Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

South Carolina’s Frank Martin on Fidel Castro: ‘My grandmother can rest in peace’

Iowa State v South Carolina

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 03: South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Frank Martin shouts instructions to his team against the Iowa State Cyclones during their game at the Barclays Center on January 3, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

Getty Images

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) South Carolina coach Frank Martin, the son of Cuban immigrants who fled the regime of Fidel Castro, said the leader’s death this weekend was not a source of peace or justification for him.

He did say that members of his family directly affected by Castro’s actions might have another view. He said Monday “now, my grandmother can rest in peace.”

Martin’s parents met after coming to the United States and the Gamecocks coach never lived under the Castro presidency.

Martin, 50, said people of his generation did not spend as much time thinking of Castro the way older Cuban Americans did.

South Carolina, which defeated ranked opponents Michigan and Syracuse last week, entered the latest rankings at No. 20, its first appearance in the poll since last February.