Big 12 Conference Preview: #4 Kansas State Wildcats

2013-14 Season Results: 20-13 overall, 10-8 conference record. 5th in the Big 12, 49-56 loss to Kentucky in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.

Key Losses: Will Spradling (graduation), Shane Southwell (graduation), Omari Lawrence (graduation).

Key Returners: G Marcus Foster, F Thomas Gipson, F Wesley Iwundu, F Nino Williams, G Nigel Johnson, F D.J. Johnson.

2014 Recruiting Class: Malek Harris (ESPN 3-star, #32 PF), Tre Harris (Rivals 3-star), Stephen Hurt (JuCo).

Ladies and gentlemen, now introducing the Marcus Foster Show!ï¿½The 2014-15 season for Kansas State will undoubtedly hinge on sophomore phenom Marcus Foster. The All Big 12 Second Team player had a breakout season last year under Bruce Weber, and folks in Manhattan and all across the Big 12 are looking towards Foster to continue to display his tremendous talents this upcoming season. Foster is ready for the task at hand, it would seem, returning as one half of the prolific tandem – with teammate Thomas Gipson – that earned the Wildcats an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament last season.

Kansas State came from out of nowhere to finish 5th in the hyper-competetive Big 12 last season while only posting the conference’s 8th best offense atï¿½just over 70 points per game. A lot of the Wildcats’ success stems from their lockdown defense that allowed only 70 points per game, good for 2nd best in the Big 12. Luckily for Bruce Weber, he returns more than he loses in 2014-15, his thirdï¿½season in Manhattan. The aforementioned duo of Foster and Gipson are joined by forwards Wesley Iwundu and Nino Williams who both averaged over 6 points per game in 2013-14. Both Iwundu and Wiliiams will need to produce more in the absence of seniors Will Spradling and Shane Shouthwell, the team’s third and fourth highest scorers last season.

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Joining Foster, Gipson, Iwundu and Williams is incoming freshman PF Malek Harris, whose athletic 6’8″ frame will be a welcome addition to the undersized Wildcats. Harris will be joined by a duo of much-needed post players in junior college transfer Stephen Hurt and Georgetown transfer Brandon Bolden. Bolden sat out the 2013-14 season per NCAA rules and will look to immediately contribute his 6’11” size to the Wildcats’ frontcourt. And it’s size like that of Bolden’s that is becoming more and more of a premium in the guard-centric Big 12. Rest assured that those teams near the top of the conference standings – Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma – all have solid frontcourts. Kansas State took notice of this trend and is slowly developing a their own formidable rotation of big men – one that will determine where they stand once the Big 12 conference play dust settles.

Now, it’s going to take a whole hell of a lot to dethroneï¿½either Kansas, Texas or Oklahoma from the top of the Big 12 standings this season. I do believe that Kansas Stateï¿½hasï¿½what it takes to do so, I’m just not so sure Kansas Stateï¿½can do what it takes to do so. The Wildcats are an immensely talented team on both offense and defense. They will earn themselves a postseason berth, most likely in the NCAA Tournament. As far as Big 12 play goes, however, they will again struggle to keep their record above .500. The Wildcatsï¿½will, however, finish with a respectable enough record, thus givingï¿½Marcus Foster a proper swan song before he moves on to the professional level.

Projected Finish: 4th

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