How a stuffed animal helped K-State become the defensive GOAT of Big 12 women’s hoops
The Kansas State women’s basketball team is having its best season in two decades and it’s all because of a stuffed animal.
OK, so maybe star players like Ayoka Lee, Serena Sundell and Gabby Gregory have also played meaningful roles for the Wildcats during a 17-1 start that has seen them climb all the way up to No. 7 in the national rankings. But there is no denying that none of them are currently more popular than the toy goat that wears a purple jersey and watches every game from the K-State bench.
Much like the turnover chain at Miami, the turnover sword at Arizona and the turnover chainsaw at Oregon State that are commonplace in college football, the goat has helped K-State improve drastically on defense this season.
It is affectionately called the “Gap Goat” and there is no telling where this team would be without it. One thing is for sure: the Wildcats certainly wouldn’t be leading the Big 12 in scoring defense (51.6 points per game), shooting percentage (31.7%), 3-point shooting percentage (22%) and blocks (6.4 per game).
“It’s perfect,” K-State coach Jeff Mittie said. “Whatever motivates. You look across any sport right now and you wonder, how do you just have some fun within your team that emphasizes what you want to emphasize? That could be the turnover chain that Miami started or a pancake necklace for an offensive line. They’re celebrating those big plays. In this case, they have made this their own. From a defensive standpoint, we have continued to get better and that is all I care about.”
Before we go any further, let’s explain how K-State’s famous stuffed animal came to be.
Months ago, Mittie held a preseason meeting with his team and he informed everyone on the roster that his expectation was for the Wildcats to become the best defensive team in the Big 12 this year. Anything less would be unacceptable.
“I thought we were awful at it last year,” Mittie said. “I thought it was one of the worst defensive teams and most underachieving defensive teams that we’ve had and I wanted to get that corrected.”
Easier said than done. The Wildcats ranked in the bottom of half of the Big 12 last season in most defensive statistics.
When Mittie noticed some K-State players express doubt about improving and reaching his lofty goal, he told his team captains to come up with a fun and creative way to emphasize defense.
What he wanted most of all: a team that could force three consecutive stops, which Mittie refers to as a “gap,” seven or more times during games. Why? According to his research, teams win 90% of the time when they produce seven “gaps” in a game.
Gregory, Lee and Sundell put their heads together and eventually settled on a stuffed animal. Gregory’s favorite animal is a goat and the alliterative term “Gap Goat” flowed off the tongue. Just like that, it was settled.
The Wildcats ordered their “Gap Goat” online and then handed it over to team managers during games. Every time they got three defensive stops in a row, the goat was held up triumphantly behind the bench to celebrate a “gap.”
At first, K-State players saw the goat as validation of their hard work.
“Our practices are like two hours of straight defense,” freshman guard Zyanna Walker said. “That has really been an emphasis for coach this year. He said he wanted the best defense in the Big 12 and he wasn’t lying. We have the best defense in the Big 12.”
After a few games, K-State took things a step further and decided to start hanging a chain around the goat’s neck every time it achieved seven “gaps” in a game.
Silly? You bet. But no one can argue with the results.
“It’s a good focus point and something that can get our attention,” Sundell said. “I would like to think that we are motivated just in general, that we’re a hard working team and we want to play every possession to the best of our abilities. But during time outs when we’re coming over and coach says, ‘One more more stop and we’ve got a gap’ or ‘One more stop and we’ve got seven gaps’ we really want to get it.”
The better K-State has played on defense the more game it has won. In the process, the “Gap Goat” has taken on a life of its own.
It has its own Instagram account (gapgoat7) with nearly 2,000 followers. ESPN has made several different graphics dedicated to the “Gap Goat” and it shows them throughout every game. Fans are even starting to bring their own toy goats to games so they can celebrate “gaps” right along with the team.
No one expected the “Gap Goat” to become the unofficial mascot of this team, but K-State is glad it happened.
The Wildcats are playing excellent defense and they are winning because of it.
“It’s cool to see people bringing them to the games,” Mittie said. “There are some great marketing opportunities there. People love those different, unique stories and I like the fact that we are trying to obtain a tough goal that will help us be successful on the court.”
This story was originally published January 18, 2024 at 9:43 AM with the headline "How a stuffed animal helped K-State become the defensive GOAT of Big 12 women’s hoops."