As basketball practice begins, Kansas State embraces internal competition

The day before college basketball teams were allowed to open practice, Kansas State coach Bruce Weber had a message for his team.

He told his players to compete for themselves, for their teammates and for daily improvement. Just in case they needed extra motivation, he also told them to compete for playing time. Then he wrote the words on a dry-erase board for all to see.

“They know there is competition, and that is important,” Weber said. “Last year, I don’t want to say (playing time) was given to them, but we didn’t have a whole lot of choices. Big guys, we only had a few big guys. We didn’t have a lot of depth. They grabbed it, they went and did it on their own, but it should be a challenge for them.

“The good thing is now if they are not raring and ready to go every day we have somebody who can take their place and they can sit on the bench with us. There is nothing more motivating than sitting on the bench while someone else takes your minutes. I hope they all compete and they play hard. It should be a factor that makes us play better.”

The internal battle for minutes should be more competitive at every position this season. A year ago, Weber started Will Spradling, Marcus Foster, Wesley Iwundu and Thomas Gipson in nearly every game and rotated between Shane Southwell and Nino Williams, while backups replaced them when they needed rest.

K-State’s best players went unchallenged in practice.

Things are different this season with prominent transfers Justin Edwards and Brandon Bolden joining the mix, along with newcomers Stephen Hurt, Malek Harris and Tre Harris. Throw in the maturation of returning point guards Jevon Thomas and Nigel Johnson and one thing is clear: It will be a while before Weber settles on a starting lineup.

“For a coaching staff it is an exciting time of year,” Weber said. “We are trying to figure things out.”

The biggest additions come inside with Hurt and Bolden (both 6-foot-11), and Harris (6-foot-7) providing D.J. Johnson and Gipson with depth.

“Last year we had Wes and Marcus and everybody, but we didn’t have anyone to fill those positions if they weren’t playing well,” Gipson said. “Now anybody can play their positions. Anybody can come off the bench and start. It’s just competing. We are all sharks. If we want to move on and play at the next level after this we all have to work for it.”

It may be a while before K-State is at full strength at the post, though. Johnson is currently wearing a walking boot, and Weber said “we are not real optimistic” when asked about his status. There is a possibility he won’t be healthy enough to play this season, forcing him to take a redshirt.

“We are probably going to go back to the doctor in a couple weeks and see what his progress is,” Weber said, “and see if he is going to be with us this year. We are going to have to wait and see.”

In the meantime, K-State is looking forward to a season that carries high expectations.

Top scorer Marcus Foster was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team Thursday and many are calling the Wildcats a top 25 team. Competition should only help them along the way.

“There were times last year we didn’t have that competition because everyone was so banged up,” Foster said. “We couldn’t go out there and compete against each other as hard as we wanted to. I feel like this year we are deep. We have six guards. We can compete as hard as we want to.”

This story was originally published October 2, 2014 at 7:44 PM with the headline "As basketball practice begins, Kansas State embraces internal competition."