- It’s been quite the year for Kansas State first-year coach Bruce Weber. On March 9, 2012, Weber was fired as the head coach of Illinois. A year and a couple days later, he was named Big 12 Coach of the Year (I wonder how many times that’s happened to a coach). The article walks us through how Weber tackled the largest recruiting class he’d ever seen: the entire Kansas State roster. It’s crazy to think that had K-State not called Weber, he would have been off to the College of Charleston. It would have been a shame, regardless of how bad he looked in media circles last season, because he was worthy of a better job.
- Back in late January, TCU coach Trent Johnson called this team the most talented in the country. Now it’s Travis Ford passing the complements Baylor’s way, calling them “as talented as anyone” in the Big 12. Sure there’s some hyperbole somewhere in these statements, but the fact is they returned important pieces from last year’s Elite Eight team including the conference preseason player of the year. Even as a non-Baylor fan, it’s been so frustrating for me to watch a team like this hang on for their tournament lives lately when they should be a team worried about seeding like Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma or Iowa State. If they get into the Dance, beating the Cowboys on Thursday (and likely the Wildcats the day after) is what I think will be enough to get them there. Of course, they could just win the whole thing and leave no doubt about it as well.
- We love Bob Huggins for his frankness and quotability at press conferences, but lordy, don’t quote him on this: “I think we can still can make a run [in the conference tournament].” I understand why he said it, but with all due respect, it’s not gonna happen. If there’s going to be a team or teams that’ll make a surprise run in Kansas City, it’s probably Baylor or Texas. If I were Huggins, I’d want this season to end as swiftly as possible.
- Had you asked me how many conference games TCU would have won in November, I would have said none. But then they went and beat Kansas and Oklahoma, two teams with Tournament plans for next week. What’s next for Horned Frogs basketball? An outstanding recruiting class, that’s what. Led by Karviar Shepherd, the Class of 2013’s third-best center, Trent Johnson hopes that this year’s smidgen of success can build serious momentum for recruiting top talent in the Metroplex. The problem for previous coaches at TCU hasn’t been their ability to recruit players from Dallas-Fort Worth but to reel in the best that DFW has to offer. Hopefully, Johnson’s onto something there.
- There wasn’t a whole lot of good that came for Kansas out of the Baylor loss. They failed to clinch the outright Big 12 regular season title, they were blown out on the road (which almost never happens), and they lost a regular season game to the Bears for the first time in 12 years. But we did see some potential shine through for KU freshman Perry Ellis. He hit 5-of-7 from the field in the most playing time he has received since the season opener. He’s one good offseason in the weight room away from becoming another Marcus Morris-type for KU (Ellis: 6’8″, 225 pounds; Morris: 6’9″, 235 pounds).