This is Plan B.
Dominique Sutton planned to be at K-State right now, adding another five pounds of muscle to the 10 he’d already gained under the tutelage of strength and conditioning coach Scott Greenawalt. He was prepared to bypass a role on the offensive end in favor of being the Wildcats’ lock-down defender, a role the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Sutton was relishing.
That was Plan A.
Reality reigned, however, meaning the summer coursework Sutton completed at K-State wasn’t enough, so Sutton, a forward from The Patterson School in Lenoir, N.C., will finish his qualifying work — he said Tuesday it was an English credit — at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass.
“I’ll leave at the end of the week,” said Sutton, adding that he believes Jamar Samuels — another mid-year enrollee — will also be joining him at Notre Dame Prep; Samuels did not return messages left on his cell phone. “I’ll work out with the team, but I’m not playing for them. … This is the only thing holding me back.”
He said his first day in Manhattan will be Dec. 14, which means his first game with the Wildcats will be against Florida A&M at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. Because he’ll be nearly two months behind the rest of his teammates, Sutton knows how he’ll be able to make an instant impact.
“Just contribute how I can, which is by guarding the opponent’s best player every night,” he said. “I’m not worried about my offense. I grab rebounds. I’m very aggressive and I hustle, get loose balls. … A lot of people have commented about seeing me this summer, about me doing more than that this summer, but I was just feeling myself at the next level. I’m still working.
“My only downfall is my three-point ball. It’s not consistent. I’m more of a slasher. I like to pass the ball and get everyone involved. Defense is my specialty. I just play hard. That’s what the people want. I’m ready to get this show on the road. December is right around the corner.”
Expectations, especially following last week’s “Madness in Manhattan,” are rising, but that’s fine with Sutton. He and his future classmates are embracing their “No. 1 recruiting class in the country” title, but not at the expense of the team.
“We’re playing for greatness,” Sutton said. “We’re playing to win championships.”
Sounds like Plan C.
ALSO…
CALLED Bill Barton, who I thought was still the basketball coach at Notre Dame Prep. He’s not — he’s now an assistant coach at Duquesne, working under Ron Everhart, who used to coach at Northeastern (Frank Martin was on his staff) and he’s a native of West Virginia (as is Bob Huggins).
See the connection?
Anyway, he believes Martin will be fine in his first season because “if you’re a good high school coach, you can be a good college coach.”
Asked about Mike Beasley, who played his final season of high school for Barton, and if he was worried about the K-State freshman forward adapting to the rigors of college basketball, Barton replied, “No, I personally wouldn’t worry about Mike at the professional level. He’s a talent that doesn’t come along every year.”
A LOT of fans have pointed to a lack of outside shooting as a possible Achilles’ heel for the Wildcats, but Sutton didn’t seem too worried.
“Jacob Pullen can shoot the three-ball,” he said. “He lives by that. He’s a very good shooter. And Clent (Stewart), he led the team last year in three-point percentage. And Bill (Walker) is coming along. He’s more of a jump-shooter now. All he did this summer was shoot his jumper. He’s at the point where you don’t know how to guard him. You have to play him for his jumper, plus he’s so strong now. He’s known as “Sky” Walker, but when he hits three, four jumpers in a row and someone comes out to guard him, well, you know what happens next.
“It’s going to tough for teams to match up with him.”
SUTTON has a 1-year-old daughter named Nykira. She lives in North Carolina.