Kansas State will start next season with big expectations after Elite Eight run
Kansas State's locker room was filled with tears, curse words and many other forms of frustration following an Elite Eight loss to Loyola-Chicago over the weekend. But those negative emotions didn't last long.
As hard as it was for the Wildcats to fall one game short of the Final Four, there was an obvious silver lining at the end of their NCAA Tournament journey — they should be better next season.
"Nobody expected us to be here but us," redshirt freshman guard Cartier Diarra said. "But we expect the Final Four. We expect nothing less than that next year. We just have to keep working hard and get ready to make it happen."
Without a scholarship senior on the roster, K-State will begin next season with high expectations. That's what happens when you return two All-Big 12 players from a team that won 25 games and made a postseason run.
Dean Wade, a 6-foot-10 junior forward who averaged 16.2 points and 6.2 rebounds, could be the Big 12's preseason player of the year. Barry Brown, a 6-3 junior guard who averaged 15.9 points and 3.2 assists, could be the league's top returning backcourt player and defender.
Also: Sophomore wing Xavier Sneed came on strong in March, sophomore forward Makol Mawien has potential inside, and Kamau Stokes and Diarra are both capable point guards.
All the ingredients are in place for K-State to have a big year.
"I hope it is a good thing," K-State coach Bruce Weber said. "Now it’s about how they take it. That was our whole message last year. We lost a couple guys, but they took it to heart that they had a taste of success and got in the (NCAA) Tournament. They wanted more.
"Now do they want more? Are they going to really push themselves to take it? It will start this spring, getting tougher and stronger. ... We need to work on being a little more efficient on things offensively. We are pretty good defensively. If we keep that mentality and everyone enjoys each other, we will be special next year."
That doesn't seem like it will be a problem for this group.
"We need to get in the gym and learn some stuff and get better," Brown said. "This isn't the championship, so we can still improve. We need to get better."
Expect K-State to begin the 2018-19 season with a preseason ranking if its starting lineup returns as anticipated.
Brown, Wade and possibly Sneed have enough NBA potential to test the draft waters this spring without hiring an agent, but all three are likely to return.
Add on incoming guard Shaun Williams, a three-star point guard from St. Louis, and perhaps another recruit with size, and the Wildcats will be in even better shape.
Though K-State is already one over its scholarship limit for next season, coaches have been actively recruiting junior-college forward Austin Trice, in case some players outside the main rotation choose to transfer.
When asked what talents he would like to add to next year's roster, Weber responded emphatically.
"Rebounding physicality," Weber said.
It's easy to see why. K-State was the worst rebounding team in the Big 12 this season, averaging 22.5 rebounds on defense and 8.5 rebounds on offense.
Still, the Wildcats have much to look forward to as is.
Wade missed all but eight minutes of the NCAA Tournament because of a stress reaction in his left foot. His healthy return will add an instant jolt to the offense. Brown could take over for Jevon Carter as the Big 12's most feared defender. Sneed and Mawien should both improve.
Point guard could get interesting. Stokes played well during the first half of the season but broke his foot early in Big 12 play and never regained his form after he returned to the court. Diarra filled in admirably for him, and freshman Mike McGuirl was the hero of K-State's first-round win over Creighton. Who starts? That's a question Weber will have many months to ponder.
"Dean will be one of the best power forwards in the country, if not the best," Weber said. "The other guys have to get better and take another step. Makol made giant steps, but he can really take it to another level. We will have three really good combo guards and a great wing in Xavier. It's exciting to have a young team and everyone back, but we can't lose track of what got us here."
The K-State basketball team lived by a motto this season: If you don't wake up everyday with something to prove, you will never improve.
It helped them finish fourth in the Big 12 standings, win 25 games and then reach the Elite Eight.
As long as that work ethic remains, the future seems bright.
"Just to be here in this position is great for us," Sneed said. "We see what it takes, and this offseason we are going to come even harder to get back and go even further. It's a growing lesson."
This story was originally published March 26, 2018 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Kansas State will start next season with big expectations after Elite Eight run."