I know there are enough of us to participate in this thread, even when our seasons inevitably go to shit.
KSU vs Western Illinois today, tip-off at 3:00 pm.
One thing I noticed near the end of the game on Friday night - we had 5 true freshman on the court, and still played sound basketball. None of them were scrub walk-ons either. While I don't think we will make a serious run at anything this year, the foundation is being laid for a solid program in the future. [Reply]
Originally Posted by hawkchief:
Midseason coach of the year AND RPI leader after 3 weeks. Doesn't get much better than that if you're a grape.
Get the banners us for chrissakes!
I hope this isn't hate from a KU/MU fan.
K-state has looked great this year. #1 RPI (which means little at this point) and #12 in overall Kenpom rankings (which means much more), and since FHS have past every test they have faced. Quality, experienced back-court and athletic front-court.
KU-KState will be some epic matchups this year. I can't wait. [Reply]
Originally Posted by :
Cats' AD hopes hoops momentum transfers into practice facility
By Austin Meek
Updated January 2, 2010 at 11:17pm
MANHATTAN — In 2005, a search committee led by John Currie selected Bruce Pearl as Tennessee's basketball coach.
Two years later, Currie oversaw a $36 million facilities project that included renovations to Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena and the construction of a new practice facility.
The underlying philosophy — that Tennessee could be more than just a football school — also has applications in Currie's new job as Kansas State's athletic director.
"I think there are a lot of similarities," Currie said. "Both programs had a period of dormancy. K-State certainly has a history prior to the dormancy that is very, very significant — more significant than Tennessee's. But in recent times, there has been the period of dormancy.
"Coach Pearl was able to revive the sleeping giant, so to speak, and I think coach (Frank) Martin is doing exactly the same thing."
The wheels were in motion when Currie arrived. Martin, in his third season, has the Wildcats ranked 12th in the nation heading into their final nonconference game, a matchup against South Dakota at noon Sunday.
Attendance has been up at Bramlage Coliseum, contrary to the nationwide trend, and Currie's challenge is to harness the momentum.
"You can build buildings and hire coaches and stuff like that, but if you don't have that fan support for your programs, boy, you're really in an uphill climb," Currie said. "When you have that fan support and that passion and that tradition here at K-State, then it's our responsibility administratively to do the things to feed off of that fan support to help the program be successful."
The next step is the construction of a practice facility for the men's and women's basketball teams, a project that has been delayed by the economic downturn and K-State's recent financial turmoil.
The practice facility was part of an ambitious $70 million facilities upgrade championed by former athletic director Bob Krause. Those plans were put on hold, but the practice facility remains a priority.
"Over the last six months, we've worked hard to figure out what our operational flow is and figure out what the true priorities are of our facilities plan," Currie said. "I think the basketball practice facility is a true priority. It is a real need, and not just a need for the recruiting bling, but a need for the coaching and teaching of the sport of basketball."
The original facilities project, which also included substantial upgrades to Snyder Family Stadium, called for $35 million in private donations and $35 million in debt financing. Currie has supported a more conservative approach that relies primarily on private funding.
"I have been asked, as part of my charge here, to make sure we operate in a fiscally responsible manner," Currie said. "If you're going to build a facility, how are you going to pay for it? There was talk at one time of 'borrow this money, bond this money,' or whatever. I think when you build facilities and you don't have a new cash flow associated with it, you're going to have to build those facilities with private gifts."
K-State recently hired Laird Veatch, a former Wildcat linebacker and Learfield Sports executive, for the purpose of cultivating leadership gifts — the kind of seven- or eight-figure contributions that are required to get a facilities project off the ground.
"If you look across the country, most of the places who are building stuff, they're getting some seven- and eight-figure leadership gifts," Currie said. "Those gifts transform institutions athletically and academically.
"It's important, though, to remember that we're a grassroots university. We're going to need seven-figure gifts. We're going to need six-figure gifts, and we're going to need two-figure gifts."
The practice facility has been a priority for Martin from the outset, and he said his dialog with Currie has been encouraging.
"That's his baby," Martin said. "Obviously he includes me in his conversations and the direction he's going with it, but that's his baby. In my heart, based on my conversations with him, I truly believe that's something (that) is going to get done a lot sooner rather than later."
Currie also expressed a desire to secure Martin's services long term. Martin's current contract runs through 2012 and pays him $760,000 annually.
"I think Frank Martin is the ideal coach to be the coach at Kansas State for a long, long time," Currie said. "We're always going to do what we can to make sure we have good long-term partnerships with our coaches when we feel like we have a great fit, and we feel like we have a great fit with Frank Martin."
Martin echoed those sentiments.
"That's a deal that's between (Currie) and I, and when that gets done, it'll be public," Martin said. "But my heart's at K-State, and I couldn't be happier with the people I work with, the people I work for, the people of K-State. It's just an incredible place, and I'm just lucky to be part of it."
Emphasis mine. Is anyone else really impressed with AD John Currie? I've been a big fan of his & President Schulz's since they were hired and they both seem to acknowledge the value of athletics to a university nowadays. I remember when he was "campaigning," Schulz would talk about how a powercat is considered K-State's brand and that athletics is one of the best ways to advertise your brand. Love it.
Hope we can get Frank signed to a long-term deal soon. He seems like a very loyal person, and if K-State can show him some loyalty, I think/hope he'll be around for a long time. [Reply]
A period of dormancy? A period? It was 20 years. That's like a mesozoic era in basketball.
As far as locking up Frank "long term": That's nice and all, but he'll move when a better job comes open in the South. That's just life. And that's where Currie will earn his keep. By being nimble and proactive enough to keep things going after Frank leaves. [Reply]
And Frank does deserve to paid better. After making complete and utter fools of the folks who claimed he would be a failure and threw those ridiculous "he's unethical" charges at him, Martin is certainly having the last laugh. [Reply]
I'm worried that Delonte will bolt for a HC job and we will lose a lot of our recruiting. Simultaneously, I am also worried that Frank will bolt if offered a big boy job. In the next three years, if this keeps up, the offers are going to start pouring in.... [Reply]
Originally Posted by sedated:
I hope this isn't hate from a KU/MU fan....
It's just another gigantic vaginal canal that migrated over from phogtard.net. It's amazing they can survive w/o being within nipple distance of the place. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dante84:
I'm worried that Delonte will bolt for a HC job and we will lose a lot of our recruiting. Simultaneously, I am also worried that Frank will bolt if offered a big boy job. In the next three years, if this keeps up, the offers are going to start pouring in....
If Frank wins 23-24 games, he's going to be offered. And he'll probably take it. Again, that's just life. When that happens, we will then see what Currie is all about. [Reply]
Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish: If Frank wins 23-24 games, he's going to be offered. And he'll probably take it. Again, that's just life. When that happens, we will then see what Currie is all about.
This year? You think a legit program will offer him after this season if he posts up 23-24?
I'd think a annual contender might want to see a little more. But who knows. Money talks. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Dante84:
This year? You think a legit program will offer him after this season if he posts up 23-24?
I'd think a annual contender might want to see a little more. But who knows. Money talks.
Frank's won 20+ in his first two seasons. In a pretty tough league. And he brought them all the way back from an 0-4 start in league to win 9 last year in conference.
An annual contender isn't looking for a coach most of the time Dante. It's usually a university like KSU, just in a conference where there is more money and easier access to talent.
Hopefully he stays for 5 years. That's about all I wanted from Huggs. That should provide a pretty solid foundation for the next coach. And DH better pull another great player in next year. We're going to need one [Reply]