K-State Q&A: Making sense of a lost basketball season and how it impacts recruiting
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
This is one of those weeks where we dive straight into your questions instead of kicking things off with an elaborate introduction. So let’s get right to them. Thanks, as always, for your participation.
Funny story: shortly after Iowa State defeated K-State at Hilton Coliseum last weekend I was waiting for Bruce Weber to arrive in the media room for his news conference when Matt Hall from KSO asked what questions I had prepared for the postgame interview.
It was at that very moment that news of Donovan Williams’ 50-point game began to spread across Twitter. Knowing that Weber was in Lincoln, Nebraska one day earlier to watch Williams score 44 points, I told my pal and fellow media member that the only thing I really wanted to know was what kind of chances the Wildcats had at landing Williams, a four-star recruit and one of the top unsigned prospects in the 2020 class.
NCAA rules forbid Weber from talking about such things publicly, but I think many K-State fans care more about the possibility of landing a bucket-getter like Williams more than anything that might happen during the remainder of the Wildcats’ season.
He is really good, and he brings something to the table that K-State has sorely lacked this year: offense.
It’s not imperative that the Wildcats land him, as they already have a top 20 recruiting class lined up. But Williams will be a big addition for any team, and K-State will almost certainly be better with him than without.
I can’t say for sure which team he will ultimately choose, but K-State seems to be in good shape. Williams told me earlier this week that he has a strong relationship with Weber and appreciates that he was the second coach to offer him a scholarship after he withdrew his commitment from Nebraska.
Williams also wore a K-State hoodie during his unofficial visit to campus last month. I don’t know how much to read into that, but it’s definitely not a bad thing.
All I can say is the Wildcats will need to fight hard to land him. Oklahoma State and Texas both want Williams. Oregon and Texas A&M are also in the mix. A few more schools might join in as March approaches.
Weber is hoping to add one or two more players to K-State’s 2020 recruiting class, and Williams would be the biggest catch of all. Stay tuned.
Oh, I have got tons of ideas.
Question is: would any of them work? There’s a reason I am a sports writer instead of a coach.
My first suggestion would be to establish a clear identity for Cartier Diarra. I have watched him play in 24 games this season and I’m still not sure exactly what Weber wants from him. Is he a point guard? Is he a shooting guard? Should he look to score? Should he look to distribute?
Say all you want about the junior guard being distracted by professional basketball, but I think he lacks an identity on this team. That seems like a big problem to me.
After that, I would recommend getting the best scoring lineup possible on the floor, even if that means sacrificing defense and size.
Why not try a starting five of David Sloan, Cartier Diarra, Mike McGuirl, Xavier Sneed and Montavious Murphy? At least then you would have five potential scorers out there.
Makol Mawien and Levi Stockard are limited on offense and DaJuan Gordon is more of an energy guy than anything else. Why not mix things up?
Still, the biggest problem is offensive talent. The Wildcats don’t have much of it. They are currently shooting 32.5% from three, 47.2% from two and 65.4% from the free-throw line. None of those numbers rank in the top 200 nationally and the last number isn’t even in the top 300.
How is a team that shoots that poorly from the charity stripe supposed to score in bunches? Beats me.
That’s why it would big to land a recruit like Williams. He can score. So can incoming recruits Nijel Pack, Luke Kasubke and Selton Miguel.
Once they arrive, we can maybe have a longer discussion about X’s and O’s.
This is the wrong question to be asking.
K-State has already signed four recruits in its 2020 class and UTEP transfer Kaosi Ezeagu joined the roster a few weeks ago. So they aren’t going anywhere.
The Wildcats don’t have a single unsigned pledge, so there is no fear of losing a committed player at the moment.
Could a last-place finish hurt K-State’s future recruiting efforts? That’s a better question.
My answer: Possibly. Weber has credited last year’s Big 12 championship for helping the Wildcats land players this recruiting cycle. So a bad year could have the opposite effect.
At the same time, K-State’s struggles give Weber the opportunity to sell recruits on immediate playing time.
It all depends on the recruit.
From the K-State media guide: “Kansas State has enjoyed 73 straight seasons with a winning record on its home courts. The streak has spanned four arenas and 10 head coaches. Since the streak began in 1946 at Nichols Gym, the program has an impressive 796-209 (.792) mark at home.”
