Why Big 12 coaches, K-State players think Wildcats can exceed ninth-place expectations
Scott Drew respects Kansas State basketball. The longtime Baylor coach goes out of his way to say nice things about the Wildcats every time he visits Manhattan and even calls Bruce Weber a friend.
He also picked K-State to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 in his preseason poll a year after the Wildcats won 25 games and shared a conference championship with Texas Tech.
What gives?
“That is what makes the Big 12 so good,” Drew said Wednesday at Big 12 basketball media day in the Sprint Center. “There is no bottom, so somebody has to be voted there. But every coach realizes that Kansas State is not a ninth-place team, just like TCU is not a 10th-place team. In any other league they are not picked there. I think we all realize that, no matter where you are picked this is a one-or-two possession league and anything can happen.”
The Wildcats are certainly hoping that they can prove their doubters wrong this season, as they were picked to finish ninth in the preseason Big 12 coaches poll.
That came as a big surprise to most K-State players.
Though the Wildcats lost key seniors Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade, they return three proven starters, including star senior Xavier Sneed. This still looks like a NCAA Tournament team, not a group that might have trouble avoiding the conference cellar.
“That is bulletin-board material, easily, for us,” K-State senior Pierson McAtee said. “We are not setting that limit for ourselves. We are not saying that is our goal, by any means. We have got our own goals to hit right now. We are focused on improving every day. As long as we do that, by the end of the season we will be in good shape for a tournament run.”
A strong returning core is K-State’s biggest reason for optimism, but Weber is also high on freshman guard DaJuan Gordon. The four-star recruit from Chicago has turned heads since the day he arrived on campus over the summer and might be the most talented freshman Weber has coached in Manhattan.
Depth could be an issue for the Wildcats. So could the lack of a proven power forward, as freshmen Montavious Murphy and Antonio Gordon will be asked to replace Wade at the four.
It’s not a sure thing that K-State will win 20 games this season, but some thought Weber’s team deserved the benefit of the doubt in the Big 12 poll.
Alas, to the chagrin of some K-State fans, that didn’t happen. Usual favorite Kansas topped the Big 12 poll and received eight votes for first place. The other two went to Texas Tech and Baylor.
Bill Self voted for the Red Raiders, while Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said he went with the Bears. At this time a year ago, Boynton also cut against the grain and gave his first-place to the Wildcats.
This time around, he voted them near the bottom.
“It gets really hard to try and project this league,” Boynton said. “Year to year, Kansas gets the benefit of the doubt and then you can put just about any team in the middle. When you get to 10 you realize you put a really good team at 10. That just shows the level of competition we have across the board in this league.”
To prove his point, Boynton pointed to last season’s Big 12 Tournament. Back then, West Virginia made it to the semifinals as a No. 10 seed, upsetting national runner-up Texas Tech in the quarterfinals.
“I don’t know how I would feel about it if I was in Kansas State’s position,” Boynton said. “They did lose a lot. In some ways, it takes some pressure off going into the year. It’s also a reflection of how good our league is.”
Weber downplayed the importance of being picked near the bottom of the league on Wednesday by pointing out that K-State was picked to finish eighth in the Big 12 two years ago and then played in the Elite Eight.
The Wildcats used preseason expectations as motivation back then. He hopes they can do the same now.
“It’s not great for your fans and selling tickets,” Weber said. “At the same time, for us, it doesn’t matter. Every year there’s somebody that’s picked eighth or ninth, seventh, that ends up being in the top of the league. It always happens.”
This story was originally published October 23, 2019 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Why Big 12 coaches, K-State players think Wildcats can exceed ninth-place expectations."