K-State Wildcats Q&A: Avery Johnson, NIL deals, basketball transfers and the Sweet 16
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
There are plenty of great topics to cover about the Wildcats this week with the women’s basketball team off to the Sweet 16 and the transfer window open for Jerome Tang and the men.
Let’s dive right into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
Why haven’t there been any men’s basketball players who announced they are going into the portal? -@WildcatEmaw via X.
It is surprising that the Kansas State men’s basketball team hasn’t lost any players to the transfer portal yet. Last year, several Wildcats sprinted to the compliance office to put their names in the database.
Cam Carter won the race, if memory serves.
Why are things happening at a slower pace this year?
There are a few reasons. For starters, K-State students were on spring break last week. So players opted to leave Manhattan and relax rather than stay and fill out paperwork. Secondly, Jerome Tang asked to sit down with every player and discuss their futures after they returned to campus. That isn’t necessarily a speedy process. And finally, Tang has said he wants to retain as many players as he can from his current roster. So he may have given some players who were on the fence about transferring something extra to think about.
That being said, the transfer window only opened on Monday. I still expect at least two or three K-State basketball players to transfer and look for new teams.
Insiders have told me to expect announcements on the transfer front early next week. Why the delay? Again, I’m not entirely sure. But waiting a few days won’t change the end result.
The most likely candidates are Macaleab Rich, Ugonna Onyenso and Baye Fall.
Jerome Tang is already on the hunt for new players overseas and in the transfer portal. One name to keep an eye on is Omaha wing Marquel Sutton. He averaged 18.9 points and 7.9 rebounds on an NCAA Tournament team. The Wildcats have reportedly reached out to him, along with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, USC and Nebraska.
Creighton transfer Pop Isaacs might also be an interesting name to follow.
Other transfers that have been linked to K-State include: Amarion Dickerson (Robert Morris), Chase Forte (South Dakota), Jonathan Powell (West Virginia), Nick Pringle (South Carolina) and All Wright (Valpo).
How does the K-State women’s basketball team match up with USC without JuJu Watkins playing? -@pastorcshane via X.
College basketball statistician Bart Torvik has USC favored by 7.1 points over K-State when both teams are at full strength.
But the betting line for Saturday’s game is USC by 1.5 without star player JuJu Watkins in the lineup.
That means Watkins is worth around six points to the spread.
Watkins averaged 23.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game before she suffered a season-ending injury against Mississippi State earlier this week.
As K-State fans know all too well from their experiences with injured basketball stars such as Dean Wade and Ayoka Lee, it’s extremely unfortunate she won’t be able to play in the Sweet 16. But her absence could be a good break for the Wildcats. The odds of Jeff Mittie’s team beating USC at full strength were low. Now this game is viewed as a toss-up in Vegas.
It’s worth noting that USC is extremely talented, even without Watkins. She went down early against Mississippi and the Trojans still beat the Bulldogs 96-59.
Kiki Iriafen erupted for 36 points without Watkins on the floor, while Avery Howell came off the bench to score 18.
K-State’s backcourt may not have to work quite as hard on defense, but it will still be challenged.
Mittie said he wasn’t sure how K-State’s game plan will change.
“There are not a lot of clips with her not on the floor,” Mittie said. “I’ll tell you that. But they played so well without her ... We will just do the best we can with what they run. My guess is they’re not going to get too far away, but somebody’s got to take those minutes and we’ll take a look at all the rotations that they use.”
What was Kellis Robinett up to the last time the K-State women’s basketball team played in the Sweet 16? -@LoganPosson via X.
The year was 2002, which means I was a skinny college freshman with a full head of hair.
I wish I could say I was doing something productive with my abundance of energy and free time back then. But I was probably playing Super Smash Bros. or Mario Kart on the Nintendo GameCube with friends in my dorm.
What is the best adult beverage to mix Avery Johnson’s strawberry lemonade with? -@KSTATEUPRL via X.
I haven’t had a chance to “spike” Avery Johnson’s new strawberry lemonade NIL drink with any spirits yet.
But I did grab two cans of the stuff at the Hy-Vee in Manhattan earlier this week. I took a few sips of one can and thought it was pretty good. There was nothing amazing to it. It was no better or worse than any other lemonade you can drink from a can. But it sure did taste like strawberry lemonade, which is really the only bar the drink had to clear. I gave it a thumbs up.
