We were all there; we remember it like it was yesterday. The sun had just set on Bruce Weber's first disappointing season at K-State in his first three years. The Wildcats had won just 8 conference games and lost a total of 17 times. Their leading scorer - along with several other young players - were kicked off the team. Most knew it would take Weber years to build this team and program back up and frankly, that frustrated fans. “Why was this happening? Can't anything good happen to K-State? I want another Big 12 championship!” – all phrases muttered by fans during this time.
Enter one of the most important recruiting classes in Kansas State basketball history
A 3* sharp shooting point guard from Baltimore, MD named Kamau Stokes, a 3* shooting guard from Saint Petersburg, FL named Barry Brown, a 4* power forward from St. John, KS and several others who came and are now gone knew what they were getting into - this was a rebuild job from the word go.
As freshmen, these three were 3rd, 4th & 6th in scoring on a team that won just 5 conference games. Stokes got injured midway through the season and had to celebrate wins via Facetime with teammates. With stokes out with an injury, Barry Brown had to take over responsibilities running the offense as point guard. There were ups and downs but most fans knew that the Stokes injury was probably good for Brown and that it would help him put the team on his back in the future. During one of the practices Brown - K-State's Alpha and lead dog the last two seasons - wanted to be a leader and the best defender on the team when Weber asked who was going to carry the load and coach laughed because he was just a freshmen.
As sophomores, K-State fans began to be impatient. The Wildcats had gotten swept by Kansas for the second straight season and were 6-10 in Big12 play and 17-12 overall following a 30-point loss at OU. Most fans - myself included - wanted Weber fired before he got on the bus on the way back to Manhattan. But, there's a reason we're fans and not decision makers. Bruce challenged his team knowing they needed to win at TCU, at home vs Texas Tech and win their first game in the Big12 tournament to have a shot at the NCCA's - that's exactly what they did. Wade scored 20 points in a 75-74 win at TCU, Stokes had 7 assists vs TCU and at home in a 61-48 triumph vs Texas Tech and then Barry Brown put the team and the season on his back scoring 21 points in a crucial 70-64 win vs top10 Baylor. The win was enough to send the team to Dayton for a play-in game against Wake Forest where senior Wesley Iwundu put on a show scoring 27 points in a 95-88 win - Weber's first NCAA tournament win at K-State in his 5 years. The Wildcats lost in the round of 64 to Cincinnati and the team knew they had enough to go deeper next year. Fans still wondered if Weber could do enough at K-State because some fans simply didn’t count the play-in game as an actual tournament win since it wasn’t in the round of 64. Some still thought Weber should be on the hot seat.
As juniors, the season again was littered with injuries to both Stokes and Wade but despite all that the team won double digit conference games for the first time in 4 years going 10-8 and winning 22 games entering the NCAA tournament. Forward Isaiah Maurice was also let go in the offseason and many had questions about the front court. Dean Wade was named first-team All-Big 12 and led the team in scoring 14 times during the season including 34 at Iowa State. Most fans wondered if 8 conference wins was really improvement from last year moving up just 2 seeds from last season to a 9 this year. In K-State’s way of winning their first NCAA round of 64 game stood the player that nearly destroyed the program and caused the rebuild - Marcus Foster. The senior was playing his last season at Creighton and again was a leading scorer. K-State fans, Weber and the team wanted this win bad and that’s exactly what happened. K-State cruised to a 69-59 win with it never really being close. Barry Brown scored 18, Stokes scored 11, Xavier Sneed added 9 and Mike McGuirl added 17 off the bench. Following the game Foster and Weber embraced knowing that everything turned out for the better for both of them. K-State them beat 16-seed UMB 50-43 to head to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2010 and Weber’s first second weekend since 2005. The Wildcats faced Kentucky – a team KSU was 0-9 against prior to the game and Barry put the team on his back late with a game-winning layup against what seemed like the Monstars from Space Jam with the amount of height that UK put on the floor. The Wildcats won 61-58 and advanced to the Elite Eight where they fell to Loyola.
As seniors, this group has faced preseason hype and expectations along with disappointment, injuries and failure and came out the other side champions. Dean Wade and Kam Stokes again missed time with injuries and the Cats lost games they shouldn’t have lost on paper and still sit just 1 win away from the program’s second conference title in 42 years - in the process ending KU’s 14 straight conference title streak. The senior class finally beat KU – a team they were 0-7 against all-time prior to the Feb. 5 win. Bruce Weber also became just the 4th coach in the Big 12 era to win 7 conference road games in a season. No one knows if this team will again make another run in the NCAA tournament – most expect them to – but this senior class has already cemented themselves at K-State.
These three seniors knew what they signed up for when they signed at Kansas State in 2015 – it was a rebuild job from the word go and that’s exactly what they did. Barry, Kam and Dean have rebuilt Kansas State back into a Big 12 Champion and placed themselves squarely among the greats at K-State. Wildcat fans need to live in this moment – this hype or high feeling as some call it – knowing their team is on the verge of something great. We’re just all along for the ride hoping in a few years we remember how blessed we were to have Barry, Kam and Dean turn K-State back into a Champion.
