MANHATTAN – Head coach Bruce Weber met with the area media on Thursday morning to discuss the upcoming 2021-22 men’s basketball season, as the Wildcats hit the hardwood for their first team practice at Ice Family Basketball Center.
K-State returns four of its top-5 scorers, including super senior Mike McGuirl and rising sophomores Davion Bradford, Selton Miguel and Nijel Pack. In all, the Wildcats return nine lettermen, including juniors Kaosi Ezeagu and Carlton Linguard, Jr., and sophomores Luke Kasubke and Seryee Lewis. The team added seven newcomers in the offseason, including Division I transfers Mark Smith (Missouri), Markquis Nowell (Little Rock) and Ismael Massoud (Wake Forest) and a pair of freshmen in Maximus Edwards and Logan Landers.
Season tickets are currently on sale with the Wildcats slated to play 18 games at Bramlage Coliseum, beginning with an exhibition game against Pittsburg State on Nov. 4. The official opener is set for Nov. 10 against Florida A&M.
Fans can purchase season tickets in a variety of ways, including toll free at (800) 221.CATS (2287) and online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets.
The Wildcats will host an open practice on Saturday morning from 11 a.m., until 1:30 p.m., CT at Bramlage Coliseum prior to the Oklahoma football game.
Fans can enter the arena through the Northwest or Northeast entrances with the doors to Section 4-5-6 on the West side and Section 18-19-20 on the East side opening at 11 a.m., CT. Admission is free.
Below is a transcript of Weber’s comments.
Head coach Bruce Weber
Opening statement...
“It's always exciting time of the year to get going with real practice. Obviously, times have changed. We have the guys in the spring. We have the guys in the summer. We have the guys in the fall, and we've had some mini practices. You kind of slowly but surely build up but now it's the real stuff, but you still have six weeks. You talk to older coaches that are out of the business who ask, ‘When does practice start, October 15?’ Oh no it doesn't, it starts six weeks before (the season starts) so it's a little bit different but at the same time, there's some excitement there. We're going to have an open practice, get some people in the stands hopefully Saturday before the football game. One; to get our guys out in front of people, but also for our fans to get to know who our players are. We had a great spring, worked very hard on offense and continued to improve their weaknesses. This summer was kind of a combination, working on the offensive part of your game, but also it was important with five new guys to build some chemistry, to build some togetherness. I think if you ask any member on our staff, the first thing when you say what's the best thing about our team is that they get along and enjoy each other. I don't know why, to be honest. I wish it was some magical thing I did, but even the new guys. You got three older guys that joined us in Mark (Smith), Ish (Ismael Massoud) and Markquis (Nowell). They just jumped in like they've been here forever and they're friends with everybody so that was kind of the summer and a little starting to build some toughness. Our big theme was grit, driving for greatness, representing K-State, intensity and toughness and togetherness and we've used that theme throughout the summer into the fall. We did go through a little bit of a boot camp last week with ‘The Program’ and can't say enough about that. I haven't really done anything like that before. We’ve had some events with our strength coach that has put together competitions and strongman things, but this was two former Marines that came in. I couldn't be happier with what happened. Our big thing with that was the toughness parts, but also the details and discipline of the drills they put them through and then probably most importantly, I wanted to have them come together as a group and deal with tough times and when you're in the pool and you got to take your sweatshirt off and put it back on and help your teammates and you don't know how to swim, that was a really tough thing for those guys to do. It really worked out well. I couldn't be happier with how the guys reacted to it, building some leadership, finding out who the leaders were and who stepped up to help their teammates. Now it's real practice and starting to put your concepts in your five-on-five and get that conditioning. We got a ways to go. We have a closed scrimmage on October 23. That'll be our first opportunity. We'll actually have an open scrimmage before the Iowa State football game, then the 23rd we have a scrimmage against an (outside) opponent. And then we have our first exhibition game (on November 4) so we got a ways to go but excited to have the opportunity and excited about the group.”
On the new look Big 12 once the new four schools come in...
“Well, I am thrilled with what happened, the scenario that happened. I think we all, a few months ago, were in limbo and were the eight going to stay together? I didn't know. You guys might know more than me, but we had talked. (Athletic Director) Gene Taylor met with us. I talked to (Executive Associate AD) Casey Scott every week just to get to keep getting feedback and see if we can help but our eight (school) stuck together and we added a good group. Obviously, football wise it really looks good now with BYU and Cincinnati having great years in football. I think the important thing was the media part and the population base. You're getting four schools that have great following that come from media outlets that we need for our next TV contract. I don’t like change. I love where our league was. I've always said when people have asked, ‘What's the best league?’. It's the Big 12. It's a fact and in basketball especially. We've been so good, and I didn't like to change but life is about change and flexibility and dealing with new things and as I said at the start, the scenario to get those teams is a positive thing.”
