Beloit walkon Austin Budke ready to help Kansas State basketball

There was a time when Austin Budke thought he might play football at Notre Dame.

He also considered basketball for a number of less-prominent schools, including Drake and Sam Houston State. Many teams recruited him. At one point, he was ready to accept an athletic scholarship and play guard for Colorado School of Mines.

So how did he end up as walkon power forward at Kansas State?

It’s a long story that is gaining attention now that injuries have thrust Budke into the Wildcats’ rotation, but Budke is more than happy to share.

“It all worked out in the end,” Budke explains.

Growing up in the small town of Beloit, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound junior was a dominant multi-sport athlete, lining up at tight end on the football field and at center on the basketball court. Big-name football schools liked his speed and soft hands. That’s how he ended up on an unpaid recruiting visit to Notre Dame.

But he preferred basketball, and enrolled at Hutchinson Community College, where he switched to guard and earned scholarship offers from several four-year schools last spring. He would have accepted one of them if not for his rare major –chemical engineering.

In short, he chose academics over athletics.

“They were all really good academic schools with really good basketball fit, but what it really came down to was, was it worth switching my major to business or something else,” Budke said. “At the last minute – I mean last, last minute – I decided I wanted to stay on the academic path and had to start searching for schools that offered my degree.”

K-State was the closest option.

“I have been a K-State fan my whole life,” Budke said. “I decided to give it a try and hopefully make the team.”

It was a risky plan. Instead of finishing college on an athletic scholarship and competing for a starting spot on a team that recruited him, he chose to pay his own way and compete for bench minutes on a team that didn’t know who he was.

He made the choice in May with long-term goals in mind. If K-State coach Bruce Weber hated him, at least he could enjoy being a normal student working toward his chosen profession.

But Budke quickly secured a place on K-State’s roster during pickup games, playing alongside fellow walkon Zach Winter. When he held his own against the Wildcats’ returning players, Weber called him into his office and said he was welcome to join the team. The only caveat: Budke had to make the switch from oversized guard to undersized forward.

“I would be lying if I told you I came in here expecting to be a four, but it has worked out,” Budke said. “It’s a little bit of a transition, but coming from Beloit I have a little experience playing down low. These guys are a lot bigger, stronger and more athletic. It is tough, but it is not impossible.”

Six months later, he is expected to play meaningful minutes when K-State opens the season against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Friday at Bramlage Coliseum.

Budke was one of the team’s top players in exhibition victories over Emporia State and Fort Hays State, coming off the bench for a total of 19 points and seven rebounds. He is one of K-State’s best inside players.

“He is somebody with size and physicality and he is a smart young man, a great student,” Weber said. “He comes every day and plays hard. He has played injured every day since practice started, but that is just how he is and how he plays. It’s that football in him. ... With our injuries, it has definitely been a blessing.”

Junior forward D.J. Johnson may be ready to play Friday, but freshman forward Dante Williams will be out for another month. Isaiah Maurice won’t play this season. Budke will continue to see action.

His teammates are fine with that.

“I didn’t think he was going to be as good as he was, especially being a walkon,” Justin Edwards said. “But he reminds me a lot of Nino (Williams). He is smart. He knows how to use his body. He knows how to pick and roll and the spots to go to score. He knows how to get points.”

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 10:53 AM with the headline "Beloit walkon Austin Budke ready to help Kansas State basketball."