K-State basketball expected to hire former guard Shane Southwell as assistant coach
Bruce Weber is adding a familiar face to the Kansas State basketball team’s coaching staff.
Shane Southwell, a former K-State player and graduate assistant under Weber, is expected to return to his alma mater and serve as an assistant coach for the Wildcats, a source confirmed.
K-State is expected to formally announce Southwell’s hiring after Southwell’s contract is approved, potentially early next week, according to the source.
The news was first reported by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.
Southwell is a logical choice to replace Brad Korn, who was recently hired as head coach at Southeast Missouri State.
Southwell spent two seasons playing for Weber as a guard and helped the Wildcats share a Big 12 championship with Kansas in 2013. Later, he served as a graduate assistant under Weber when the Wildcats went to the Elite Eight in 2018 and shared a Big 12 championship with Texas Tech in 2019.
Robert Morris hired Southwell away from K-State as a full-time assistant last offseason, and Southwell had success there. The Colonials won 20 games and claimed the Northeast Conference Tournament championship, which would have earned them a spot on this year’s NCAA Tournament bracket had it been played.
Weber has positive history with Southwell, so it makes sense that Weber would want him back on his staff rather than take a chance on a lesser known candidate, especially as the coronavirus pandemic makes for an unusual hiring process.
Southwell averaged 5.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game during his playing career with the Wildcats. He spent a few years playing professionally overseas after he graduated in 2013, most recently with Winterthur in the Swiss LNA in 2017, where he averaged 15.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.
He decided to pursue a coaching career after that season. Three years later, he is set to return to the Wildcats as an assistant coach.
This story was originally published March 28, 2020 at 4:03 PM with the headline "K-State basketball expected to hire former guard Shane Southwell as assistant coach."