K-State Q&A: Collin Klein, Big 12 basketball and coaching search developments
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K-State's top candidates include Josh Schertz, Jerrod Calhoun, Casey Alexander.
- Big 12 used an LED glass court; colleges will likely stick with wood for now.
- Collin Klein blends Snyder's goals with new coaching methods.
I was aghast last weekend when I learned that it was going to cost me $15 to watch my son play in an 11U basketball tournament at a recreation center on the east side of Manhattan.
Fifteen bucks! Really?
There were some good young players at the event, but I’ve seen less gouging at the Kwik E Mart on The Simpsons.
As I begrudgingly handed over the cash, I wondered if tickets were cheaper for a K-State men’s basketball game at Bramlage Coliseum. So I pulled out my phone and checked Seat Geek. Sure enough, tickets to K-State’s final two home games of the season against TCU and West Virginia could be found for as low as $6. Courtside seats were available for $14.
I mentioned those prices to a fellow parent, and he laughed for quite a while. Then he told me to lead off this week’s mailbag with that exact anecdote.
Good idea.
The fact that it costs more to attend a youth basketball tournament than it does a K-State men’s basketball game is a telling sign of just how bad things got at the end of the Jerome Tang era.
The next coach only has one way to go ... up.
Now, let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
What’s the latest on the coaching search? Who are the top five names we need to know about? - Jeff M. via e-mail.
The search for a new K-State men’s basketball coach is trudging along.
Athletic director Gene Taylor will likely wait until certain teams get eliminated from the NCAA Tournament to seriously engage with every coach at the top of his list. But conversations are already taking place via back channels. Wheels are in motion. The Wildcats will be ready to pounce as soon as their primary candidates become available.
Here’s how I would currently break down the top 5:
Josh Schertz (Saint Louis): It sounds like he is K-State’s top choice at the moment. Schertz has guided the Billikens to a 27-3 record this season. They are poised to play in the NCAA Tournament. Schertz has also won at Indiana State and Division II Lincoln Memorial. His offense is fun to watch. It’s easy to see why the Wildcats like him. Convincing him to leave SLU and/or to reject interest from other jobs will be the challenge with Schertz.
Jerrod Calhoun (Utah State): I have heard the most chatter about Calhoun. K-State likes him. I think he likes K-State. They could make for a good match. Calhoun has won at Fairmont State, Youngstown State and Utah State. He has guided the Aggies to a 24-5 record this season. But they have lost three of their past four. He’s still a hot name on the coaching carousel, though. The Wildcats will hope that jobs like Cincinnati and Ohio State don’t also come open during this hiring cycle. That would create more competition for him. Calhoun was born in Ohio.
Casey Alexander (Belmont): He just guided the Bruins to a regular-season championship in the Missouri Valley. Can Belmont follow that up with a trophy at Arch Madness? If not, he could be available to interview with K-State early next week. He has guided his teams to nine straight seasons with at least 20 wins. He would perfectly fit the mold of an experienced head coach that Taylor is hoping to hire.
Chris Mack (Charleston): Things ended poorly for him at Louisville, but he won big for nine seasons at Xavier before he lost his job with the Cardinals. Now he’s winning 20 games every season at Charleston. There are worse re-tread options out there. But he’s a tier below the top three listed here.
Alan Huss (Creighton assistant): I have heard conflicting info on this name. Some insiders think he is a candidate, because of his ties to Kansas City. He is the head-coach-in-waiting at Creighton, but there’s no telling how long he will have to keep waiting until he gets that promotion. So a move to K-State could make sense. But other insiders have said he’s barely in the mix.
Some have mentioned Chris Beard, Chris Jans, Chris Holtmann, Steve Forbes and Ben Jacobson as candidates. But I don’t think K-State is pursuing any of them. There is some fan intrigue with Beard, though. Names like Travis Steele and Eric Olen have also faded over the past few weeks.
Brad Underwood is, unfortunately, not a realistic candidate.
Random thought before we move one: Why are so many of these candidates named Chris?
I love the glass floor at the Big 12 Tournament! Lots of advertising revenue that could be made. How soon before K-State becomes the first Big 12 team to have this floor? It seems like much wiser money spent on the floor vs what they have spent on players the past few years -@bfullingt1 via X.
