For Pete's Sake

Fort Hays State gets some love from ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt after win at K-State

Proof that Fort Hays State doesn’t get mentioned all that often on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” could be seen Tuesday on the scroll as Scott Van Pelt narrated the highlights to the Tigers’ 81-68 win over K-State.

“Fort Hays State is a Div. II school.”

That was helpful information for many viewers who may have wondered about the school that pulled the stunning upset.

The scroll also said Fort Hays State had a 0-3 record. Those losses have come against MIAA foes Washburn, Emporia State and Nebraska-Kearney.

The Tigers won despite head coach Mark Johnson and associate head coach Jeremy Brown not being on the bench because of COVID-19 concerns. Assistant coach Todd Johnston took over in their place, and got to take part in the postgame celebration in the locker room:

While discussing the Tigers’ victory, Van Pelt noted the “Icelandic basketball stylings” of forward Bjarni Jonsson, who is from Borgarnes, Iceland.

Fort Hays State guard Quinten Rock got some love, too, as he made the Top 10 plays:

While there was happiness in western Kansas, the feeling among Wildcats fans could be summed up by Twitter user Neal Smith:

Many other K-State fans expressed their displeasure with the defeat and Wildcats coach Bruce Weber.

Pete Grathoff
The Kansas City Star
From covering the World Series to the World Cup, Pete Grathoff has done a little bit of everything since joining The Kansas City Star in 1997.
Sports Pass is your ticket to Kansas City sports
#ReadLocal

Get in-depth, sideline coverage of Kansas City area sports - only $1 a month

VIEW OFFER