Why Mike McGuirl might be Kansas State’s most important player in upcoming games
Mike McGuirl wants to leave Kansas State as a winner.
That is one of the main reasons why he decided to return for an extra season with the Wildcats as a “super senior” guard when no one would have blamed him for transferring to a different school or playing overseas as a professional.
McGuirl has been around K-State long enough to play in the NCAA Tournament and earn a Big 12 championship ring. But his past two seasons in purple haven’t gone nearly as well. He didn’t want to end his college career on a team that finished 9-20, as K-State did a year ago. He wanted to make another run at March Madness.
Now is his opportunity to help the Wildcats reach the postseason for the first time since 2019, when McGuirl was a young sophomore. Selton Miguel is expected to miss a few weeks with an ankle injury, and McGuirl is the obvious choice to replace him in the starting lineup on the wing.
“He is a veteran player and he has been through it,” K-State coach Bruce Weber said. “This is his chance. I told him the other night when we got back late (from the Baylor game), ‘This is your chance to leave some kind of legacy.’ He can really step forward and help us.”
McGuirl has taken a back seat to Markquis Nowell, Nijel Pack and Mark Smith this season. But he has still proven himself to be a valuable member of the rotation.
Case in point: K-State is 4-0 this season when McGuirl scores at least points. Two of those victories came against strong competition — Texas and Texas Tech. But when McGuirl isn’t at the top of his game and he scores in single digits, K-State’s record is 6-7, though he missed three of those games with illnesses.
Replacing Miguel won’t be easy, at least on the defensive end. He is the team’s top on-ball defender and seems to be an ideal fit for K-State’s four-guard lineup. But he hasn’t been scoring much lately and is only averaging 7.9 points and 4.8 rebounds. He isn’t a threat from three-point range.
For McGuirl, the challenge will be playing solid defense and draining the occasional outside shot. He is averaging 6.4 points and 2.9 rebounds this season, but he is much more of an offensive threat than Miguel.
Will that trade off work for the Wildcats (10-9) starting on Saturday when they play Mississippi (10-10) on the road in the Big 12/SEC Challenge (3 p.m., ESPNU)?
It might if McGuirl plays well.
McGuirl played his best basketball of the season during those victories over Texas and Texas Tech. He came off the bench and score 10 points against the Red Raiders. Then he had 13 points against the Longhorns. He played within himself in both games by making the occasional three-pointer and grabbing rebounds. He didn’t commit many turnovers.
His performance dropped off in recent losses against Kansas and Baylor. Weber isn’t entirely sure why.
Perhaps Pack and Nowell did so much against the Jayhawks that McGuirl got lost in the shuffle. No one played well during a blowout loss against Baylor.
In any case, Weber isn’t worried about McGuirl. He expects his oldest player to respond well. After all, an opportunity like this is why he is still in college.
“You feel good about him,” Weber said. “Obviously he is a veteran player ... and he has had some unbelievable practices of late, just making shots. I think he is settling in.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2022 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Why Mike McGuirl might be Kansas State’s most important player in upcoming games."