K-State Q&A: How much patience has Bruce Weber earned from Wildcats fans?
During his eight years as Kansas State men’s basketball coach, Bruce Weber has won enough games to receive near universal support from the fan base and also lost enough games to hear a good chunk of those same fans call for his job … twice.
It’s a fascinating career arc that is filled with as many highs and lows as your favorite ride at Worlds of Fun.
Weber shared a Big 12 championship in his first season, reached the Elite Eight in his sixth season and won another conference banner in his seventh season. But he bottomed out hard in between those strong years and now appears on his way to another losing season.
He was the most popular coach on campus last year. But some, perhaps many, wanted him replaced when he missed the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season in 2016. Some, definitely not many, are beginning to doubt him again.
Peaks and valleys are difficult on fans. Based purely on my Twitter mentions following K-State’s loss to Texas Tech, which dropped the Wildcats to 7-9 and 0-4 in the Big 12, it seems like there is a healthy debate to be had about Weber’s lack of consistency.
Some think missing the NCAA Tournament is unforgivable, even in a down year. Others seem willing to tolerate the occasion disappointing season as long as it leads to the occasional thrilling season.
I’m not here to tell you how to feel about Weber in Year 8 with the Wildcats. But I do have some research to pass along that shows K-State’s ups and downs under Weber aren’t much different from most of the other basketball teams in the Big 12.
Since Weber was hired in 2012, here is a look at how many times every Big 12 team has reached the NCAA Tournament:
- Kansas: 7.
- Iowa State: 6.
- Oklahoma 6.
- Baylor: 5.
- Kansas State: 5.
- Texas: 5.
- West Virginia: 4.
- Oklahoma State: 3.
- Texas Tech: 3.
- TCU: 1.
Bill Self is the only coach that has reached the NCAA Tournament every single year during that span, meaning Lon Kruger, Scott Drew, Bob Huggins, Jamie Dixon, Chris Beard and every other coach in the conference would be working somewhere else right now if athletic directors fired coaches for occasionally missing out on March Madness.
Also worth noting: Weber ranks fourth in tournament appearances over the past seven years. He also ranks second in conference championships.
It’s hard for most basketball teams to achieve staying power. Very few are immune to down years.
You could certainly argue that Weber’s teams should be more immune to them than they have been. For a team with Big 12 championship highs, do the lows really have to be, well, this low?
Xavier Sneed’s senior year is being wasted because K-State had three straight years of poor recruiting. But this is also the first time he has experienced losing in a Wildcats uniform.
This will be a trying season for everyone associated with K-State basketball, but Weber has done enough in Manhattan to earn some patience and rebuild, even though everyone would rather watch him reload. K-State’s freshmen are off to an encouraging start and a top 25 recruiting class is on the way.
This is starting to feel like a lost season, but Weber isn’t on the hot seat and won’t be as long as another upswing appears within reach.
And with that, it’s time for another K-State Q&A. We have lots of fun topics to cover this week. Thanks, as always, for your participation.
It could be a while.
The Wildcats haven’t won since their final game of December, at home against Tulsa. They have lost four in a row and haven’t been particularly close to winning their last two.
Last week I pointed out that the Texas game was going to be a big one for K-State, because a loss in Austin brought an 0-6 Big 12 start into play. Well, now I’m not sure how this team can avoid an 0-6 start with West Virginia and Kansas next up on the schedule.
The Wildcats close out January with winnable games against Alabama and Oklahoma. But the Crimson Tide just handed Auburn its first loss and will get that game at home. So that one will be tricky. The Sooners already beat the Wildcats at the start of this month. So that one won’t be easy, either.
Ken Pomeroy only lists K-State as the projected favorite in one remaining game: at home against Oklahoma State on Feb. 11.
I think the Wildcats win that game. Oklahoma State has also lost four straight and seems to have just as many issues as K-State.
I also think the Wildcats will have a Big 12 win under their belt before that. Maybe even two. At Iowa State on Feb. 8 will also be a game to watch.
But K-State’s next win will come later this month at home against Oklahoma. The Sooners are the better overall team, but they don’t play a lick of defense and were fortunate to beat the Wildcats at Lloyd Noble Center at the start of conference play. Weber has also never lost to Oklahoma at home.
