Bad effort by me with this here blog lately, but that should be fixed in the coming days. And not to send precious traffic elsewhere, but our friends at “Bring on the Cats” – if you don’t have it as one of your Kansas State links, shame on you – have sent along this tidy and helpful guide to all things H-town should you find yourselves following the Bat Cats this weekend.
Enjoy.
NOTE: This is a new feature that is designed to be light while also revealing something about the personalities of the Kansas State Wildcats and the opposition’s star players.
This is essentially word association, and the subject – this week, it’s Griffin, the 6-foot-10 man-child whom many believe will be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft – has the option of explaining his rapid-fire response.
K-STATED: Kansas State?
BG: Consistent.
The All-Big 12 selections are out.
For the second year in a row, a Kansas State wide receiver/kick returner was named Offensive Newcomer of the Year. Last year, it was Deon Murphy. This year, it’s Brandon Banks.
Seems fair to me, but what about the rest? Were any of the other Wildcats – Brandon Harold? Josh Moore? – deserving of more than honorable mention?
From the Kansas State sports information department:
Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman has been named the Big 12 Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week after his performance against North Texas on Saturday, the league office has announced.
The award is Freeman’s third during his Wildcat career as he also garnered the league’s weekly honor after the 2006 Colorado and Texas games, while he becomes the first K-State offensive player to be honored since Jordy Nelson last season (October 1).
Freeman was joined by Texas quarterback Colt McCoy as the league’s offensive players of the week, while Missouri’s Stryker Sulak (defense) and Jeremy Maclin (special teams) were also honored.
A junior from Grandview, Mo., Freeman showed why he is considered among the nation’s top signal callers against North Texas as he accounted for five total touchdowns, including three through the air, and 232 passing yards on 18-of-24 aim (75-percent).
The five total touchdowns tied a career high for the quarterback, who became the first Wildcat since Michael Bishop in 1997 to account for five touchdowns in a season opener, and also accumulated a Big 12-best 197.5 quarterback rating for games played this past week.
His three touchdown passes were one shy of the school single-game record and also upped his current streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass to 12. He also has thrown two more touchdown passes in his last four games.
In the contest, Freeman also moved up to No. 2 on K-State’s career passing yards chart as he passed both Carl Straw and Chad May and currently sits at 5,365 yards. The career record is 6,208, held by Lynn Dickey.
Kansas State returns to action on Saturday as the Wildcats host Montana State in a game televised by Fox College Sports. Kickoff is set for 6:05 p.m. at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Yesterday’s Davey O’Brien watch list — and the omission of Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman — got me thinking, which is always a good thing.
Does the Big 12 have the best collection of experienced quarterbacks among the BCS conferences?
The criteria, it was reasoned, would be how many veteran quarterbacks returned in each league that accounted for 2,000 total yards of offense, which kept West Virginia’s Pat White in the conversation as the Mountaineer lefty threw for 1,724 and ran for 1,335.
Anyway, the statistics supported the theory:
Power to the people, I always say.
The Big 12 has sent out a blank ballot asking members of the media for their thoughts on how the conference will play out. Specifically, the Big 12 is looking for predicted order of finish in the North and South, an All-Big 12 Conference Team, and Offensive Player, Defensive Player and Newcomer of the Year.
Since most of you insist you know more about sports than I do anyway (and truth is, you might be right), let me hear your thoughts.
Here’s what I need:
1. North and South standings
2. Any Kansas State players you feel might be worthy of All-Big 12 consideration
3. Players of the year (Offensive, Defensive and Newcomer)
My ballot has to be turned in by July 11. And yes, I will consider each comment.
Random musings from the Big 12 coaches’ post-season teleconference call Monday:
YOU have to appreciate Bill Self’s candor. He’s honest. He said, even though his Kansas Jayhawks are playing well right now, his team has a tendency to lay an egg. He was asked about Bradley, and he said he had a young team against a team with a fifth-year senior and a lottery pick. And finally, he was happy for Nebraska coach Doc Sadler, whose Cornhuskers pushed KU in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals. NU will play Charlotte in the NIT. “I think they can make a run,” Self said. “Can’t say enough about the job Doc and his staff have done… I think he’s one of the premier coaches out there.”