Go Cats!
Enter one of the most important recruiting classes in Kansas State basketball history
A 3* sharp shooting point guard from Baltimore, MD named Kamau Stokes, a 3* shooting guard from Saint Petersburg, FL named Barry Brown, a 4* power forward from St. John, KS and several others who came and are now gone knew what they were getting into - this was a rebuild job from the word go.
As freshmen, these three were 3rd, 4th & 6th in scoring on a team that won just 5 conference games. Stokes got injured midway through the season and had to celebrate wins via Facetime with teammates. With stokes out with an injury, Barry Brown had to take over responsibilities running the offense as point guard. There were ups and downs but most fans knew that the Stokes injury was probably good for Brown and that it would help him put the team on his back in the future. During one of the practices Brown - K-State's Alpha and lead dog the last two seasons - wanted to be a leader and the best defender on the team when Weber asked who was going to carry the load and coach laughed because he was just a freshmen.
As sophomores, K-State fans began to be impatient. The Wildcats had gotten swept by Kansas for the second straight season and were 6-10 in Big12 play and 17-12 overall following a 30-point loss at OU. Most fans - myself included - wanted Weber fired before he got on the bus on the way back to Manhattan. But, there's a reason we're fans and not decision makers. Bruce challenged his team knowing they needed to win at TCU, at home vs Texas Tech and win their first game in the Big12 tournament to have a shot at the NCCA's - that's exactly what they did. Wade scored 20 points in a 75-74 win at TCU, Stokes had 7 assists vs TCU and at home in a 61-48 triumph vs Texas Tech and then Barry Brown put the team and the season on his back scoring 21 points in a crucial 70-64 win vs top10 Baylor. The win was enough to send the team to Dayton for a play-in game against Wake Forest where senior Wesley Iwundu put on a show scoring 27 points in a 95-88 win - Weber's first NCAA tournament win at K-State in his 5 years. The Wildcats lost in the round of 64 to Cincinnati and the team knew they had enough to go deeper next year. Fans still wondered if Weber could do enough at K-State because some fans simply didn’t count the play-in game as an actual tournament win since it wasn’t in the round of 64. Some still thought Weber should be on the hot seat.
As juniors, the season again was littered with injuries to both Stokes and Wade but despite all that the team won double digit conference games for the first time in 4 years going 10-8 and winning 22 games entering the NCAA tournament. Forward Isaiah Maurice was also let go in the offseason and many had questions about the front court. Dean Wade was named first-team All-Big 12 and led the team in scoring 14 times during the season including 34 at Iowa State. Most fans wondered if 8 conference wins was really improvement from last year moving up just 2 seeds from last season to a 9 this year. In K-State’s way of winning their first NCAA round of 64 game stood the player that nearly destroyed the program and caused the rebuild - Marcus Foster. The senior was playing his last season at Creighton and again was a leading scorer. K-State fans, Weber and the team wanted this win bad and that’s exactly what happened. K-State cruised to a 69-59 win with it never really being close. Barry Brown scored 18, Stokes scored 11, Xavier Sneed added 9 and Mike McGuirl added 17 off the bench. Following the game Foster and Weber embraced knowing that everything turned out for the better for both of them. K-State them beat 16-seed UMB 50-43 to head to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2010 and Weber’s first second weekend since 2005. The Wildcats faced Kentucky – a team KSU was 0-9 against prior to the game and Barry put the team on his back late with a game-winning layup against what seemed like the Monstars from Space Jam with the amount of height that UK put on the floor. The Wildcats won 61-58 and advanced to the Elite Eight where they fell to Loyola.
As seniors, this group has faced preseason hype and expectations along with disappointment, injuries and failure and came out the other side champions. Dean Wade and Kam Stokes again missed time with injuries and the Cats lost games they shouldn’t have lost on paper and still sit just 1 win away from the program’s second conference title in 42 years - in the process ending KU’s 14 straight conference title streak. The senior class finally beat KU – a team they were 0-7 against all-time prior to the Feb. 5 win. Bruce Weber also became just the 4th coach in the Big 12 era to win 7 conference road games in a season. No one knows if this team will again make another run in the NCAA tournament – most expect them to – but this senior class has already cemented themselves at K-State.
These three seniors knew what they signed up for when they signed at Kansas State in 2015 – it was a rebuild job from the word go and that’s exactly what they did. Barry, Kam and Dean have rebuilt Kansas State back into a Big 12 Champion and placed themselves squarely among the greats at K-State. Wildcat fans need to live in this moment – this hype or high feeling as some call it – knowing their team is on the verge of something great. We’re just all along for the ride hoping in a few years we remember how blessed we were to have Barry, Kam and Dean turn K-State back into a Champion.
Go Cats!
