K-State Q&A: Scottie Hazelton, Big Ten money and the future of Wildcats basketball
There’s a fascinating conversation to be had about money now that Kansas State football is expected to lose its defensive coordinator to Michigan State, mostly because the Spartans were willing to pay Scottie Hazelton a whole lot more of it than the Wildcats.
Some K-State fans are upset that athletic director Gene Taylor didn’t open up his pocketbook and spend whatever it took to retain a smart coach that made the football team better during his lone season on campus.
But Hazelton was already K-State’s highest paid assistant with a salary of $550,000. I’m not sure if that’s the most the Wildcats have ever paid a coordinator before, but it’s in the neighborhood. The Spartans offered a starting salary north of $1 million, according to sources. Some realize that’s a number Taylor simply can’t match.
Hazelton liked coaching at K-State enough to decline interest from Washington State and Mississippi State earlier this winter. I’m told he was promised a moderate raise in exchange for staying. But then Mel Tucker and Michigan State came along and nearly doubled his salary. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Only 24 assistant coaches made more than $1 million last season, according to USA Today. It’s hard to turn down entrance into that club.
Everyone wants to blame someone else when something like this happens, but I’m not sure there is an easy scapegoat in this instance. Hazelton did a nice job last season, especially when you consider the injuries his unit faced. K-State ranked second in the Big 12 in points allowed (21.4 per game) and fourth in yards allowed (368.4 yards per game).
But does that justify K-State paying him double offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham, who made $500,000 last year?
There were only three $1 million coaches in the Big 12 last season — Texas OC Todd Orlando, Oklahoma DC Alex Grinch and Baylor DC Phil Snow.
K-State has never paid anything close to those numbers for an assistant coach. Is it time to start? That’s a tricky question. Taylor has said many times that he wants to pay K-State coaches competitive salaries. But it’s easier to stay competitive with coaching salaries in the Big 12 than it is the Big Ten.
Michigan State is reportedly allowing Tucker to spend $6 million on assistants. K-State spent $3.47 million on assistants last season. That’s a big bridge to gap.
The Wildcats are also currently paying Bill Snyder $3 million in $250,000 quarterly installments as part of his retirement agreement. It’s easy to spend other people’s money, but now is not the easiest time for K-State to lavishly spend its own.
It’s an unfortunate development for Chris Klieman, who must now find a defensive coordinator at an awkward time. But he’s been here before. Remember, his original DC was Ted Monachino. And he left for the Chicago Bears a few weeks into the job.
Coaches leave for different jobs all the time for various reasons. This time, it was for money.
Maybe K-State could have found a way to retain Hazelton. Maybe not. As long as some schools are willing to spend more than others, the conversation will continue.
Now, let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
The best internal candidate is probably safeties coach Joe Klanderman.
He has a long history with Chris Klieman, and they coached together at North Dakota State. Klieman praised him last season as both a brilliant in-game coach and as a recruiter. I suppose you could also make a case for cornerbacks coach Van Malone. He has been a defensive coordinator before. But Klanderman seems like the better fit to me.
One outside name to keep an eye on: Blake Seiler.
I have my doubts Klieman will make a run at him after the way Seiler left his original staff. But this would give the former K-State player and coach an opportunity to return as defensive coordinator. I wouldn’t be shocked if Klieman reached out to him about leaving Old Dominion.
The Big 12 is always trying its best to maximize revenue for its teams.
Money was one of the biggest reasons why the conference brought back its championship game for football. It is also one of the biggest reasons why the league partnered with ESPN+ and is now streaming many of its games instead of broadcasting them on traditional TV.
Bob Bowlsby is hoping the conference can cash in before its next media-rights deal and make up some ground on the Big Ten and the SEC, the two richest conferences in college athletics. His league is in much better shape than the Pac-12, which saw Tucker leave Colorado for Michigan State and a big raise earlier this month. But finances could always be better.
I suppose expansion could be a financial boon for the conference, especially if the new teams came from the Pac-12. USC athletic director Mike Bohn had some interesting things to say about the Trojan’s future in the Pac-12 earlier this week. Maybe the Big 12 could look to add teams while the Pac-12 struggles. Adding USC and another team to the conference would improve finances. But, as exciting as that sounds, that seems unlikely to happen.
There is hope for the future.
Bruce Weber has lined up his best recruiting class in years. He has also been pretty good about bouncing back after down seasons. Though he hasn’t reached the NCAA Tournament as often as his critics prefer (he’s made 13 trips in 22 seasons), he has never missed out on March Madness in three consecutive years.
It’s also worth pointing out that a different team has finished last in the Big 12 in each of the past five years. K-State will make it six different teams in six years if it remains in the conference cellar. This happens to lots of teams.
Things will get better. Problem is, it might be a slow climb.
DaJuan Gordon, Montavious Murphy and Antonio Gordon are only averaging about half the scoring and rebounding numbers that Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade produced as freshmen. None of them have been difference-makers lately. That’s the most discouraging thing about the team’s recent struggles.
If the past is the best predictor for the future, then K-State is probably another two years away from the NCAA Tournament.
The last time Bruce Weber hit the reset button and tried to rebuild the program around a young batch of players the Wildcats missed out on March Madness in back-to-back seasons, winning 15 games with Marcus Foster as a sophomore and then 17 games with Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade as freshmen.
I’m expecting K-State to take a step forward next season after Nijel Pack, Luke Kasubke, Selton Miguel and Davion Bradford join the roster. But it’s going to take almost 20 wins to reach the NCAA Tournament, and that’s a big jump after only winning around 10 games this year.
K-State’s 2020 recruiting class is ranked in the top 25 nationally, but it only ranks sixth in the Big 12. Every team found some studs this cycle.
I don’t see K-State returning to the NCAA Tournament next season, but if the Wildcats build around their youth and continue recruiting well they could be back in the mix by 2022.
This might sound strange, but I don’t think it’s hard for K-State players to stay positive and compete hard in every game right now. I asked Xavier Sneed’s father about this last week, and he responded with a great line about this group of seniors giving their all until it was time to turn in their uniforms.
The Wildcats can seriously hurt the Jayhawks’ Big 12 championship hopes by beating them on Saturday. They can also still play their way into the NCAA Tournament by winning four games in Kansas City.
They have reason to stay motivated. Effort hasn’t been the problem.
It all comes down to execution with this team. And K-State hasn’t been very good.
I get the sense that some of the coaches are ready for this season to end and want a new batch of recruits to arrive. But they’re not throwing in the towel yet, either.
It depends on which player you add to the current roster.
Dean Wade would give the Wildcats extra inside help and spread the floor as a pick-and-pop threat. His presence would probably help K-State the most, because they don’t have any player like him at the moment.
Barry Brown would help K-State at both guard spots and provide valuable leadership.
Kamau Stokes would be able to make some three-pointers and direct the offense.
K-State needs more than just one of them to morph into a NCAA Tournament ream right now, but it would probably be enough to get the Wildcats out of last place in the Big 12 standings and into the NIT mix.
Not. A. Chance.
K-State might have considered playing in a postseason tournament like the CBI if it were to just barely miss out on the NIT and wanted to get more playing time for its freshman. But the Wildcats are miles away from every postseason tournament known to mankind.
Besides, they are heading to Europe this summer for a string of exhibition games. They will get their extra playing time then with a new crop of freshmen.