On if the Big 12 will still be as good of a league moving forward...
“I think you got some pretty good basketball teams. BYU has had success and has been in the NCAA Tournament. Obviously, Cincinnati has had really good success. You had Houston in the Final Four. If you look at it, we got two Final Four teams in Baylor and Houston so that part is good and then UCF. They've had a pretty good run, and they were in the NCAA a few years ago, played Duke in that crazy game and I think everybody watched it. I think it's good. The thing is, I say all the time, how many times have Oklahoma and Texas won the Big 12 basketball in the last 10 years? I think it's a pretty easy answer. They've been great, what Lon (Kruger) did at Oklahoma, every year they were good. Obviously, Texas, Shaka (Smart) had a good run, won the tournament last year, but who's won the Big 12? Kansas, K-State, Texas Tech, Baylor, those schools are all there. We got Oklahoma State who has had a great run. You still got good basketball schools. I think we're in good shape.”
On if anyone has surprised him so far...
“I think right now maybe overall, it might be (senior) Mark Smith. Just when I'm talking leadership, being a good teammate, happy, working hard, and we got a lot of guys. It’s hard for me to single anybody out. As I said before all the newcomers have been very, very receptive. They've jumped in, trusting and want to work. I didn't know if Mark (Smith) being in two different programs and being a little older, I just didn't know to be honest. I told him the other day I met with him I just said, ‘Are you always happy?’ I asked (Missouri head coach) Cuonzo (Martin) last night (at Kansas City Tipoff Dinner), ‘Was he always happy all the time?’. He comes every day with a great attitude and a smile on his face and wants to get better, so if there's one player, he'd be the guy.”
On the progress of the bigs...
“I think the big thing has been Kaosi (Ezeagu) getting healthy. Kaosi’s made some strides. He’s getting where he feels good. I don't know if he's ever gonna get where he was, but he is making some strides and getting a little healthier. Davion (Bradford), (for him) it's just getting stronger and in better condition and he's made some strides with it. We'd like more. I think he wants more. This next six weeks will be really key for him. But if we can have him and Kaosi healthy, I think you got a pretty good 1-2 punch. Carlton (Linguard) still is recovering from his procedure late last spring. We are starting to get him back. Logan (Landers) gives us another big guy. When you're talking about surprises, I think he's done well. I think he's made as much improvement as anybody over the summer. We're positive about him. And the one thing I should mention is Seryee (Lewis) had a severe injury this fall. He had surgery a couple of weeks ago or 10 days ago. He's gonna miss the season, so it leaves our numbers with big guys a little bit low until Carlton gets back. We're just hoping those main two guys continue to stay in good shape and have good health and see if we get Logan better and understanding what's going on. The bonus would be getting Carlton back and going because with his shooting ability and length, he could give us something that the other guys don't have.”
On the importance of the stretch four in the lineup...
“It's just been a perfect scenario. I think everyone's offense works better if your forward can do guard things and has some length and Ish (Massoud) has got length. He's a little taller than I even thought he'd be. As I said great attitude, happy, works hard, been a really good teammate. He can really shoot the basketball and is kind of figuring out when and how do I get open shots in the offense? When's a good time to shoot, plus to do some of the other things? I think that's our thing with him. Behind that, I think you're gonna end up playing four perimeter guys. Our best players are perimeter guys and you know from Nijel (Pack) and Markquis (Nowell) to Selton (Miguel) and Mike (McGuirl) and Mark (Smith) to Luke (Kasubke) and then Max (Maximus Edwards) coming back from surgery. I think along with Ish, you have some really good perimeter guys that can do some things and what is modern basketball? It's small ball and where did we have success at the end of last year? Small ball. I think we added to that mix, and we can play small ball with somebody with some size, and we could come at people with four little guys. I think a little more depth obviously if we stay healthy with those guards and I hope we can get after people and use Selton’s ball pressure and Markquis can get into people. Mark, it’s been a surprise for me on his athleticism. He's got the big body. He's strong.”
On Luke Kasubke...
