Kansas State working to hire Casey Alexander of Belmont as new basketball coach
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- K-State in advanced negotiations to hire Casey Alexander, 15-year coach, 303 wins.
- Alexander spent seven seasons at Belmont and won the MVC regular-season title this year.
- K‑State hopes Alexander can return program to winning ways after recent turmoil.
From the beginning of Kansas State’s search for a new basketball coach, Gene Taylor said he was going to value experience.
Above all, the K-State athletic director wanted to hire someone who had spent extensive time as a head coach. Finding a proven winner was his top priority.
He appears to have landed someone who fits that exact mold.
K-State is in advanced negotiations to hire Casey Alexander as its next men’s basketball coach, according to a source with knowledge of the search. If officially hired, he’ll come to Manhattan with 15 years of experience as a head coach. He has won a combined total of 303 games during his career while working at three different schools.
Alexander was most recently at Belmont, where he guided the Bruins to seven consecutive 20-win seasons. This year, he helped Belmont win 26 games and claim a Missouri Valley regular-season championship.
He spent seven seasons at Belmont and finished with an overall record of 166-60.
Before that, he won consistently at Lipscomb and took that team to a NCAA Tournament. He also spent two seasons at Stetson.
The 53-year-old Alexander has been named conference coach of the year in both the Atlantic Sun and the Missouri Valley.
K-State originally showed more interest in Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz and Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun during its search. But neither of them jumped at an opportunity to take the job.
Taylor met with both candidates in recent weeks, according to sources. Schertz appears content to remain at SLU for another year or to wait for a higher-profile opening.
Calhoun was open to the idea of coaching at K-State. The Wildcats even began negotiating a deal with him, according to insiders. But the timing wasn’t right for him to make a move with Utah State awaiting a berth in the NCAA Tournament next week.
Creighton associate head coach Alan Huss was also considered a candidate.
But all roads led back to Alexander.
If the Wildcats can finalize a deal with him, as expected, he will soon be announced as the team’s next head coach.
He will arrive at K-State at an interesting time. The Wildcats have only reached the NCAA Tournament one time over the past seven seasons. And Jerome Tang was fired midway through this past season, during which K-State lost 20 games and flirted with a last-place finish in the Big 12.
But the past three coaches at K-State have advanced to the Elite Eight.
The right coach can win in Manhattan.
The Wildcats will hope Alexander can return the program to its winning ways.
This story was originally published March 12, 2026 at 10:33 PM.