K-State basketball returns to practice with talk of faster pace, another championship

Xavier Sneed didn’t return to college to help Kansas State rebuild. He came back to help the Wildcats reload and maybe even guide them to new heights.

That won’t be an easy task, considering Sneed was part of K-State basketball teams that advanced to the Elite Eight when he was a sophomore and shared a Big 12 championship when he was a junior. Throw in the departures of Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade, and things become even more difficult.

Most view the Wildcats as a NCAA Tournament bubble team as they begin practicing for the 2019-20 season, but Sneed has the highest of hopes for this group.

“Always looking to get to that national championship game,” Sneed said. “With all the work I have put in these past four years, getting there is my main goal.”

It is a good sign that Sneed is talking with that kind of confidence. For years, it has been hard for K-State basketball coach Bruce Weber to get him to talk much at all. Sneed has mostly operated in the shadows throughout his college career. He had moments when he outshined Brown, Stokes and Wade — like his 22-point, 9-rebound effort against Kentucky in the Sweet 16 — but even then he let others do the talking.

The Wildcats need him to become more of a vocal leader as a senior, and that’s a challenge he has accepted head on.

“We are losing some big leaders with the big three that have left,” Sneed said. “So me stepping up and going and taking that role for the team and being more of a vocal leader for the team instead of leading by example (is important). I am trying to play with energy in practice every day so the coaches don’t have to bring it.”

“He has always been this passionate guy who has led by example with passion and energy,” junior guard Mike McGuirl said. “Now he’s in the role where he has been here the longest and it’s all starting to come out of him now, because we need that from him. He has been through it all.”

Weber likes what Sneed has brought to practice so far.

It seemed like he spent all off season challenging K-State’s returning veteran players to fill the leadership void that existed in the locker room. They listened. Weber says Makol Mawien, Cartier Diarra, Pierson McAtee and Sneed have all developed into better leaders.

Best of all, the youngest players on this team have become good followers.

“They have to be our go-to-guys, but they also have to help the other guys,” Weber said. “We have talked about a championship DNA ... It may not be the same pretty masterpiece, but we can still be successful.”

One thing that might help K-State this season: playing at a faster pace.

With heralded freshman DaJuan Gordon joining the fold, along with newcomers Montavious Murphy, Antonio Gordon and David Sloan, the Wildcats might not have to go as slow as they did at times last year.

“We are going to be getting the ball up and going this year offensively,” Sneed said. “We will have more of a quick pace, more transition, more getting up the floor. That is what we are emphasizing daily. We are conditioning a lot more.”

Weber isn’t quite as optimistic about K-State turning into a run-and-gun team this season. He spent most of his media session this week praising the Wildcats for their defense.

Diarra, Sneed, Mawien and DaJuan Gordon give the Wildcats a strong core to build around, but who will step up and help them? Mike McGuirl, Levi Stockard and others will need to take on bigger roles.

“Our big thing is, we talk about out championship DNA effort on defense,” Weber said. “I think we can be a good defensive team ... The scoring? We will have to see.”

Replacing the 38.5 points and 13.1 rebounds that K-State lost from Brown, Stokes and Wade last season won’t be a simple task.

But Sneed is confident the Wildcats have enough talent on their roster to do exactly that.

“We have a great group, a scrappy group,” Sneed said. “We call it the dog pound. We have got a lot of dogs in here ready to go.”