Monthly Archives: November 2008

Bill’s going barnstorming

Nov. 26, 200810:04 a.m.

From the Kansas State sports information department:

Kansas State head football coach Bill Snyder will make a six-stop whirlwind tour of the state of Kansas on December 2 to meet with K-State fans from Garden City to Kansas City.


Snyder, who was named the Wildcats’ 34th head coach on Monday, will open his barnstorming tour of the Sunflower State with a stop in Garden City for a meet-and-greet at the Clarion Inn beginning at 8 a.m.


Snyder will then fly to Wichita for a 10 a.m. stop at Colonel James Jabara Airport before moving on to Kansas City and the 810 Zone at 11:45 a.m.


A 1:30 p.m. stop at the Forbes Field Air Terminal in Topeka follows before then heading west to Salina and the K-State Salina Campus Conference Room at 3 p.m.


Snyder will wrap up the one-day tour in Manhattan at the Vanier Complex as all fans are welcome to join the coach in the team room at 4:30 p.m.


Due to time constraints from the quantity of stops scheduled for the day, Snyder will speak and field questions for approximately 20-30 minutes at each destination.


The tour is being coordinated through the Catbacker Clubs of Kansas. For more information on Coach Snyder’s whirlwind tour, please contact Assistant Athletics Director Lon Floyd at 785-587-7833.

By J-Mart | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments Off

THE MORNING AFTER – Iowa State

Nov. 23, 20082:18 p.m.

Props to Ron Prince for closing his three years at Kansas State with a win. Well done, sir. Best of luck in your future endeavors.

But now on to other pressing matters, such as his replacement. A lot of people have wondered why I didn’t chime in more during this search, which is nearing its conclusion. The problem was there was a lot of misinformation out there, and verifying anything these days has been almost impossible.

What we do we know? Well, here’s what I know:

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I GOT FIVE ON IT – Frank Martin ‘08

Nov. 21, 200811:30 a.m.

The Kansas State coach was riding the exercise bike in his office when reached Friday morning. Every day, he alternates between the bike and an elliptical machine for an hour, in case you were curious. Anyway, I figured the perfect way to dust off the “Five” would be to bring back Martin, who was featured Sept. 6, 2007, and is passionate about everything — including his cardio.

1. Some of the fan base has grumbled about the perceived lack of competition in the non-conference schedule. Explain the strategy.

Our schedule is ranked as the 35th-toughest schedule in the nation (Rivals’ pre-season strength of schedule rankings). When we play 16 Big 12 games, that’s 16 better games than everybody but two or three conferences that are competitive with us… When you put games on your schedule, you do so to get on television and to chal-lenge your team. If I was concerned with going 12-0, we wouldn’t play Oakland, Cleveland State and Gardner-Webb. We’d play someone else. Sometimes, the sexy games are difficult to schedule… We’re playing Southern Miss, which is coached by Larry Eustachy, one of the better coaches in country, and he has a point guard who will be in the NBA next year… Last year, Gardner-Webb went into Lexington and beat Kentucky… I know I’m extremely happy with our schedule.

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Times for Frank, Kansas State Preview on FSN

1:40 p.m.

From the sports information staff:

The Kansas State Hoops Preview, a 30-minute television special, debuts Saturday, Nov. 22 at 12:30 p.m. CT on FOX Sports Kansas City.

The show previews the 2008-09 season and includes a one-on-one interview with head coach Frank Martin, player interviews and a look around the Big 12 Conference.

In addition to its premiere on Nov. 22, the show will air three other times on FOX Sports Kansas City, including Sunday, Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. CT, Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 9:15 p.m. CT and Tuesday, December 2 at 2 p.m. CT.

The Wildcats’ 12-game broadcast schedule on the network began in last week’s season-opening win over Florida A&M on Friday, Nov. 14. It continues with tonight’s game with Emporia State at 7 p.m. and concludes the month with the Oakland game on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m.

All of Kansas State’s contests on FOX Sports Kansas City will also be broadcast on the ESPN Full Court package as well as on ESPN360.com.

The Frank Martin Show, Kansas State’s weekly men’s basketball show, makes its debut on FOX Sports Kansas City on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 11:30 a.m.

Scheduled weekly times for the 30-minute show, co-hosted by the “Voice of the Wildcats,” Wyatt Thompson and Martin, are 11:30 a.m. CT Saturdays.

2008-09 Kansas State Hoops Preview – FOX Sports Kansas City Broadcast Schedule – Nov. 22 at 12:30 p.m., Nov. 23 at 1 p.m., Nov. 25 at 9:15 p.m., Dec. 2 at 2 p.m.

Frank Martin Show on FOX Sports Kansas City beginning Nov. 29, all at 11:30 a.m. – Nov. 29, Dec. 6, 13, 20, Jan. 10, 17, 24, 31, Feb. 7, 14, 21, March 7

By J-Mart | Filed under Basketball | Comments (1)

Kind of off topic, but worth a look

Yesterday10:38 a.m.

