K-State Q&A: What’s in store for Bruce Weber and his next basketball season?
In all my time as a college sports writer, I can’t remember a basketball team speaking more confidently about the future at the end of a bad season than the Kansas State Wildcats did after they lost to Baylor earlier this week in the quarterfinal round of the men’s Big 12 Tournament.
“I see this team being the No. 1 team in the country next season,” sophomore guard DaJuan Gordon said. “I know we all work and I feel like if we had to start over right now and start from today we would be one of the best teams in the country.”
I decided against tweeting out that quote on Thursday or using it in my game-day stories because I thought it was over the top. K-State only won nine games this season, after all. Sam Mellinger also used it in his column, so I didn’t want to flood our coverage by repeating the same words over and over. But I think it is worth sharing here at the top of this week’s mailbag because a statement like that shows that Bruce Weber has this group convinced it has a bright future.
More than wins and losses, that’s what this season was about.
In that sense, maybe this year wasn’t a complete disaster.
It’s worth remembering that this team was picked to finish last in the preseason Big 12 poll and only had one senior on the roster. Nobody was expecting 20 wins. Now, few were expecting a home loss to Fort Hays State, a 13-game losing streak or a 9-20 record either. So fans will continue to see this season how they want to see it.
But there is no doubt that K-State finished the year in impressive fashion by winning four of its final six games. Pushing Baylor for 40 minutes in Kansas City was also an encouraging sign.
The Wildcats played elite defense near the end of the season and proved they have some of the conference’s best freshmen in Nijel Pack and Davion Bradford. You could argue they were the Big 12’s seventh best team in March.
Over the past two seasons, the Wildcats are an unsightly 20-41. That’s ... not good. But brighter days may be on the horizon.
For the first time since Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade left campus, K-State basketball can sell hope to fans.
Now let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
There are bound to be at least a few transfers.
They are unavoidable for every college basketball team in modern times.
That being said, I’m not expecting too many departures for the Wildcats. And I would be surprised if any of their transfers were starters on this year’s team.
Nijel Pack and DaJuan Gordon were talking way too confidently on Thursday for me to expect that.
K-State is in a rare situation where its entire roster could return next season. The goal for Weber should be retaining the bulk of his main contributors. The Wildcats’ primary rotation showed lots of promise late in the season and at the Big 12 Tournament, despite finishing with a 9-20 record.
If all five starters return, the Wildcats have NCAA Tournament potential next season.
But Weber is actively recruiting at least two high school seniors in the 2021 class. One is a guard. The other is a wing. That goes to show you that he thinks there is at least a chance K-State will have some scholarship openings.
I don’t want to speculate too much on which players might decide to leave the team or might be encouraged to enter the transfer portal. But a few names are worth watching based purely on playing time and other factors.
Sophomore forward Antonio Gordon was granted a leave of absence from the team for what Weber vaguely described as “total health issues.” He wasn’t with the Wildcats during their final three games, and it’s not hard to imagine a scenario in which he doesn’t return next season.
Fellow sophomore forward Montavious Murphy has also been away from the team since undergoing knee surgery a few months ago. The Wildcats would love to have him back. But what happens if his body can’t get healthy?
Rudi Williams and Kaosi Ezeagu had good moments this season, but are clearly back ups moving forward. Are they OK with that?
Carlton Linguard and Seryee Lewis barely played. Will they look for minutes elsewhere?
The right kind of roster turnover could be good for K-State. The wrong kind could be disastrous. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
I don’t think Weber is ready to retire.
That tweet got the rumor mill operating at nuclear levels in Manhattan for a few days, but there doesn’t appear to be any truth to the suggestion that K-State’s basketball coach is actually ready to hang up his whistle.
The tweet came from a Maryland sports reporter with no obvious connection to K-State or Weber. It didn’t have any sourcing. And it was framed as more of a guess than a report. There was no reason to accept it as gospel.
Furthermore, Weber said he laughed at the tweet when one of his daughters showed it to him and then he shot down retirement rumors with a machine gun after K-State bowed out at the Big 12 Tournament.
“I love coaching, being around players, so I’m looking forward to next year,” Weber said. “I can’t wait.”
Insiders have assured me that athletic director Gene Taylor is pleased with the team’s late-season improvements and that he will not pressure Weber to step down when they meet to discuss the future.
Taylor has publicly said he wants Weber back for another season.
Weber has publicly said he plans to come back for another season.
Barring some unforeseen development, it certainly seems like Weber will be coaching the Wildcats again in 2021-22. But he will have to bring it next season to continue coaching at K-State beyond that. There’s no way he can survive another 20-loss season.
Montavious Murphy had knee surgery in January after playing in only four games. Unable to practice or play with the Wildcats, he decided to spend most of the spring semester at his home in the Houston area.
But it is now time for him to return to K-State and begin the rehab process.
Murphy is actually expected back on campus Friday and he will immediately start getting his body in shape for his return to the court.
He could be a big addition for the Wildcats next season. The 6-foot-9 forward is a very smart player and a good defender. He was the team’s best all-around freshman a year ago. If he stays at K-State and gets back in playing shape he can give the Wildcats the flexibility to play big and small at the four spot.
That would be the 2005-06 academic year when the K-State football team went 5-6 and the men’s basketball team went 15-13.
The Wildcats changed coaches in both sports that year.
Bill Snyder decided to retire for the first time, paving the way for three years of Ron Prince before Snyder came back to save the program again. Jim Wooldridge was fired after six seasons and was replaced by Bob Huggins, who quickly breathed new life into K-State hoops.
No, K-State athletic employees have never called me out of the blue to tell me horror stories about working for Gene Taylor the way KU athletic employees reached to out to Sam Mellinger about Jeff Long earlier this week.
Taylor seems well liked by his staff and many have told me he was a breath of fresh air after working with John Currie.
But this was not a good year for K-State athletics. Can Taylor guide the Wildcats to better days after the pandemic ends?
Also, my earlier comment was not meant to say Currie was a bad athletics director at K-State. He rubbed some people the wrong way, including Frank Martin and Bill Snyder, but he got a lot accomplished and most people on campus respected him even if they didn’t like him.
He was back in Manhattan for a football game last season and I can report there were people that were happy to see him.
Believe it or not, there is still plenty for me to write about between the end of basketball season and the beginning of football season.
The beat never stops.
It’s just different.
Instead of going into each week trying to think of ways to analyze teams or preview games and break down a specific player’s performance, you end up looking for interesting stories that aren’t necessarily on the field and pay a little more attention to recruiting.
There’s also usually a little more time for you craft stories. So that’s nice. There’s more planning and less Zoom calls.
Using vacation days without guilt is a nice change of pace.
But I still write this mailbag every week. So I guess your questions truly help me stay in a routine.
One name we have heard a lot of thus far at receiver is Keenan Garber.
The redshirt sophomore hasn’t done much in a K-State football uniform yet, but he did see some action in a few games last season and he is apparently making a case for even more playing time during spring practice.
That is excellent news for the Wildcats, who badly need some fresh blood at receiver. That was arguably the worst position on the team last season.
Malik Knowles looks like he could take a big step forward, especially with Skylar Thompson throwing him passes again. But he can’t do it alone. It would be great if Garber, a 5-foot-11 speedster from Free State, can help take some pressure off of Knowles, Chabastin Taylor and Phillip Brooks next season.
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 2:16 PM with the headline "K-State Q&A: What’s in store for Bruce Weber and his next basketball season?."