Gene Taylor optimistic about future as trying athletic year ends for K-State Wildcats
A trying and forgettable athletic year is coming to a close for the Kansas State Wildcats.
For the first time in three decades, they were unable to reach the postseason in any of their highest-profile sports — football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball or volleyball. And the K-State baseball team likely needs to win a trophy at the Big 12 Tournament next week for the Wildcats to avoid getting shut out in that sport, as well.
Making matters worse, many of those teams posted losing records. Chris Klieman’s football squad ended its season on a five-game losing streak to finish 4-6, men’s basketball went 9-20 and women’s basketball team was 9-18.
Eight years ago, K-State celebrated an unrivaled athletic year that featured Big 12 championships in baseball, men’s basketball and football.
But it’s worth pointing out the Wildcats dealt with unprecedented adversity over the past nine months, as players and coaches had to power through testing, isolation, empty arenas and everything else that came along with the coronavirus pandemic.
“The thing I’m most proud of is that we got through it as well as we did,” K-State athletics director Gene Taylor said. “We were one of the few teams that got in all 10 football games. We played just about all of our men’s basketball games, and we only missed a few women’s basketball games and volleyball matches.”
“From where we started with lots of testing and uncertainties, I’m really proud of that. Our trainers and medical staff were under so much stress. I’m proud of our coaches, walking out of practice every day not knowing what kind of team they were going to have the next day. We didn’t have much success on the fields or on the courts. We still want to win as much as we can, but I’m proud of the fact that we were able to get through it better than so many other teams did. Because it was really, really hard on people. It was hard on the athletes and it was probably harder on the coaches. Our fans didn’t get to see it on a daily basis, but I’m telling you everyone was under constant pressure.”
Raising expectations
Perhaps things will improve next year as pandemic restrictions fade and college sports return to normal.
Taylor is optimistic the Wildcats will be much improved in all sports next season. So much so, that he graded this year’s results on a bit of a curve. He didn’t hold it against a football coach for losing games with a decimated secondary or a basketball coach walking onto the floor with just seven players.
He does expect better results in the future, but so do all of the coaches he has met with.
“They expect to be much better,” Taylor said, “and they expect to be better because they are going to be together with their teams for a normal year. Football went through a full spring practice, basketball is going to have normal summer workouts. All those things have raised their level of expectation after going through just an unprecedented year. I really like the makeup of our teams. So, absolutely, I think expectations are going to be higher on all fronts next year.”
Taylor says nearly 70% of the student-athletes at K-State have already been vaccinated, which should make COVID much less of a headache next season.
There are other legitimate reasons to hope.
Before he suffered a season-ending injury, Skylar Thompson led K-State to an upset victory at Oklahoma last season and the Wildcats started their football season 4-1. He’s now healthy and back on campus as a “super senior.”
Mike McGuirl helped the men’s basketball team win four of its final six games to build momentum heading into next year. Bruce Weber’s team returns a young nucleus of talent and added three impact transfers this spring.
Furthermore: the volleyball team had a winning season (13-8) and the baseball team won 30 games for the first time since 2013.
Planning for full capacity
Perhaps best of all, fan interest remains high. Taylor said more than 90% of K-State’s season ticket holders from 2019 have renewed their seats for 2021. The Wildcats are also planning on full capacity at football games next season (barring an unforeseen spike in cases) without mask mandates.
K-State was able to remove all capacity restrictions for its final home baseball series of the season against TCU. The same policy should remain in effect for the home football opener against Southern Illinois on Sept. 11.
“The biggest thing I’m looking forward to — maybe sounds trite, but it’s true — is getting our fans back,” Taylor said. “You can’t replicate the energy they bring, and all of our coaches agreed that playing without them really hurt us during home games. I would love to have 50,000 fans at football games again next season. Even 40,000 would be great. It looks like we will be in that range. It’s important for an athlete to come out and feel that support. It’s huge, and it was missing this year.”
Taylor said fundraising has also been strong. K-State is on track to finish its upgrades to Bill Snyder Family Stadium on schedule this summer and Taylor is hopeful the Wildcats can break ground on either a new volleyball arena or an Olympic training facility at some point in 2022.
Better than expected athletic budget
One silver lining to playing as many games as possible during the pandemic is that K-State’s athletic budget didn’t take nearly the hit Taylor and his staff expected.
K-State originally projected $20 million in lost revenue for the 2020 fiscal year. Though he is unsure of a specific number at the moment, Taylor says “it’s going to be much less than what we thought.”
Taylor said the Wildcats saved money on recruiting and travel. He also said the Big 12 is projected to provide more TV revenue than originally expected.
“It will probably take us a couple years to get back to where we were,” Taylor said. “But we’ll get back there, and we’re not going to have to borrow money from the university. We won’t rely on them. We will use some reserves and then some short-term loans. With TV revenue over the next two years we should be able to build that reserve back to what it was in 2019.”