Kansas State Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Wildcats

Starting lineup

Kamau Stokes
Stokes, a senior, has been one of K-State’s most reliable offensive threats throughout his career. Though he has never averaged more than 11.7 points per game, Stokes has led the Wildcats in assists each of the last two years and is averaging 1.6 made three-pointers per game for his career. He’ll be the man tasked with being the lead distributor (once again) and making this offense more efficient.

Barry Brown Jr.
Brown made the All-Big 12 second-team while finishing second on the team in both scoring (15.9) and assists (3.2), yet it’s his defense that makes him a dangerous player – he already ranks third on Kansas State’s career steals list.

Brown’s also a capable offensive player but, like the team as a whole, consistency largely escaped him on that end of the floor.  He scored at least 20 points in 11 games last season, including two games with at last 34 points. If Brown becomes a more consistent offensive threat, K-State will have a second go-to guy and one of the best all-around players in the country.

Cartier Diarra
Diarra was a raw player as a freshman last year and made most of his contributions as an athletic perimeter defender. That will largely be his role again, but his offense gradually improved as the season went on. Most importantly,  he became more comfortable and reliable as a three-point shooter as he shot over 41.1 percent from deep over the final month of the season. If he can continue to build on that, watch out.

Xavier Sneed
Sneed, whose versatility made him a star in the NCAA Tournament, was already one of the better defenders in the conference, yet also showed his offensive potential against quality competition, leading the team in scoring against both Kentucky and Loyola.

However, the 6-5, 212-pounder only recorded double-digit points in 22 of 37 games last season. He’s athletic enough to get to the rim whenever he wants and Weber took advantage of him as a mismatch at the four spot late in the year. Look for Weber to continue that trend in the new year.

Dean Wade
Wade was a first-team All-Big 12 selection last season after leading K-State in points (16.3) and rebounds (6.2). Weber likes to run this offense through his big man because he’s a multi-dimensional threat who can make plays for himself and for others – his 2.7 assist per game average ranked third on the team.

That versatility causes major problems for defenders, and former Texas center Mo Bamba, who was taken in the lottery by the Orlando Magic, described those problems earlier this offseason.

“I’d say one of the toughest players that I played against as far as just scouting, like, this was the first player that I looked at as far as tendencies and seeing what he does, is Dean Wade,” Bamba told The Athletic. “He’s super talented. He’s about 6-foot-9 but can really move, and it was a challenge defensively.”

Wade enters the new year as a Big 12 Player of the Year favorite and could see his averages rise significantly from a year ago, but I’d expect him to at least replicate those numbers.