Kansas State Q&A: Basketball, football recruiting and everything in between

Not a single question about a move related to the male anatomy. Gotta say, I’m surprised.

Nevertheless, it’s time for another K-State Q&A. Let’s jump right into your questions. Thanks, as always, for asking them.

The lowest seed to win the Big 12 Tournament is a 4, so I’m going to guess no on that part of the question. I don’t know what every team in the history of college basketball has done with K-State’s exact record of 13-9 and 2-7, but here are a few recent examples of mid-season turnarounds that ended in the NCAA Tournament you may or may not be familiar with.

Baylor 2014: The Bears started 14-9 and 2-8 to fall near the bottom of the conference standings. All seemed lost, then they figured things out. Baylor finished 26-12, making it all the way to the conference tournament finals and the Sweet 16.

Oklahoma State 2014: The Cowboys started 16-10 and 4-9, with Marcus Smart earning himself a mulit-game suspension, only to finish 21-13 with a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas State 2011: Rallied from a start of 14-7 and 2-5 to win 23 games and take a No. 5 seed into the NCAA Tournament.

I maintain that six or seven more victories would get K-State to the NCAA Tournament. The challenge it faces will be going on a winning streak without Kamau Stokes, its starting point guard.

He should. A Darren Sproles screen pass is like Kryptonite to No. 1 Oklahoma.

Here’s hoping K-State at least shows some highlights of the 2003 Big 12 Championship game to play off the parallels.

I think he does a decent job stepping up for his players when it comes to officiating. He has picked up technical fouls this year, and he more or less asked for one late in the first half against Kansas when he walked across the court to give an official an ear full. The official simply let him off with a bench warning.

I don’t remember him complaining as much when K-State started the season on a winning streak. So I guess that is the cure. Could be a while before that happens again. Next up are No.1 Oklahoma and No. 15 Baylor.

Bill Snyder said K-State’s coaching staff will focus on adding more defensive players to the recruiting class.

The Wildcats could use additional depth everywhere, but here’s guessing they lean toward another defensive back or defensive lineman.

It is a bit sad the facility went from giving K-State an instant recruiting boost when it opened to delivering the 76th rated class nationally, per rivals. K-State was in the top 50 each of the past two years without a fancy new football complex.

I have asked John Currie many times how he handles planning for the future with a coach nearing retirement age, and his answer is always the same. Every athletic director plans for a coaching change, whether the coach is really good and may take another job, whether the coach is bad and may get fired, or whether the coach is nearing retirement.

And he is no different.

So he has a plan, or at least a rough draft of a plan, in his head.

I have a sneaking suspicion we will see Skylar Thompson start at some point next season as a true freshman, but Bill Snyder may not throw him into the fire at Stanford right off the bat. So I’m going to say Jesse Ertz starts the first game.

Let’s be honest. We all know Joe Hubener will somehow finish it.

I have heard from several people that think something is wrong at K-State, because a handful of walk-ons and scholarship players that weren’t in line to play next season decided to quit or transfer. I don’t agree with that logic.

Walk-ons are constantly coming and going. Their biggest departure rates occur at the start of winter and summer workouts, which is now, when they realize they have to put in tons of physical work without the reward of playing time or a scholarship. It’s nothing out of the ordinary on a roster of 100-plus players. And a new batch of walk-ons is on the way to replace them.

I suppose you would rather keep Jonathan Banks and Kaleb Prewett than lose them, but Banks wasn’t going to challenge for the starting quarterback position. And Prewett was in the doghouse. K-State didn’t even take him to the Liberty Bowl. It’s unclear whether he quit or was dismissed from the team. Regardless, he was looking at a backup role next year, too.

It’s not like 10 starters guaranteed to play next season are on the way out. I see no cause for concern.

It’s all about location. The Big 12 already has Baylor, TCU, Texas and Texas Tech. Those schools don’t want another in-state team to compete with and the conference doesn’t want another team within its current TV footprint. It’s too bad, because Houston would be a very nice addition to the league. If only it could switch locations with Nebraska or Arkansas.