TEXAS A&M is playing better right now, and Mark Turgeon said the Aggies are playing with a sense of urgency. In fact, he used the expression at least three times. Then he was asked about the importance of guard play in March, specifically in reference to Baylor, and he said, “Not taking anything away from Purdue, and Matt Painter’s a great coach, but Baylor got a great draw… They should be happy about their opportunity this week.”
STAY classy, Sean Sutton. Seriously. Nice touch by the Oklahoma State in his intro when he congratulated all eight teams playing in the post-season; the Cowboys and Nebraska are in the NIT. He believes this NIT run – OSU opens tomorrow night against Southern Illinois – will benefit his club in the coming years.
MY bad – I missed a bunch of coaches. Jeff Capel is next, followed by Frank Martin.
CAPEL laughed as there were no questions for him immediately. But then someone asked the Oklahoma coach about St. Joseph’s, the Sooner’s first-round opponent. “We know they’re very good,” Capel said, adding that St. Joe’s beat Xavier two out of three times this season.
ON the topic of youth vs. youth in 6-11 match-up with Southern California, Martin said, “We’re led by freshmen, and they’re led by freshmen… We’ll see which group of freshmen is more prepared to take on this challenge.” The preparations lasted into the early morning. “For a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, I go six days without sleeping.” He wasn’t sure if Kansas fans would root for K-State in Omaha, “but we need them… Nothing would make me happier than to have the KU faithful in my corner.” He also said it hurt the Wildcats immensely not having David Hoskins in uniform this year. He said the surgery on Hoskins’ knee was performed with the hopes that he could play again.
RICK Barnes was asked about his star, Texas’ D.J. Augustin: “D.J. is the kind of guy you’d like to have as the face (of your program). Everything that is good about college basketball is D.J. Augustin.” Barnes said his sophomore point guard wanted to be an Academic All-American this year, and he was. Barnes describes Augustin as an Eddie Haskell-type, a prankster.
Guess it was reported on television he was out with food poisoning – that’s what K-State assistant coach Brad Underwood told me as well. Imagine my surprise as I walked out of the Sprint Center and, while waiting for the media shuttle, I saw him being wheeled in a gurney to an ambulance. A woman I presume to be his mother was close behind, a look of concern on her face. Not speculating here – just telling you what I saw. Jordan looked uncomfortable on the gurney.
OK, that’s all of the information I’ve got.
Random musings from Monday’s Big 12 coaches’ teleconference call:
A.J. Abrams reminds Kansas coach Bill Self – from a size standpoint and probably because of that ridiculous compression arm sleeve – of Allen Iverson. “He’s going to get looks,” Self said of the Texas guard. “You hope he doesn’t shoot a high percentage.”
MORE coaching philosophy: “It’s a fine line between winning and losing,” Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. His point was, his team isn’t so much better or worse than the rest of the Big 12, so it’s the little things that will define the Aggies. After a recent skid, A&M has gotten hot. “We kind of came together,” Turgeon said. “We have gotten a lot better. More confidence, more poise…”
FRESH off Saturday’s spanking at Bramlage Coliseum, Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton insisted his kids were fine. “We didn’t play well Saturday night, and K-State had a lot to do with it,” he said. “K-State is a very good basketball team. They dominated us in the second half… Our guys didn’t fight.”
From the K-State sports information office, courtesy of Fox Sports Net Midwest:
This week’s Big 12 Showcase originates from K-State, and will feature one of its most compelling student-athletes of the 2007-08 Big 12 athletics calendar.
Freshman Michael Beasley is leading the Wildcats to a share of the lead in the Big 12 standings. Currently, he’s the Big 12’s leading scorer and the nation’s leading rebounder. Showcase host Emily Jones visits one-on-one with the Wildcat phenom, getting his thoughts on the season and even his fascination with SpongeBob SquarePants. Beasley’s little sister, Tiffany, even makes an appearance in between her own autograph session with Wildcat fans.
Big 12 Showcase airs Friday at 2:30 p.m. on FSN Midwest.