K-State basketball assistant Mark Vital returns to team after charges reduced
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- Mark Vital returned to K‑State bench after original charge was reduced.
- Vital missed five games under suspension after his Feb. 9 arrest.
- Former Baylor player joined K‑State staff this season as a graduate assistant.
Mark Vital is back with the Kansas State men’s basketball team.
The graduate assistant coach returned to the bench as the Wildcats played against the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
He had missed the past five games with a suspension, which he served after he was arrested earlier this month.
Vital was originally arrested with a charge of domestic battery at 12:20 a.m. on Feb. 9 at the 600 block of Vattier Street in Manhattan, according to the Riley Country Police Department’s crime log. But that charge has since been reduced to disorderly conduct.
At the time of his arrest, K-State announced that Vital would be suspended until his legal situation was resolved.
A reduction in charges paved the way for him to return to the Wildcats.
Vital is a former Baylor player who joined K-State this season as a graduate assistant. Former head coach Jerome Tang hired him because of their successful history together. They won a national championship at Baylor in 2021. Back then, Tang was an assistant coach for the Bears and Vital was a star player who averaged 6.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
At 6-foot-5, Vital was able to continue playing after his college career came to an end. Vital played professional basketball in foreign countries and also spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs as a tight end.
Vital turned to coaching this season when Tang offered him a role on his K-State support staff.