Why K-State coach Bruce Weber is disappointed Shaun Williams chose to transfer
The Kansas State basketball team is losing one of its point guards before the start of conference play, and Bruce Weber isn’t happy about it.
“I am disappointed,” Weber said following K-State’s 86-41 victory over Alabama State on Wednesday. “When somebody doesn’t make it and leaves it’s like a child for me. You want everyone to be successful and not everyone is. In today’s world of college basketball they think it is always greener on the (other) side and they are going to be able to do this or that.”
Shaun Williams, a 6-foot-3 sophomore from St. Louis, is the player that Weber wishes was still on the K-State roster. He entered his name in the transfer portal on Wednesday in search of a fresh start at a new school.
He announced his decision on Twitter by writing that his “recruitment is 100% back open.”
Williams departs Manhattan after playing in 35 games for the Wildcats. He was averaging 3.6 points and 1.2 assists this season.
His transfer was not a major surprise for anyone that follows K-State basketball closely.
It has been a rocky season for Williams, as he missed the first three games of the year while serving a suspension for reasons that Weber described as failing to “take care of business.” But he did return to the rotation and play in five straight games for the Wildcats after his suspension came to an end.
Weber said that, with enough hard work, Williams could have earned more minutes as his career moved forward.
“That is not what kids want to do,” Weber said. “I feel bad. He had to go through the suspension. I thought he was making some strides, but it wasn’t what he wanted.”
The news was hard to take for senior swingman Xavier Sneed, who has been friends with Williams his whole life.
“It’s definitely tough growing up with him, being around him as a little kid,” Sneed said. “It’s tough, but he has to make his own decision now and become a man. I think he will do a good job of that no matter where he goes.”
Without Williams, K-State will lean almost exclusively on Cartier Diarra and David Sloan for minutes at point guard.
Diarra has started every game this season, while Sloan, a junior-college transfer, has split playing time with Williams while coming off the bench. They both played well on Wednesday, with Diarra piling up 10 assists Sloan had four. K-State finished the game with 29 assists, a high for the Weber era.
K-State is ready to replace Williams on next year’s roster. The Wildcats signed four players in its 2020 recruiting class while only expecting to lose three scholarship seniors.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 5:03 PM.