Former Kansas State player Shane Southwell brings young voice to Bruce Weber’s staff
When Shane Southwell’s college basketball career came to an end six years ago at Kansas State, he hoped to return as a coach.
Eventually.
He never dreamed it would happen this fast.
The 6-foot-6 guard from Harlem, N.Y. wanted to chase his professional goals as a player first. Maybe he could make it to the NBA. He could definitely play and make good money overseas.
So that’s what he did, signing deals with teams in Mexico, Australia and Sweden. It seemed like coaching could wait when he averaged 15.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists three years ago for Winterthur in the Swiss LNA.
Then K-State coach Bruce Weber called with an offer to join his staff as a graduate assistant. That’s when Southwell made the difficult decision to retire from basketball as a player and dive head first into coaching.
“That opportunity was something I had to take. The rest has been a wildfire,” Southwell said during a phone interview. “It was still hard, though. Most basketball players enter their athletic prime between 24 and 29. I was 25 and coming off my best professional year. It was a risky situation going back to school and making less money and taking some risks. It’s amazing the way things have turned out. I’m happy I made that decision.”
Indeed, Southwell appears to be a natural when it comes to coaching basketball.
The former K-State player has risen through the ranks with impressive speed. First, he helped the Wildcats reach the Elite Eight and then share a Big 12 championship with Texas Tech during his two seasons under Weber as a graduate assistant.
Then he helped Weber win a gold medal with Team USA at the U 19 World Cup. Then he got his first full-time coaching job as an assistant at Robert Morris. And then Weber hired him as K-State’s newest assistant coach earlier this week.
Now he’s back at his alma mater ready to teach K-State players how to make baskets instead of scoring them himself.
“It’s a surreal honor,” Southwell said. “Not a lot of coaches get this opportunity. Kansas State is my alma mater. I have a lot of good memories there. No one understands the magnitude of where we need to get back to in terms of winning basketball games more than me.”
That’s one reason why it was easy for Weber to bring him back. Still, this is a rare arrangement. Southwell is only the 11th individual to both play and coach for the Wildcats. He’s the first person to do it since Brad Underwood, who is now the head coach at Illinois, in 2012.
Southwell will bring a sense of familiarity to K-State with him. He earned a Big 12 championship ring as both a player and as a graduate assistant. But he also grew as a coach during his lone season at Robert Morris, where he helped the Colonials win 20 games and claim the NEC Tournament championship.
As a recruiter, he plans to help K-State strengthen its presence in nearby states like Missouri and Texas while also tapping into his home region of New York. He says the Wildcats have found success recruiting all over the country, and that won’t change.
“It’s always a proud moment for a coach when one of your former players not only goes into the coaching profession, but also puts the hard work and commitment necessary to being good at it,” Weber said. “As a player, you knew Shane had the drive and personality to be an excellent coach. He just has a great feel and IQ for the game of basketball. It is always good to have a former player on your staff who not only can relate to the current players, but also has a special pride for K-State.”
One advantage to Southwell accelerating his coaching timeline: He can still occasionally out-perform his players in practice.
Now at the age of 28, Southwell likes to warm up with the active members of his team before practices and compete against them one-on-one afterward.
The better he plays, the more respect he earns.
“I am able to still play,” Southwell said. “Once in a while, I will get out there to add a little spice and energy to practice. I want to let those guys know that if I can do it they should listen. Everything I am telling them to do is something they should be able to implement in their own game, especially if they just watched me do it.”
As a senior, Southwell averaged 9.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists. He was never the star of any his K-State teams, but he was a four-year starter who found a way to make teammates like Jacob Pullen and Rodney McGruder better.
His best games featured three-pointers, nifty passes and dunks.
Those are all things he can still do today as a coach. That, along with age, helps him relate with the players he coaches.
K-State lacked a young coach on its staff last season without Chester Frazier, who left for Virginia Tech last offseason. Perhaps his absence was a small factor in the team’s drop to just 11 victories this past season and a reason why Weber was quick to target Southwell after Brad Korn was hired as head coach at Southeast Missouri State.
“It’s a huge advantage,” Southwell said. “I love that I can relate to our players and understand how they feel, because I just went through it. I tell recruits all the time that I was just in your position 10 years ago. That’s not a long time.
“To be able to do that and, like I said before, get on the court with them and show that I can still play the game means so much to a program. That’s how guys take what they see and implement in their own way, rather than just listening to the head coach.”