Though expectations are low, Bruce Weber likes coaching K-State’s young group of players

Bruce Weber noticed an upset child standing near the free-throw line inside Kansas State’s practice facility. The Wildcats were hosting a summer youth basketball camp, and seemingly everyone else in the building was in a terrific mood.

What’s wrong, Weber asked the child.

Well, the child explained, he couldn’t make a free throw. He had practiced his shot all month, hoping to make a good impression at the camp. But nothing was working. He made free throws all the time in his driveway, but here, with pressure mounting and strangers watching, he was putting up bricks.

Weber told the child not to worry. He would help. Sure enough, within minutes Weber taught his newest pupil the fundamentals of a foul shot and the ball started to fall through the net.

“It was great,” Weber explained afterward. “I actually got to do a little coaching.”

Weber shared that story to media and fans throughout the offseason at K-State alumni events. He revealed something about himself in the process. Weber loves basketball. Outside of his family and friends, he claims it is his only hobby. He enjoys watching the sport and teaching others how to master it.

His salary is in the millions, but he would do this job for free — if his only responsibility was to teach basketball.

Ask him to discipline players, settle off-court disputes and act as chaperone on road trips, and, well, his love for the job fades.

Weber didn’t spend enough time coaching last season. K-State’s roster cracked and Weber became a mediator. His players failed to follow team rules, resulting in suspensions, dismissals, transfers and a 15-17 record. It was the Wildcats’ worst season in a decade. Seven underclassmen are gone from that team, as well as two seniors. Six freshmen and one junior-college transfer will replace them.

On paper, this roster is low on talent and experience. The Wildcats don’t return a double-digit scorer, so little is expected from them. Still, Weber describes practice as a breath of fresh air after what he endured last season. Players show up early, work hard and stay late. Best of all, they listen.

Weber, K-State’s fourth-year coach, relates the change to Winnie the Pooh. Last year, he says, he coached a bunch of grumpy Eeyores. Now he has a room filled with high-energy Tiggers.

“It’s fun to coach them every day you go,” Weber said. “They haven’t been perfect by any means, but I’d say nine out of the first 10 days we just coached them. We didn’t have to beg them to go hard or get after them to go hard, so that makes it a lot easier.

“Now you can worry about the stuff you’re supposed to worry about, setting up the angle on the screen, the defense, getting in the right position or how you’re going to guard something and you’re not wasting time.”

Weber has assigned most of the blame for last year’s failures on troublemakers that are no longer associated with the team. Things are now back the way he likes them.

“He just wants to be the basketball coach and that is it,” associate head coach Chris Lowery said. “We don’t want to be psychiatrists or mom and dad. We obviously want to help mentor our kids and help them to become good young men, but too many distractions the wrong way can turn a good team into a self-destructive team. We experienced that last year.

“We don’t talk about that with this team. They weren’t here and they don’t care. They believe in where this program is going.”

This season will feel like a new beginning for Weber. He won a Big 12 championship in his first season and made the NCAA Tournament in his second. With a young roster returning, the program appeared to be trending up. But the bottom fell out in Year 3. Some argue he should be on the hot seat, but with four years remaining on his contract, he will get the opportunity to rebuild.

History indicates he may do so quickly. He has failed to win 20 games five times during his 17-year career as coach at Southern Illinois, Illinois and K-State, and his teams always bounced back. Weber’s team average 24.8 victories coming off a down year.

Could this team follow that trend?

“I think this group could surprise some people,” senior guard Brian Rohleder said. “Bruce still holds everybody to a real high standard. Obviously, the new guys have a lot to learn, but he is still expecting that same intensity and hard work he always has. The new guys have done a great job responding positively and are fitting into the system. Our team chemistry is off the charts.”

For that reason, Weber is also optimistic about the future.

“Every time I talk at a coaches clinic,” he said, “the first thing I say is, ‘The most important thing as a coach is to get your best player to buy in. If you get him to buy in and he is your leader and he is your hardest worker and he is in the gym, that is half your battle.’ ”

That never happened last season. It shouldn’t be an issue this season, but bumps will emerge in the road. Dean Wade is the only heralded freshman, and he is trying to make the jump from 2A high school competition to the Big 12. Justin Edwards and Wesley Iwundu have shown promise, but they barely combined to average 10 points a year ago. The roster lacks experience, size and a true center.

There’s a reason Big 12 coaches picked K-State to finish in an eighth-place tie with TCU, barely ahead of bottom feeder Texas Tech.

It could be another year or two before the Wildcats are ready to contend for the NCAA Tournament. Then again, expectations were low two years ago when K-State won 20 games.

Players list the postseason as an achievable goal.

If they allow Weber to teach them throughout the season, K-State’s coach will take his chances.

“I think with this group, we just worry about each day,” Weber said at K-State’s media day. “We are trying to get better. We worry about being ready for the scrimmage on Saturday and then the scrimmage next week and then the exhibition games. That’s all we can focus on. Keep doing the right things the right way and good things will happen to you. That’s what we have to do.”

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Though expectations are low, Bruce Weber likes coaching K-State’s young group of players."