K-State AD Gene Taylor working on another contract extension for Bruce Weber

When Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor gave basketball coach Bruce Weber a contract extension last summer, he said he wanted the Wildcats to play so well this season that he could rip up the deal and work on an even longer one this spring.

He appears ready to do exactly that.

Taylor said Tuesday at K-State's basketball banquet that he has begun another round of extension talks with Weber.

"We are talking about it," Taylor said. "We just started talking about that in San Antonio (at the Final Four). We have got a little bit more work to do, but hopefully we can work out something in the near future."

Weber has three years remaining on a contract that will pay him $2.25 million next season. He currently has a buyout of $2.5 million, but that number drops to $500,000 on May 1, 2019. Taylor extended Weber's contract by two years last summer, but the deal felt K-State friendly. The next one should do more for Weber.

Taylor didn't go into details on what a new contract might look like, but he said he was pleased with the state of the men's basketball team, which won 25 games this year and advanced to the Elite Eight.

"He just continues to confirm the type of coach he is," Taylor said. "Obviously, to get us to the Elite Eight without our best player (an injured Dean Wade) just confirms once again that he is good at developing players and getting them to a point where they are ready to play at the next level."

Another positive: Taylor said basketball ticket sales are up compared to recent years.

"We have had quite a bit of uptick," Taylor said, "and I think we will continue to see that as we go throughout the year."

Weber has coached at K-State since 2012, going 125-80 while guiding the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament four times. He also shared a Big 12 championship with Kansas in his debut season.

Despite those highlights, Weber has struggled to win over some K-State fans and remains unpopular with at least a segment of supporters. But his approval rating skyrocketed during March as the Wildcats overcame the unexpected loss of Wade and won three games in the NCAA Tournament.

Taylor hopes to reward Weber with a new contract in the coming months.

Testing NBA Draft waters

Junior guard Barry Brown announced on Monday that he will declare for the NBA Draft without hiring an agent .

Though he expects to return to K-State for his senior year, he wants to first give himself the opportunity to communicate with NBA scouts and coaches.

"It was on my mind last year," Brown said, "but I didn’t think I really had the season that I wanted to have in order to put my name in there and get some workouts and get some good evaluations and feedback. So I didn’t do it. I thought I had a better year, so I wanted to test the waters and find out what they thought about me."

Brown averaged 15.9 points, 3.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds for the Wildcats this season. He was also the team's top defender.

He is viewed as a potential late second-round pick.

Weber supports Brown's decision, even if he convinces teams he is worthy of a draft pick and stays in the draft.

"If he can be a first-round pick, so be it," Weber said. "I want him back. There's no doubt about that, but this is about guys developing, which he did, and getting opportunities. If he plays that well and gets there, that's fine. ... We have done our jobs as coaches to get him ready, and that would be a positive."

Brown has until June 11 to withdraw from the draft.

Wade, Kamau Stokes and Xavier Sneed could also declare early for the NBA Draft, but that seems unlikely at this point.

Wade is recovering from a foot injury and would be limited to participate in pre-draft workouts.

"I don't really know how well that would go with my injury," Wade said.

Sneed, a sophomore, probably needs more time to develop before making the jump to the NBA. Stokes is also coming back from an injury and is unlikely to receive NBA interest.

Transfer talk

Weber confirmed Tuesday night that junior forward Mawdo Sallah will transfer and finish his college basketball career elsewhere.

Sallah is looking for more playing time at his next destination. He averaged 1.8 points and 1.9 rebounds during his lone year with the Wildcats.

Weber said he didn't know whether any other K-State players are looking to transfer. He will meet individually with everyone on the roster this week and proceed accordingly.

This story was originally published April 3, 2018 at 8:32 PM with the headline "K-State AD Gene Taylor working on another contract extension for Bruce Weber."