I have only seen the LED floor from afar, but it seems like a fun new part of the Big 12 Tournament.
My only complaint is that the conference went with the most boring court design possible during game action. Can they not add color or special effects?
The stuff that the court does during timeouts is amazing.
It does seem like glass floors are the future. The ability to change court designs with the push of a button is a game-changer. But I don’t see K-State or any Big 12 team buying one anytime soon. What happens if the court malfunctions or gets hacked or someone spills soda all over a few panels?
You don’t have to worry about those problems with a wooden floor. Colleges will want to stay with the safe option for the time being.
But if everything works smoothly at the Big 12 Tournament, maybe we will see other conferences follow suit. One day, perhaps LED courts will be mainstream.
If K-State had the glass court, which former Ahearn/Bramlage court design would you want to see on a throwback night? I think the Tom Asbury/Manny Dies/Pero Vasiljević era court was under appreciated. (I think google has forgotten the legend of Manny and Pero) -@the_funky_andy via X.
Hey, that sounds good to me!
I miss the old court design that featured a dark shade of brown/tan (whatever color it was) within the arc.
The current design is too plain for my liking.
With a glass floor, I would want to see all purple for certain games and a splash of lavender for others. Imagine what pro teams do during the NBA Cup and then push the limits even further.
I didn’t get to see the win against WVU, so it’s likely I’m way off base here. But the games I’ve watched this season it often appears our offense is PJ dribbling and driving to the basket and making a wild pass out to one of the four guys watching him if he can’t get a shot up -@kstatefanfirst via X.
There have definitely been times this season when K-State players have deferred too much to PJ Haggerty.
He averages 23.3 points per game, and he knows how to score around the rim. So it’s only natural for his teammates to occasionally get out of the way so he can create on his own.
Has that hurt the Wildcats from time to time? Yes. The Wildcats have lost 10 games when Haggerty has eclipsed 20 points. And they lost one game when he scored 30. I won’t argue if you suggest that more teamwork is needed on certain possessions.
But K-State only scored 65 points without Haggerty on Tuesday. It was the team’s sixth-lowest scoring output of the season. The Wildcats were far from stellar on offense. They beat West Virginia with defense.
K-State is a better team when Haggerty is on the floor. There is no doubt about that. But he isn’t quite good enough for him to completely take over games like Markquis Nowell and Jacob Pullen could. The Wildcats have struggled to find a perfect balance for him.
How many more games will the K-State women win at the Big 12 Tournament? Can they win the whole thing? - Andrew B. via X.
Kudos to the K-State women’s basketball team for advancing to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center.
Jeff Mittie’s team thumped Cincinnati in the opening round and then rallied past Texas Tech with a 21-0 run in the second round. Up next is another morning game against Oklahoma State. The Wildcats beat the Cowboys (or is it Cowgirls?) earlier this season at Bramlage Coliseum. Another upset is certainly possible.
But it’s hard for me to see K-State advancing past the semifinals. League champion TCU will likely be waiting in that round, and the Horned Frogs beat the Wildcats by 22 earlier this season. Tired legs will become a factor at some point. Winning five games in five days seems almost impossible.
Fans can dream for now, though.
Is Collin Klein re-instating the 16 goals that originated under Bill Snyder? Or is he doing something different? I understand his affinity for the 16 goals, but I wonder if he should modify them to suit him and to affirm that it’s his program now -@mrtroyh via X.
I expect Collin Klein to mention Bill Snyder’s 16 goals for success from time to time.
But I don’t think he plans to plaster the 16 rules all over the walls and emphasize them the same way Snyder did when he was a player.
Klein’s plan is to be the “new old school.” That means he is going to coach his players hard but operate with a new style. He will blend his favorite coaching techniques with everything he picked up from Mike Elko, Chris Klieman and Snyder.
Klien told me that he tries to stay in contact with both Klieman and Snyder as he prepares for his first year as a head coach.
“We’ve talked a handful of times,” Klein said of Klieman. “He’s been great. There have been a few things I’ve had questions about or wanted clarity on. Whatever the issue was, he always made time for me. He’s been a big-time mentor for me.”
How about Snyder?
“We talk, and we touch base,” Klein said. “We have been able to have breakfast a time or two. He’s very, very dear to me. I hear and rely on his wisdom daily.”