Time running out for Bruce Weber to prove he deserves another season as K-State coach
Kansas State men’s basketball coach Bruce Weber made his expectations for this season clear long before the Wildcats played their first game.
He thought this team had enough talent and experience to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 when K-State shared a Big 12 championship with Texas Tech. Anything short of March Madness was going to be a disappointment, if not a failure.
Time is running out for the Wildcats to reach those preseason expectations, which means Weber’s future with the team is becoming a juicy topic. He is on the proverbial hot seat, and his chair keeps getting warmer every time K-State suffers a loss.
With only 10 games remaining in the regular season and K-State (10-10, 2-6 Big 12) currently on a three-game losing streak, it is becoming more and more likely that this will be Weber’s final season in Manhattan. Nothing about his future has been etched in stone, but K-State athletics director Gene Taylor has said the NCAA Tournament was a reasonable goal this season.
Falling well short of that benchmark does not figure to bode well for Weber, who only has one year remaining on his contract.
He needs a late-season surge to have any hope at an extension. Seven more victories would give K-State a shot at the postseason. Starting a winning streak against Oklahoma State at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at Bramlage Coliseum is the only thing Weber is currently focused on.
“All we can do is trust in ourselves and keep believing and keep working and hope we can find a way to get some confidence,” Weber said Tuesday. “If some things go our way we will see if we can make a little run here down the stretch.”
That’s not an impossible task for the Wildcats, who own impressive victories over No. 23 Texas and No. 14 Texas Tech. But the odds of a 7-3 finish, or anything close to it, seem low. The Wildcats won’t be favored more than three times the rest of the year.
Weber has been the head coach at K-State since 2012 when he was hired to replace Frank Martin. This is Weber’s 10th season in charge. Though he has never been the most popular coach on campus, he won games at an impressive rate during his first seven seasons. Under his watch, the Wildcats have made the NCAA Tournament five times, shared two conference championships and reached one Elite Eight.
That success earned him several contract extensions and a salary of $2.8 million, but the Wildcats have fallen on hard times recently. They haven’t finished with a winning record since 2019, going 11-21 and 9-20 the past two seasons. K-State has struggled the most in Big 12 play, going 9-35 in their past 44 conference games.
Attendance at Bramlage Coliseum has also dropped. The Wildcats haven’t played a home game in front of 10,000 fans since 2019.
Weber’s contract is set to expire following the 2022-23 season. This is a make-or-break year for him.
Coaches are rarely allowed to coach the final season of their contract. It’s nearly impossible for them to recruit under those circumstances, as it’s difficult to convince anyone you’re more than a lame duck.
If K-State decides to retain Weber for another season, it will need to offer him a contract extension. If K-State decides to part ways with Weber, it will owe him a buyout of $1 million if he is terminated without cause before April 30. That number drops to $500,000 after April 30. Money shouldn’t be an issue.
A decision on Weber’s coaching future is coming. The next 10 games will decide what exactly it is.
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 1:30 PM with the headline "Time running out for Bruce Weber to prove he deserves another season as K-State coach."