I did cover the Big 12 women’s basketball media day in Oklahoma City, but no, I don’t cover women’s basketball.

With that said, Kansas State just launched a Web site that is pretty cool. It’s all about Shalee Lehning, and it’s called “The Shalee Element.”

Couple of quick points – Shalee’s mom, Jane, e-mailed me last year to request more coverage for the women, and I became a fan – of Jane. She’s a nice lady. From what I hear about Shalee, and now from what I read, she’s a tremendous player. Kathy McConnell-Miller, the coach at Colorado, told me in OKC that if she start a team with anyone in the country, she’d start with Shalee.

That’s kind of cool. And props to K-State for doing this. But where was this for Mike Beasley? Guess he already got enough national pub.

By J-Mart | Filed under Basketball | Comments (8)

I just got a Heisman vote…

Monday5:19 p.m.

And I’m throwing my support behind Josh Freeman.

I kid.

But I was just notified that I’m receiving a vote, which is a bigger deal than I thought. Have to admit I’m leaning toward Michael Crabtree, but I’ll check out what happens Saturday night.

Some housekeeping – I didn’t write a “MORNING AFTER” following Nebraska because there was no point. I’ve shifted my focus to basketball – well, not until this coaching search is completed. Personal plea – I think you all should get out and support this basketball team. It’s going to be fun to follow, and I think you’ll be able to watch the growth from week to week.

How good is Jamar Samuels going to be? I’m writing about him – just a small story for the time being – for the advance of Wednesday’s game. He’s a funny dude.

By J-Mart | Filed under Football | Comments (8)

A perspective on Curtis Kelly

Thursday3:09 p.m.

I spoke with Scout.com’s Dave Telep today – and if you didn’t check out the blog he and Evan Daniels handled yesterday, you missed some top-notch stuff – for tomorrow’s story on Kansas State’s signing class.

Quick tease – he’s impressed, especially with Wally Judge.

But I also used the call as an opportunity to gauge what type of player the Wildcats were getting in Curtis Kelly, the transfer from UConn who will be eligible next season as a junior. Here’s what he had to say about Kelly, the former New York City phenom:

“It has everything to do with Curtis… He has the talent to play for money. But it’s always been about Curtis. I think he had some growing up to do coming out of high school. He was easily distracted – it was easy to take him out of his game. He should have been a McDonald’s All-American – he had that type of ability.

“He has to get all of his distractions out. If he can do that, he can make money doing this someday. This is his last chance.”

Think he’ll thrive playing in Manhattan under Frank Martin?

By J-Mart | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (2)

Signing Day: Four in the fold at Kansas State

Thursday12:56 p.m.

From the Kansas State sports information department:

Kansas State men’s basketball coach Frank Martin announced the signing of four high school seniors to National Letters of Intent on the second day of the fall signing period on Thursday.

The four-man recruiting class, which is considered one of the nation’s best classes, includes Jordan Henriquez (Winchendon [Mass.] School/Port Chester, N.Y.), Wally Judge (Arlington (Fla.) Country Day/Washington, D.C.), Rodney McGruder (Arlington (Fla.) Country Day/Washington, D.C.) and Nick Russell (Grace Preparatory Academy/Arlington, Texas).

“It is an exciting time for us at Kansas State,” said Martin.  “All the hard work by the assistant coaches to go out and promote our program and sell K-State to potential recruits – it comes through in a recruiting class that we are extremely excited about because of the make-up of kids as people and what we think of them as players.  It was important with this class that we continue to add athleticism to our team.  We have done that when you consider the guys that we have signed. We also wanted to add some size at the guard play and we have done that with Nick and Rodney.”

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FOX notes, plus Ian makes the cut

Nov. 12, 20085:55 p.m.

From the fine folks at FOX:

Fox Sports KC and Fox Sports Midwest will replay the Nov. 11, 2000 Nebraska-Kansas State football game tomorrow (Nov. 13) at 7 p.m. in its Big 12 Classics series. The No. 16 Wildcats beat the No. 4 Huskers, 29-28, in Manhattan on Jonathan Beasley’s touchdown pass to Quincy Morgan with 2:52 left in regulation. K-State finished the season as Big 12 North co-champs.

And, from the K-State sports information folks:

K-State senior defensive end Ian Campbell was one of 33 players named to the mid-season watch list for the 2008 Ted Hendricks Award, the foundation announced. The award is presented annually to college football’s top defensive end.

Campbell, the only returning two-time First Team All-Big 12 selection in the league this season, currently ranks sixth in school history with 20.5 career sacks and has compiled 37.5 tackles for loss in his career.

By J-Mart | Filed under Football | Comments (1)

K-Stated: The Vlog

Nov. 12, 20082:02 p.m.

Sorry the posts have been so sporadic, but I’ve decided to make a more concerted effort to provide you with more Kansas State information on a daily basis. How’s that for a pledge from your local beat writer?

Anyway, here’s my latest effort:

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