Bruce Weber breaks down Kansas State's incoming recruiting class

Bruce Weber has a lot to say about the five incoming basketball recruits Kansas State will welcome to campus this summer. So much, it turns out, that I couldn’t come close to fitting it all in to yesterday’s story about K-State’s 2017 recruiting class and Weber’s evolving recruiting style.

That means there are plenty of leftovers for today.

Here are Weber’s thoughts on Makol Mawien, Mike McGuirl, Nigel Shadd, Levi Stockard and Amaad Wainright, as well as some other topics:

Let’s start in the front court, where Mawien, Shadd and Stockard will look to replace senior forward D.J. Johnson.

“When you look at what we lost losing D.J. -- a good force inside -- I don’t know if we have one player that you can say, ‘Oh, he’s taking D.J.’s place.’ But when you look at the mix you have got some versatility,” Weber said. “Levi has got the big body and the good skills. Nigel gives you more athleticism and a bigger body, kind of like D.J. was as a freshman. He’s a great rebounder that plays with physicality inside.

“I think Makol gives us a big guy that is a mixture of both. He can play the four, he can shoot the three, he has got the length to play inside, he has blocked shots. The thing I like with him is that he was at a Division I program. He got a feel of that, even though he redshirted. He made the trips, he was part of the daily routine in practice. You feel good about that.”

Mawien, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, comes to K-State from New Mexico Junior College. He started his college career at Utah, choosing the Utes over Boston College, BYU and Gonzaga.

Shadd and Stockard are both incoming freshmen that carry three-star rankings from Rivals.

In the backcourt, K-State adds another three-star high school player in McGuirl and junior-college transfer Amaad Wainright.

“You are losing Carlbe (Ervin) and Wesley (Iwundu),” Weber said. “They both gave us great minutes and were really important down the stretch with their versatility and ability to play different positions and give us different looks. So we had to replace that.

Wainright popped onto K-State’s recruiting radar after he received a release from North Texas, but Weber knew all about the 6-4 guard after coaching against his brother, Ishmail, the past four years at Baylor.

“When we got here, Ish was a pretty highly touted recruit,” Weber said. “We made some calls, but we didn’t get many calls back. I loved Ish. I thought he did so much. When you talk to the Baylor staff, all of them said he was the key to the team.”

Weber began recruiting Amaad Wainright shortly after North Texas made a coaching change and allowed Wainright to re-open his recruitment.

“Amaad was kind of a bonus at the end,” Weber said. “With him, you get an older guy that has been around it, because of his brother. He kind of brings those same intangibles that Ish brought. He seems to be a winner that will do anything that you ask. He is probably a little better shooter than Ish was, but not as big or as tall. Both he and Mike give you some of that versatility, ball-handling and shooting that Wes and Carlbe gave us. You have one with a little more size and then Mike gives us a combo guard. He can shoot the basketball and he can play a little bit of point guard.”

Kamau Stokes Update

The plan remains for K-State guard Kamau Stokes to remove his name from consideration for the NBA Draft at some point this month, Weber said.

Stokes has until May 24 to do so and return to the Wildcats next season. He wasn’t invited to the NBA Draft Combine after surprisingly choosing to test the pro waters coming off a promising sophomore season in which he averaged 11.7 points, 4.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds, but a few NBA scouts have asked Weber about him.

“Obviously, he wants exposure,” Weber said. “Hopefully he is getting some. He has still got a few weeks left.”

Wesley Iwundu’s draft stock on the rise

Former K-State wing Wesley Iwundu will take part in the NBA Draft Combine this week in Chicago. Most draft experts continue to view him as a late first-rounder or early second-rounder.

After speaking with NBA scouts, Weber expects Iwundu to be selected anywhere from pick No. 20 to pick No. 35.

“He has had a couple workouts,” Weber said. “The teams have called us after and given us good reports. They see a versatile kid that can handle the ball and play multiple positions. He has risen up the draft chart, but he has got to keep playing well this week in Chicago.”

This story was originally published May 11, 2017 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Bruce Weber breaks down Kansas State's incoming recruiting class."