This is the first time I’ve heard about “Nichols Gym.” My K-State basketball arena knowledge starts and stops with Bramlage/Ahearn. So thanks for the education lesson.
K-State’s updated home record since 1946 is 804-214, as the Wildcats are 8-5 at home this season.
The math is simple from here: they need to win one of their three remaining home games to keep the streak alive. It will probably happen. K-State’s final three home games are against Texas (potential win), Kansas (probable loss) and Iowa State (probable win without Tyrese Haliburton).
Ken Pomeroy projects K-State to beat both Texas and Iowa State at home. Odds are in the Wildcats’ favor of pushing the streak to 74 straight years.
For that, they can thank teams like Arkansas-Pine Pluff, Alabama State and Florida A&M for agreeing to trade losses for cash.
Disclaimer: K-State also lost to Saint Louis at Sprint Center, and some would call that a home game. A giant Powercat was at midcourt, after all. But I’m only counting games played in Manhattan. Either way, K-State needs another home win for a winning record at home this season.
There are plenty of signs that the Big 12 is down this season, and that’s one of them.
Unless TCU or Texas ends the regular season on an unexpected hot streak the No. 6 seed at the conference tournament will almost certainly enjoy a first-round bye despite owning a losing record in league play.
There’s an outside chance Oklahoma could secure the No. 5 seed in Kansas City with a losing record, too. It’s a tough year to watch basketball in this part of the country. Four Big 12 teams are currently ranked, but that’s about the only thing the conference can tout right now.
A few other signs that Big 12 hoops is having a down year:
- Baylor is undefeated in conference play.
- Baylor is the only team that has defeated Kansas.
- The Bears and Jayhawks are 20-0 against the rest of the conference. It would be very appropriate for them to share the Big 12 championship with 17-1 records.
- West Virginia can’t win on the road.
- Texas Tech is already out of the league race.
- Only five teams are likely to play in the NCAA Tournament.
- The bottom five teams in the conference have a grand total of 15 Big 12 victories and an average record of 3-8.
Free tickets?
The first round of the Big 12 Tournament will not be for the faint of heart.
If it began tomorrow the games would be No. 8 Iowa State vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State and then No. 7 TCU vs. No. 10 Kansas State in the night cap. Only one of those teams is currently within reach of a NIT bid.
Gross.
I bet the crowd is still decent with Iowa State fans (they love KC) and K-State fans (some live in KC) filling most of the lower bowl. Can’t imagine many neutral fans wanting to watch those games, though.
It’s also scary to think about how blue Sprint Center will be for the remainder of the tournament if both ISU and KSU go down on opening night.
I guess it depends on your meaning of the word “run.”
West Virginia beat Oklahoma and Texas Tech as the No. 10 seed to reach the Big 12 Tournament semifinals last season. Does that count as a “run?” If so, I think the Wildcats are capable of going on a “run” in Kansas City.
There’s not much difference between the bottom five teams in this conference, so the first-round games will all be toss-ups. I don’t love K-State’s chances against Baylor or Kansas in the quarterfinals, but the Wildcats have beaten the Bears in the past and gave them a tough game at home earlier this month. You never know.
Xavier Sneed and Cartier Diarra are proud, veteran players and they will be very motivated to play well in Kansas City and potentially play their way back into the NCAA Tournament. Still, winning four games in four days is a lot to ask from this team. It hasn’t won consecutive games since opening the season with wins over North Dakota State, UNLV, Monmouth and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Even if the Wildcats pulled off two improbable wins, depth and consistency would became insurmountable challenges as the tournament went on.
K-State will give its best effort at the Big 12 Tournament. That simply won’t be enough to win more than one or two games.
Looking ahead, the Wildcats can bounce back next year by going young. Four promising recruits are on the way. Pair them with current freshman Antonio Gordon, Montavious Murphy and DaJuan Gordon and hope they can build something together the same way Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade did during their time on campus.
They didn’t reach the NCAA Tournament as freshmen, so it might be a bit of rebuilding process. But it would be nice to see the Wildcats contend for a spot in March Madness next season.