My only gripe would be the price. It’s $2.50 for a single can. It’s probably worth it to have at your tailgate on a fall Saturday. But it’s a bit pricey for everyday drinking.
After I tried a few sips, my four kids downed the rest in a matter of seconds. They demanded I go buy more.
My 6-year old son said it was “amazing.” Consider it kid approved.
I will have to buy another can and see how it tastes “spiked.” I assume vodka is the best spirit to use as a mixer. Tito’s and Deep Eddy are popular for a reason. But bourbon could probably work, too. I’m willing to find out.
Challenge accepted!
When is Head and Shoulders going to do a NIL deal with Avery? -@superksufan99 via X.
They definitely need to find a way to get Avery Johnson involved with the next batch of commercials that already feature Patrick Mahomes and Troy Polamalu.
Is the K-State athletic department intending to set guidelines for various sports to better manage NIL dollars (Seth Greenberg mentioned KSU MBB as example on Pat McAfee 3/27/2025) -@daggone51 via X.
Chris Klieman hired a “general manager” to focus specifically on NIL and roster management for the football team. Jerome Tang has said he may consider doing the same for men’s basketball.
The only firm guidelines being handed down from above will be how the athletic department decides to distribute $20.5 million with student-athletes once revenue sharing begins.
The vast majority will go to football. Gene Taylor has said around 20% (or $4 million) will go to men’s basketball.
Four weeks from the draft, we know several will be drafted. Can you give us your best guess of who gets drafted first, second and third. Any other thoughts? -@ChadFullington via X.
Jacob Parrish should be the first former Kansas State football player to get selected in the upcoming NFL Draft.
The cornerback was excellent during his three seasons with the Wildcats, and he showed elite speed at the scouting combine. My guess is he will be picked in the middle rounds on Day 2.
DJ Giddens will likely be next. Any team that needs a running back would be lucky to draft him.
Marquise Sigle looks like a late-rounder.
Those are the three main players to watch with ties to the Wildcats. But there is also a chance that offensive lineman Easton Kilty and defensive lineman Brendan Mott could be selected after they put up quality numbers at the Big 12’s Pro Day.
Kansas State touts four players as running over 23 mph. Is this more or less than other teams? I do like that it’s a safety, cornerback, running back and a QB. -@jamesglessner92 via X.
Four would probably be on the low side for an elite SEC roster, but you can’t beat the way Kansas State’s top speed is spread across the field.
Avery Johnson might be the only quarterback in the country who can run faster than 23 mph.
Dylan Edwards gives the Wildcats breakaway speed. And you love to see wheels like that in the secondary.
How will the football staff keep five really talented tight ends happy on the roster? -@0Mantz via X.
Adding five-star recruit Linkon Cure to the tight end corps will certainly give offensive coordinator Matt Wells another mouth to feed. But the Wildcats found plenty of creative ways to get four tight ends involved last season.
Heck, they used three tight ends as receivers on the same play in one game.
Garrett Oakley caught 22 passes for 236 yards and five touchdowns. Brayden Loftin had 11 catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Will Swanson grabbed nine catches for 66 yards and three scores. And let’s not forget Will Anciaux, who had seven catches for 62 yards and three touchdowns.
There is probably room for one more.
Cure gives the K-State coaches yet another versatile weapon to use in red zone, and elsewhere.
To be clear, I am not in favor of either, but where do things currently sit with past proposals to 1) Rename the Big 12 to something like the “Allstate Big XII” in a naming rights deal. And 2) To leverage private equity as a funding mechanism for the Big 12? -@Kirk Z via e-mail.
Both options remain on the table.
I haven’t heard much of anything about the conference inserting a sponsor into its name since the idea was originally floated last year. It seemed like a done deal back then. Not so much now. All I know is Brett Yormark loves to make money, and that is an easy way to accomplish that goal. We shall see what happens.
Private equity has been in the news lately. The Big 12 is still looking into adding investors as a way to boost revenue. That could happen in the near future. Personally, though, I think that is a bad idea. It may make people happy in the short term, but no one will want to share profits in the long term.