That’s enough for me to project Jan. 29 as K-State’s next victory.
If that point hasn’t arrived yet, you can see it approaching on the horizon.
The only thing left to play for this season is a strong finish that maybe gives the Wildcats a shot at winning a few games at the Big 12 Tournament. They might as well build for next season along the way.
I see no down side to starting DaJuan Gordon, Montavious Murphy and Antonio Gordon along with Cartier Diarra and Xavier Sneed right now. That lineup worked well for K-State last time out against Texas Tech, even though the Red Raiders won 77-63. It wasn’t perfect by any means. This team is definitely better on defense with Makol Mawien and Mike McGuirl on the floor, but it’s better on offense and overall energy with its young players.
Until McGuirl recovers from his concussion and starts making three-pointers again, Weber would be wise to give his minutes to DaJuan Gordon and David Sloan. Until Mawien snaps out of his season-long slump, the Wildcats are better off playing younger big men. Levi Stockard, Antonio Gordon and Murphy are all out-playing him at the moment.
An argument could also be made for giving some of Diarra’s minutes to Sloan, but it seems like K-State would be better served finding a way for them to play together. Diarra is the only guy on this roster who can create off the dribble.
But Weber should probably start thinking of ways to get his freshmen extra playing time. They are ready to help this team now and build toward next season.
This is the wrong year to try and go winless in the Big 12.
Once you get past Baylor, Kansas, West Virginia and Texas Tech pretty much every game is winnable. Oklahoma State doesn’t have a conference win yet. Texas and Iowa State are mediocre. TCU and Oklahoma aren’t anything special.
A team could make the NCAA Tournament simply by piling up wins against the bottom half of the league, which might be what TCU ends up doing.
K-State will win some games against that competition. My projected finish: 12-19 (5-13).
I was very surprised to hear Weber say he hoped to add two additional players to K-State’s 2020 recruiting class when the Wildcats are already one over the scholarship limit for next season.
That means K-State will need to open up three roster spots in the coming months. That sort of thing happens all the time in college basketball, but coaches are rarely so honest about potential player defections in January.
Here’s guessing Weber made that admission because certain players have informed him they are at least open to the idea of playing elsewhere next season. Cartier Diarra has been in college for four years and might be ready to start a professional career somewhere. James Love and Nigel Shadd have been in Manhattan for a combined seven seasons and rarely ever played. They both might be ready for a fresh start.
Maybe one of them will decide to stay if K-State can only sign six players instead of seven this recruiting cycle. But it won’t be a shock if any of them leave.
Both players seem to be perpetually hurt. That’s the biggest reason neither of them play.
James Love has shown some ability when he has been healthy enough to be on the court. Nigel Shadd has shown some athleticism when he gets into games. Those moments are simply too few and far between to properly evaluate them as players.
Both are clearly a step behind the other bigs on this roster.
If his seat was comfortably set at room temperature at the beginning of the season, maybe it’s climbed one degree warmer following a 7-9 start. But that’s about all.
Like it or not, taking K-State to the Elite Eight and a Big 12 championship the past two seasons have bought Weber a down season, especially with a good recruiting class on the way.
If he’s not winning next year, his seat might start to warm up a bit.
I hope it happens soon.
There’s no good reason why officials aren’t full-time employees right now.
I’m all for anything that improves officiating in college basketball. For the most part, I think it is pretty good. But no one seems to know how to properly officiate games involving Texas Tech or West Virginia, and that leads to some games with 60-plus free throws like we saw the other night at Bramlage Coliseum.
The other thing that bothers me about college officials are how eager they are to hand out technical fouls. Texas Tech guard Kyler Edwards didn’t deserve one for screaming the words “and one” after making a layup. Bruce Weber didn’t deserve one for correctly pointing out two bad calls on the same play.
Believe it or not, the K-State football team has finished a season with more wins than the K-State basketball team.
That last happened in 2000 when Bill Snyder led the Wildcats to 11 wins on the football field and Tom Asbury was fired after winning just nine games.
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: How much patience has Bruce Weber earned from Wildcats fans?."