‘The last few days have been crazy’: Kansas State women living in Sweet 16 spotlight
Things don’t feel normal for the Kansas State women’s basketball team right now.
Players have been living in the spotlight ever since star center Ayoka Lee, point guard Serena Sundell and 3-point specialist Temira Poindexter guided the Wildcats to their first Sweet 16 appearance in more than two decades with a thrilling overtime victory against Kentucky.
“The last few days have been crazy,” Sundell said. “There’s just a lot of love in the community and a lot of things going on.”
Indeed, there is no such thing as a daily routine as the Wildcats prepare for their next game, against No. 1 seed USC at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Spokane, Washington. Here is a quick rundown of everything the Wildcats have experienced since they returned to Manhattan after winning their first two games in the NCAA Tournament:
- Hundreds of purple-clad fans greeted the team at MHK Regional Airport
- Sundell landed an NIL deal with Buffalo Wild Wings
- Poindexter appeared live on ESPN for an interview
- The Wildcats participated in a team-wide NIL event at a local grocery store
“I feel a lot of gratitude,” Lee said. “We have an opportunity to continue playing and show that we can play at a high level.
“ I also feel a lot of joy, just because it is hard to get here. There’s only 16 teams left playing in the NCAA Tournament, and we’re one of them. It’s kind of a big deal.”
Question is, how are the Wildcats handling all that extra attention?
Even though the K-State program has a good fan base for women’s basketball, its players are not used to this stage. The last time K-State reached the Sweet 16 was back in 2002. Excitement is growing about what this group can accomplish now that it has reached this year’s Round of 16.
Finding ways to enjoy the moment and focus on the next opponent has been a juggling act for the Wildcats.
“I’ve come down off that high,” Sundell said. “I think it happened (Tuesday) morning. I was like, ‘OK, let’s refocus. Let’s still try to take it all in, but also move on.’ We came in and had a team meeting and talked about the schedule and looking forward. So I think that’s when we all kind of turned our heads to our next opponent.”
Coach Jeff Mittie and his staff of assistants plan on multi-tasking all the way up until game time.
They aren’t dealing with extra publicity and NIL requests like the players, but they remain busy recruiting via the transfer portal and building for the future while they try to keep winning games during March Madness.
“It’s part of our game, and I’m thankful to be doing both right now,” Mittie said. “It beats only doing one thing right now.”
Extra distractions come with the territory when your team is on a run in the NCAA Tournament.
Sundell thinks K-State’s players are handling it all pretty well.
“I’m more excited than anything,” she said. “I don’t have too many nerves yet. We have a lot of experience in this group. I think we’re kind of playing with that underdog mentality, which is playing with nothing to lose but also knowing that we’re very capable and confident.”