I spoke with Kansas State basketball coach Frank Martin for about 20 minutes earlier today. During that conversation we covered a number of topics, ranging from the similarities he sees between Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea and Wildcats freshman Angel Rodriguez (read all about it in tomorrow’s paper), what he is expecting out of his newest recruits, the promotions on his coaching staff and plenty in between.
I’m planning on passing along all of those tidbits throughout the week right here. Allow me to kick things off now with a few notes.
Feeling Better
Martin is much healthier today than he was last month when he began undergoing treatment for blood clots found in his leg.
“I feel great,” Martin said. “I’m on blood thinners. There are times during the day that makes you feel weird, but I’m good. My doctors are comfortable with my blood and they’re comfortable with the clot. In the back of my mind, I’m always worried. Blood clots are nothing to mess with. So I’m not free and clear. I’m always going to have a concern in the back of my mind, but physically I’m good.”
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By Kellis Robinett
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Tags: Angel Rodriguez, Dominique Sutton, Frank Martin, J.J. Barea, Jacob Pullen, Jamar Samuels, Kansas State, Lamont Evans, Nick Russell, Tim Maloney, Wildcats, Will Spradling
Filed under Basketball
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North Carolina Central basketball coach LeVelle Moton has officially announced the addition of former Kansas State swingman Dominique Sutton.
“I was ecstatic when Dominque contacted us to express his interest in transferring to North Carolina Central University,” Moton said in a statement. “We are excited to have a student-athlete of his caliber as a part of our men’s basketball program.”
According to the Raleigh News & Observer, Sutton will seek a NCAA waiver that would allow him to play immediately without sitting out a year.
Sutton transferred from K-State to be closer to his family and two young daughters in Durham, N.C. He told the Raleigh newspaper he was excited about the new destination.
“It was difficult being out there (at K-State) flying there and flying back home,” Sutton said. “There was a lot going on. This will make it simple, just to come back home and be comfortable and play and just have fun.”
All it took for Nino Williams to change his plans was a phone call from Frank Martin.
The Kansas State basketball coach dialed Williams on Sunday and told him he wanted him on campus. Not just a year ahead of schedule, but within the next 10 hours.
Heading into the holiday weekend, when Williams first learned of Dominique Sutton’s decision to transfer, the Leavenworth High School product didn’t know if he could make that kind of commitment. Ever since verbally committing to the Wildcats in October, Williams had intended to enroll in prep school for a year before joining K-State.
It was a plan he liked. The idea of changing it made him uneasy.
But as Williams’ legal guardian Derek Zeck put it, “Not many kids get the chance to go into a top-10 program like this.”
So when Martin came calling, Williams happily accepted his offer to enroll at K-State in 2010 instead of 2011. He is now living in Manhattan, ready to start summer school.
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While chatting Kansas State basketball with Fran Fraschilla today, the knowledgeable ESPN college basketball analyst told me he liked the Wildcats’ chances of reaching the Final Four.
“They’re a contender,” he said. “There is no doubt about that. They have all the components to get there.”
But the compliment was followed by a warning.
“I think this is a trap game for them coming up,” he said. “I think this is a dangerous game for them, because they handled Xavier so easily at home earlier in the year. This is a different, dangerous Xavier team now.
“That team at the time was still searching for an identity with a new coach. They’ve got to be careful not to fall into the trap that they’ve already beaten this team easily.”
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A win over Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament championship game would have gone down as one of the top moments in the modern era of K-State sports.
It didn’t happen, and Wildcats players cried when they realized they missed out on a tremendous opportunity.
But in the grand scheme of things, Saturday’s highly competitive loss to the Jayhawks wasn’t a season-altering setback. Not even close. Yes, K-State had everything to gain from winning on the Big 12′s grandest stage, but it also had nothing to lose.
When the NCAA Tournament selection show begins at 5 p.m. today, the Wildcats will like what they see. A No. 2 seed, a spot in the Oklahoma City sub-regional, some praise from the program’s hosts … All are likely to occur.
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By Kellis Robinett
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Tags: Allen Fieldhouse, Bramlage Coliseum, Cole Aldrich, Denis Clemente, Dominique Sutton, Jacob Pullen, Jamar Samuels, Jayhawks, K-State, Kansas, Kansas State, Sprint Center, Wally Judge, Wildcats
Filed under Basketball
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When everyone thought Texas was good, fans lined up outside Bramlage Coliseum 20 hours before tip-off.
When No. 1 Kansas walked into the Octagon of Doom, the K-State student section was so loud it seemed to double in size.
Excitement was high for both of those must-see games, but today’s showdown with the Jayhawks easily surpasses each of them on the exhilaration scale.
Both teams are ranked in the top 10, both teams respect each other and their third game of the season will be for a Big 12 Tournament championship. One scalper outside the Sprint Center last night said tickets will be worth up to $500 today.
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