“He is healthy. He did have a tough go of it. I think two contact tracings, COVID, the foot injury, that surgery, putting him in against Texas with about five days of practice. But, he just quietly does his job and has great support from his parents and is starting to make some shots. He is, for me, the biggest surprise last year was his defense and that's what I really worried about, but he stops people. I don't know if you remember last year in the Big 12 Championship game against Baylor, they kept trying to ISO Davion Mitchell on a switch on Luke and Luke kept standing him up. He's taken a little bit of pride. He chests people, maybe not the quickest but he's got some smarts on defense. He moves his feet really well and he'll use his body so he could give us that small ball forward. Now it's just making some shots and part of it last year with him trying to make shots, I said many times we put him in a tough situation. No practice and put him in a Big 12 game. You're gonna play against a team that’s got four players drafted in the NBA Draft and you practice five times in four months. But again, he kept a smile on his face, kept coming back, got better. I think that he's just gonna kind of be our X-Factor, a quiet guy that just does his job every day.”
On Davion Bradford taking the next step...
“I said before, just the strength and a little better condition. The strength so his leg will get stronger. He's had the quad injury, knee type thing since he was in high school that we just need to get stronger. Put as little pressure on that leg as possible, and then where he can maybe get a little more explosive with his jumping and he wants to step out. He's worked on that, the little (Jack) Sikma move in the post. He's worked on that little 12 footer. Guys want to advance their game and that's fine, but we also got to advance the things that he does well. And what he did for us the last game against Baylor was one of his best games or maybe the best against a quality, obviously a national championship team, opponent. Now, can he have that drive and push to continue to do that type of thing on a consistent basis? I guess one word I would use for him if you ask, ‘What does he need to do to improve?’ Be consistent. Give that consistent production every game.”
On the Program experience the team had...
“They contact us all the time. Do you have the time to do it? Through (Kirk) Speraw when he was at Iowa as a grad assistant, they use them. He thought it was pretty positive. Coach Snyder did use them in his last year. We kind of checked around or our strength coach kind of checked around with some of their people. Everyone was real positive and then last year during COVID, it's kind of ironic, Erik (Kapitulik), who runs it is from Connecticut, and he had contacted us and then Mike McGuirl’s high school coach called me and said, ‘Hey, you know Eric does this and he'd love to Zoom with your guys.’ Just everyone's looking for something to help your guys through tough times, so he came on a Zoom with us. Unbelievable presentation. What he's done, his story about losing his soldiers that were under him in a helicopter crash. Some of the guys miraculously survived. His commitment to his soldiers’ kids, and raising money through The Program and also through Ironman competitions, getting sponsors, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, all these different things that he does and all the money goes to those soldiers’ children so they can go to college and have a good upbringing, so it's it's a pretty cool story. I went to Casey Scott and said I know it costs a lot, but I think it would be good for our guys and we put a lot of things on hold the last year and he okayed it. He was kind of dependent on me. I thought it was excellent. Their two representatives that were here with us were Mack (Patrick McNamara) and Fred (Smith), did an unbelievable job and their evaluation of our guys was unbelievable. They spent two hours with us Friday morning as a staff just helping us with some ideas to help the players. They’ve already contacted our guys so they do a good job. It was definitely worth it.”
On the leaders that have emerged...
“Well I think that the thing they talked about. One of the most important things is we got to have great teammates first and how do you do that? You set the example. I think that starts with Mike McGuirl. It starts with the guys that had success last year, your Nigel's and Selton’s to understand what we want on a daily basis. That's important. And then who is going to hold people accountable? That's their next thing and that's where the leadership really comes in play and they flat out asked our guys, ‘Who likes holding people accountable?’ It's not an easy thing to do, and there were a lot of guys that raised their hand and said, ‘I do not like to do that and I'm not comfortable with it.’ Mark Smith jumped out. I think they gave us an evaluation after it was over, and they thought Mark Smith was the best leader from their two days, and I've said to you guys. Somebody asked me earlier, who has been the biggest surprise? I think Mark has taken on a little bit of that role, not to diminish Mike or Nigel or anyone else. They still are leaders in some way. They also talk about first row command, second row command, and you got to have your first row, and then who's going to be next and that's where I think we can slowly and surely do that. Selton is one of the guys that does the verbal part. I think if you asked the coaches who is the best teammate on our team and I've shared this with you guys before. It’s Davion (Bradford). Every day he is there to help you. He's the one when Selton is sitting there crying he's wiping his tears so we got a good mixture but I think if you pick one guy right now, maybe Mark Smith, but we'll see more as as practice goes on.”
On Nijel Pack’s potential...
