New K-State basketball coach Casey Alexander outlines his plan for the Wildcats
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Casey Alexander commits to high-tempo, efficient offense, stressing efficiency
- K-State hires a proven winner with 303 career victories and four conference crowns.
- Coach aims to rebuild culture and consistency after recent turbulence.
Casey Alexander’s introductory news conference at Kansas State could be summed up in two words.
All business.
There was no party atmosphere Monday morning inside Bramlage Coliseum. The new K-State men’s basketball coach didn’t try to fire up the crowd with bold statements or emotional words. But he did outline his plan for the future of Wildcats basketball and explain why he expects his system to work in the Big 12.
After a turbulent few seasons, maybe that approach is exactly what K-State basketball needs.
“We want to be a style that is fun to play, fun to watch, fun to cheer for and leads to wins,” Alexander said. “Obviously, we want to be high tempo. Every coach in the world is going to say they want to be high tempo, get up and down the floor. Not every coach can say they’re typically in the top 25 in the country in that category per year, or scoring per game.
“We want to be a high-assist team. We want to be a really unselfish team. We want to get a lot of work done at the 3-point line, but we don’t want to live and die at the 3-point line. We want to be really efficient outside the arc and inside the arc. Our team this year at Belmont was the No. 1 effective field goal team in the country. We had great success offensively through the years, but we do it in an efficient way. It’s not a track meet.
“We just figure out how to get the right kind of players who have the right skills. Above all else, they understand what it means to play together. They want to share the ball and understand what it means to be a great teammate. This day and age, those things are tough to come by. There’s a lot that distracts from the business at hand, which is winning. But we want guys that are still committed to that, and that’s exactly how we’re going to build.”
Alexander arrives at K-State at an interesting time for the Wildcats.
They have experienced moments of brilliance over the past two decades. But consistent success has been hard to come by.
Frank Martin guided them to an Elite Eight in 2010. Bruce Weber won a pair of Big 12 championships and also reached the Elite Eight. Then Jerome Tang took K-State to the Elite Eight in his first year on the job. But he was fired for cause midway through his fourth season in Manhattan.
And yet, the Wildcats have only played in one NCAA Tournament over the past seven seasons. This year, they lost 20 games and flirted with last place in the conference standings.
Perhaps Alexander is the man to provide staying power. He has 15 years of experience as a head coach, and he has won 303 games over that time. He spent the past seven years at Belmont, and he won at least 20 games in all seven of those seasons. The Bruins won 26 games and claimed a regular-season Missouri Valley championship this year.
Before that, he found success at Stetson and Lipscomb. His teams have won four conference championships. He has coached in both the NIT and NCAA Tournament.
“We wanted a coach with a proven track record of success and consistent success wherever he’s coached,” K-State athletic director Gene Taylor said. “He’s won every place that he’s been. Those were things that were important to us as we looked for our next head coach.”
Belmont led the country in 3-point shooting at 41% and ranked sixth nationally in 2-point shooting at 60.6%.
Former K-State basketball player Jordan Henriquez was part of the search committee that hired Alexander. He was blown away by those numbers.
“He’s had a ton of success at Belmont over the years, and now I’m excited to see him do it at the highest level,” Henriquez said. “Data never lies. He runs the numbers up offensively. I know he will bring in guys who will impact winning on both sides of the ball.”
Alexander has spent most of his life in Nashville. He played for Belmont when he was a college student. and he returned to his alma mater as head coach. He was in no rush to leave. But he is eager to prove himself in the Big 12.
Once he did his homework on K-State, he was all in.
Maybe that’s why Alexander was ready to get to work when he arrived in Manhattan.
“Every coach that’s been here has had success at one time or another,” Alexander said. “Maybe not annually, but you can win here. It’s well documented that it’s resourced. It’s well documented that they want to win here. It’s well documented that there’s great support. All those things were very intriguing to me.”