries earned his first Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year honor, highlighting a group of six All-Conference selections.
Richter also helped guide Drake to an NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2020-21 campaign, when the Bulldogs earned an at-large bid and defeated Wichita State, 53-52, in the First Four for the program's first NCAA Tournament victory since 1971. During his first season in Des Moines in 2018-19, Richter helped Drake capture a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship and earn a berth in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
Before joining Drake, Richter spent three seasons as the head coach at Florida SouthWestern State College, where he helped build the Buccaneers into a nationally competitive junior college program. During his tenure, Richter compiled a 56-10 record, guided the program to two NJCAA National Tournament appearances and helped 11 players advance to four-year institutions.
In his final season at Florida SouthWestern, Richter led the Buccaneers to a 30-3 record and the No. 6 overall seed in the NJCAA National Tournament, earning Suncoast Conference Coach of the Year honors. During the program's inaugural season in 2016-17, he guided Florida SouthWestern to a 26-7 record and a Suncoast Conference Tournament championship.
Prior to his time at Florida SouthWestern, Richter spent four seasons at Florida Gulf Coast, helping build the nationally recognized "Dunk City" program. During his tenure, the Eagles advanced to three ASUN Conference Tournament championship games and captured two conference titles.
Richter was part of the coaching staff that guided Florida Gulf Coast to its historic Sweet 16 appearance in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. The Eagles became the first No. 15 seed in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the Sweet 16 after defeating No. 2 seed Georgetown and No. 7 seed San Diego State. Florida Gulf Coast also made postseason appearances in the National Invitation Tournament in 2014 and the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament in 2015.
Earlier in his coaching career, Richter held positions at Chipola College, Bowling Green, South Dakota and Simpson College. He also served as a video coordinator at Indiana, an assistant coach for Budivelnyk Basketball Club in Ukraine and a basketball analyst and recruiting evaluator for ESPN.
A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Richter graduated from Simpson College in 1999 before earning his master's degree from South Dakota in 2001. He and his wife, Brynn, have four children: Avery, Harper, Morgan and Emerson.