“He obviously had a really good freshman year. I’m still disappointed that he didn't get acknowledged in the Big 12 but I think it gave him a little motivation going into that Big 12 Tournament and he had two unbelievable games to finish the year. We were talking with the Baylor coaches over the summer recruiting and Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler and (Macio) Teague, they had their way with a lot of people and they said that the one guy they were always mad that they couldn't get to turn it over was Nijel, and you look at his assist-turnover ratio. It's pretty impressive for a freshman, so I think just a little more confidence and mojo, feeling good about himself, talking a little more, becoming a little better on defense. I use a word I probably can't use on this media but add a little stuff to his game. Add to his game a little step back, make some plays with contact at the end of the shot clock. He obviously can shoot. We did a shooting drill the other day that I got from Coach Beilein, and he shattered that drill. I texted Coach Beilein after and he said, ‘Man, that's some of the best numbers I've ever seen.’ He’s had some pretty good shooters through the years. Those are things that we know he'll do and he's consistent with but just gotta add to the game. A little moxie, a little talk. I think that if he can do that and be a little better defensively, we will have a special and consistent player.”
On Mike McGuirl as a great teammate...
“It's one thing we've talked to all of them about, because a lot of them are going to have probably a few less minutes but can you be more productive? Can you be more efficient in your minutes? Because you're a little more rested, are you going to be better also? We've talked to Mike about that and there's no doubt Mike's a great teammate. As soon as The Program was over, Mike text all the coaches and just said, ‘Thank you for doing it. I thought it was big time.’ Here’s a fifth year guy, the guy that's been through it, been through the wars but he's so appreciative. We all told him, ‘Please enjoy. Take advantage of the opportunity, enjoy it, make the most out of it. You know how special K-State is. Be grateful for this opportunity and make the most.’ I'm pretty sure he will. I haven't said he's not the leader but good teams have multiple leaders, and I hope that Mike is in that group because he's older, more mature. He has been through it. He just needs to get a little more consistent numbers and be a little more efficient.”
On Curtis Kelly and Zack Price as GAs...
“It's always good to have a former guy come back. Obviously, I didn't coach Curtis, but he did come back off and on. He worked camp. I loved from day one his enthusiasm, his love for the game, his passion for the game. He comes every day with a smile and with some energy. He's always talking to the players, encouraging and obviously he's a guy that had success, played overseas, played professional basketball for a long time so I hope they're willing to listen to him but he's got a good temperament. I'm so happy, I'd love to always have all players back. Then Zack, a little older guy that's been assistant coach for a very good coach and came through Coach (Brett) Weiberg, played for Coach Weiberg at Missouri Western and been around good people and he brings a little more maturity for us. It's somebody a little older and not afraid to get his hands dirty and do some of the little things that need to be done so excited about that. Proud of our guys that were here. We're really proud too. Somebody brought up to us that we're 11 for 11, our grad assistants have all graduated, got their master's degrees, I know Shane (Southwell) put that diploma up in his office and he's proud of it, Jordan (Henriquez-Roberts), really positive for him to get out with the Lakers and have that opportunity as an intern, and so hopefully it paid some dividends for those guys and, and he got his diploma also.”
On Seryee Lewis making progress before the injury...
“That's the sad part. He had started to figure out how hard you have to play and the intensity at this level. We didn't have practice and he was a contract trace twice. He missed I don't know how many days and he was behind. There's no doubt he was. I probably would’ve redshirted him if it was a regular year, but he was starting to make some progress and then we had the injury and so it's sad for him but just like anyone that gets hurt, we always say use this as an opportunity to get better at something and make a negative into a positive. We talked about Cartier (Diarra) having the knee injury when he was a freshman and going from 42 inch vertical to 45. A lot can happen, there's been a lot of people with these knee injuries that have come back and so we just wish the best for him and it's gonna be a long six, seven months for him but we got to be there to help and support and hope that he continues to make the progress and takes steps to be ready a year from now.”
On what the plans for Lewis were before his injury...
“I think it was still up in the air, but he gives us that athletic, big guy, a little different than some of the other guys we have. I think that was the thing we were looking for him maybe, obviously explosive jumper, runner. Just elite athlete, and so as a big guy, could he give us that that at the five and maybe the four? So that's what we were kind of looking at.”
On coaching Mike McGuirl for so long...
“It's a pleasure, to be honest and I know he's sent some text messages. I think he’s just happy, because he went through some doubt. There's a lot of guys that left programs that have been there. We had the backing of his parents. We had the backing of his high school coach. They wanted him to stay. They thought it was the best thing for him. I think it's great and I just want him to have success and achieve some of his dreams and goals and he wants to leave here on a positive note, being part of a special team and being a leader and I hope he gets to where he wants to go.”