Martin Bahar - Men's Basketball Coach

Martin Bahar

Title:
Director of Scouting and Video Operations
Email:
mbahar@usc.edu
Phone:
821-2216

Martin Bahar is in his fifth year with the USC men’s basketball program, serving as an Assistant Coach for the 2017-18 season. He served as USC’s Director of Scouting since joining the USC staff in July of 2015 and returned to those duties for the 2018-19 season. In his four seasons at USC, Bahar has played an integral role in the program’s return to national prominence, helping the Trojans set the school record for wins with 26 in the 2016-17, reach back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time since 2009, and set a program record with 71 wins in a three-year window and 87 in a four-year stretch.

Prior to joining the staff at USC, Bahar spent four years at Fairfield University out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), where he served as assistant coach beginning in the 2012-13 season. Bahar helped the Stags earn two postseason berths, as Fairfield advanced to the 2012 and 2013 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT). The 2012 Fairfield team won three postseason games for the first time in school history, reached the CIT semifinals and also played in the MAAC Championship game. Fairfield’s win over Arizona State in the 2012 Old Spice Classic was only the program’s 2nd win in history over a Pac-12 opponent.

While at Fairfield, Bahar recruited two of the top three scorers on the Stags’ 2014-15 team and also signed student-athletes from seven different states. Three student-athletes Bahar coached would end up finishing in the top five of the school’s all-time scoring list. One of these student-athletes, Tyler Nelson, became the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,172 points and was a three-time All-MAAC selection. As a senior in 2017-18, Nelson averaged 22.2 ppg and led Fairfield to their first MAAC Tournament Championship appearance since 2011-12. In terms of the MAAC’s record books, Nelson finished 2nd all-time in minutes played, 4th all-time in scoring and 5th all-time in three-point field goals made.
Before Fairfield, Bahar was part of two very successful seasons at Princeton University. As an assistant in 2010-11, he helped the Tigers post a 25-7 overall record and capture the 2011 Ivy League championship. With that title, the Tigers advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2004 where they lost to eventual NCAA runner-up Kentucky in the closing seconds. The program’s 25 wins were the second most all-time in Princeton history. Kareem Maddox was named First Team All-Ivy and Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, while Ian Hummer and Dan Mavraides were named All-Ivy Second Team.

The 2009-10 Tigers won 22 games, won two postseason games for the first time since 1998-99, and finished No. 1 in the country in scoring defense with 53.3 ppg. While at Princeton, Bahar coached Ian Hummer and Douglas Davis, two players who finished as the second and third all-time leading scorers, respectively, in school history behind only the legendary Bill Bradley.

From 2006-2009, Bahar was at Georgetown under head coach John Thompson III, where he served as a graduate assistant from 2006-08 and then as the video coordinator in 2008-09. The 2006-07 Hoyas, led by current NBA players Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, finished 30-7, won the Big East Tournament, and reached the 2007 Final Four. The program won back-to-back Big East regular season championships in 2007 and 2008 while Bahar was a member of the staff. He earned his master’s degree in Communications, Culture, and Technology from Georgetown in 2008.

He was an undergraduate manager at Vanderbilt University until his graduation in 2006. Bahar completed a double-major in Communications and Spanish at Vanderbilt.

Bahar, a native of Potomac, Md., is married to the former Terrill Keiner who graduated from USC in 2008. The couple had their first child, Beverly Lila, in May 2016.