K-Stated

Two days after Kansas State went on the road and defeated Missouri to all but lock up a spot in the NCAA Tournament, Victor Ojeleye leaned against a wall at Bramlage Coliseum and said he was feeling tired.

Not because he pushed himself physically against the Tigers or in practice the next day, mind you. Though he worked as hard as he could on the court those days, he long ago grew accustomed to that. On this occassion, he was having trouble shaking the lingering effects of maintaining a high GPA while traveling and playing Division I basketball all at the same time.

“Don’t tell coach,” he said, “but I’ve been up until 2 a.m. studying the last couple nights.”

That kind of dedication is admirable considering he doesn’t have anything left to prove from an academic standpoint. He was the valedictorian of his high school, he has made an A in all but two of his college classes, he has been named to the Big 12′s All-academic team three times, he is on pace to graduate in July and he even has an accounting/financial job lined up with Koch Industries.

In short, he has been the model student-athlete during his time at Kansas State.

Knowing all of this, I asked Ojeleye what was still driving him in the class room. He could afford to make another B. Why not kick back, relax and enjoy his senior year a little bit?

“I don’t want any doses of senioritis — at all,” Ojeleye said. “You can’t just change who you are because things are looking good. You’ve got to continue to do what you do, continue to do what got you where you are. Working hard now, that’s something you’re going to enjoy later.”
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Of Kansas State’s seven returning scholarship basketball players, it’s pretty easy to identify who will make up the core of next year’s team.

Rodney McGruder will likely be the best player on the roster. Will Spradling is eager to enter the starting lineup after a promising freshman season. And Jamar Samuels will be a fifth-year senior.

Yes, Shane Southwell and Jordan Henriquez ended last season on upswings, and walk-on Victor Ojeleye could very well be named a captain, but those are the three who (for now, anyway) figure to make the biggest impact for the Wildcats next season — both on and off the court.

I asked K-State coach Frank Martin about all three earlier this week, and it turns out he has a pretty good idea of who his most dependable players will be next season, too.

But instead of a trio, he sees a duo.

He is most confident in McGruder and Spradling.

“Those are the two guys that have shown the willingness to be consistent with who they are, with their approach, with their work ethic,” Martin said. Read More »

How big is today’s CBE Classic championship game between fourth-ranked Kansas State and top-ranked Duke?

So big that there is virtually no way to over hype it.

The Wildcats are striving for a marquee victory that will prove themselves capable of handling high expectations. The Blue Devils and coach Mike Krzyzewski are, well, Duke: the defending national champion everyone loves to hate. Except Frank Martin, that is.

“I look at two things,” Martin said. “No. 1, it’s hard to be good for one year. They’ve been good for 28 years. They’ve competed for national championships and conference championships for 28 years. That’s ridiculous.

The other part of it, which shows the kind of man that leads that program, and the people that he demands to have in that program, USA Basketball had become the laughing stock of the world. All of a sudden he engages in USA basketball and now USA basketball is back to dominating the world.

“It’s going to be a privilege to tell my grand kids one day that I was able and fortunate enough to sit on the bench opposite Coach K, and try to prepare a team to compete against his.”
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How to take this game?

The Kansas State basketball team defeated Loyola-Chicago 92-54 in its season-opener and did so rather easily, which is good.

But coach Frank Martin was so angry with his team’s performance that he said his players should be “embarrassed,” which is bad.

As is the case in most situations like this, it’s best to fall somewhere in the middle. That would make K-State’s performance on Friday at Bramlage Coliseum fairly average.
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