KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Earlier this week, a college sports reporter with no apparent connection to Bruce Weber or Kansas State sent out a tweet that suggested the Wildcats’ men’s basketball coach was likely to retire after the season came to an end.
There was little reason for anyone to take the social media post as fact, but it caused rumors to swirl. So much so that one of Weber’s daughters saw it and asked him if it was true.
Weber said he laughed and told her no.
“I love coaching, I love practice, I love being around the guys. I love their development. I think we’ve improved as much as any team in the country,” Weber said when asked about the possibility of retirement on Thursday following a 74-68 loss to Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals at T-Mobile Center. “We were so low I guess we better have improved. But I love coaching, being around players, so I’m looking forward to next year. I can’t wait.”
For good measure, Weber was later asked more directly if he intends to return next year as K-State’s coach for a 10th season.
“I don’t know why I wouldn’t,” Weber said. “I love K-State, I love coaching. I think obviously we haven’t won as many games the last two years as you always hope, but it’s been a long time since they had won championships ... I think we have a great nucleus. Hopefully this group wants to stay together and this gave them a lot of hope and drive and motivation.”
Assuming Weber indeed returns next season, it’s fun to think about what the Wildcats might be able to accomplish after watching them close out this year by winning four of their final six games and pushing the nation’s No. 2 team to the brink on Thursday.
Though no one is happy about K-State’s struggles over the past two years — the Wildcats finished this season 9-20 and have a record of 20-41 since they hoisted a Big 12 championship trophy in 2019 — brighter days may be on the horizon.
K-State athletics director Gene Taylor has publicly defended Weber at several turns this season, and you could say his faith in him was rewarded over the past month.
The Wildcats appeared to be at their best during their two games in Kansas City. First, they flogged TCU, 71-50, in the opening round. Then they held a second-half lead over Baylor in the quarterfinals.
Most encouraging of all, they did it with young players leading the way.
Freshman guard Nijel Pack erupted for 23 points against the Horned Frogs and backed that up with 18 points against the Bears. Freshman forward Davion Bradford had 18 points against Baylor and looked like the best big man on the floor.
Throw in a 15-point effort from sophomore guard DaJuan Gordon and some strong defense from freshman guard Selton Miguel, and there is legitimate optimism about next season.
Pack went so far as to call Thursday’s game a preview of things to come. If the Wildcats could somehow start the season over right now, he thinks their record would be reversed.
“I feel like we would have been competing for a Big 12 championship,” Pack said. “We might be one of the youngest teams in the country, but I feel like the experience that we’ve gotten and how much we’ve grown as a team, as a brotherhood. If we had this all year we would have easily been ranked, we would’ve been playing for a Big 12 championship and then we would’ve been in the NCAA Tournament next week.”
K-State certainly ended the season playing like a much different team than the group that lost at home to Division II Fort Hays State and suffered through a 13-game losing streak.
Can the Wildcats build off that momentum next season?
That depends on a few factors. Transfers have never been more prevalent in college basketball, so there is no guarantee that any of K-State’s players will return next season. But if their main contributors stick around, the Wildcats could shoot up the conference standings.
Pack is arguably Weber’s best freshman since Marcus Foster. Bradford is definitely the top true post player Weber has recruited during his time in Manhattan. Miguel has the look of a defensive stopper. And Gordon is an ideal hustle player on the wing.
That is a promising nucleus of young talent, but the Wildcats will probably need more to follow in the footsteps of Weber’s best teams. Perhaps that can be solved by senior guard Mike McGuirl returning as a “super senior.” Weber said McGuirl “wants to” keep playing for K-State and Weber hopes that is what he decides to do.
Or maybe the Wildcats can add an impact transfer capable of creating his own shot and scoring when his team needs an important bucket. If not, K-State’s returning players will need to develop and mature during the offseason.
“I’ve used Baylor as an example for that,” Weber said. “Look how far Jared Butler, how far MaCio Teague, how far Davion Mitchell have come. We didn’t have a spring, didn’t have a summer and we had a limited fall. Now you’re going to get that chance.”
Most of all, K-State needs to improve collectively as shooters.
The Wildcats morphed into an elite defensive team as the season progressed, which is the biggest cause for optimism moving forward, but their offense was stagnant from start to finish.
Pack led the team by averaging 12.5 points and McGuirl was right behind him at 12.1, but no one else on the roster averaged more than 8.9. On some nights, stopping K-State was as simple as defending McGuirl and Pack.
K-State struggled most of all from 3-point range, where it made an abysmal 29.3% of its shots. That was by far the lowest number in the Big 12.
That will need to change before the Wildcats can take a big step forward. It will also need to change for Weber to feel good about coaching at K-State beyond next year. With only two years remaining on his contract, he will need to prove something.
Perhaps improvement will come when the Wildcats are dealing with far fewer COVID-19 restrictions than they currently are.
It seems possible after what K-State showed during two games at the Big 12 tournament.
“We will be able to shock some people next year,” Pack said. “I feel like we got the talent, definitely got the coaching, the support to win a Big 12 championship. We have just got to believe it, put the work in and then it will happen for us.”
