In an effort to remind you that college basketball does in fact exist during the summer, Big 12 microsite writers Danny Spewak (@dspewak) and Jeremy Pfingsten (@jeremylp21) will roll out three summer updates per week during the next month. The goal is to compile every bit of news and information from the summer months for each team and package it into neat, easy-to-read capsules for your convenience. Next on the list — Danny’s update on Kansas State. 

Kansas State Wildcats

2011-12 Record: 22-11, 10-8

Last March, I watched my first Frank Martin practice at the Sprint Center as Kansas State prepared to face Baylor in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. When I arrived in the middle of drills, Martin disappointed me. I wanted to see that nightmarish glare and personality I’d seen on television so many times, but he hadn’t cursed, screamed or even raised his voice yet. That lasted all of about 10 minutes. Almost on queue, Martin lashed out like the madman we all knew and loved, directing his anger not at one particular player but at the entire team in general. It was vintage Frank Martin. This summer, though, all of those returning Wildcats who dealt with Martin’s contentious personality will have a major transition to make. Martin mysteriously and unexpectedly left for a job at South Carolina, leaving KSU’s identity as a rough, tough, aggressive program in shambles. It’s now up to Bruce Weber to continue that culture by implementing his own style of play during the offseason. A highly successful coach at Southern Illinois and during the early part of his tenure at Illinois, Weber’s main challenge is convincing a talented group of returners he’s the right man for the job after his Illini program fell apart under him at the end of his tenure.

Bruce Weber Will Have to Find a New Color For His Tie at Kansas State

Summer Orientation: The most important “Summer Orientation” in Manhattan has to do with Weber and his staff. Shortly after accepting the head coaching job, Weber assembled a familiar crew of assistants. Most notably, he hired Chris Lowery, an old buddy of his from SIU who just lost his job with the Salukis after a downturn in the once-proud program (which Weber helped build). The two coached together at both Illinois and Southern Illinois, but Lowery’s not the only Saluki working on staff this summer. Brad Korn, the director of basketball operations, was a main contributor at forward under both Weber and Matt Painter (who took over in 2003-04) at SIU. And speaking of former players, full-time assistant Chester Frazier started for three years under Weber at Illinois. Weber also hired Alvin Brooks III, who had been working at Sam Houston State, to round out his staff.

Right away, Weber hit the recruiting trail and found Darrell Johnson and Michael Orris. Both have already made their way to campus, according to the Kansas City Star. As late spring signees, neither player is necessarily considered a traditional blue-chip recruit, but they both had several offers from other power-conference schools and immediately establish regional recruiting ties for Weber’s staff. Orris is from Chicago, and Johnson is from St. Louis, two areas Weber and Lowery could continue to hit hard in the future. Orris, a 6’2” point guard, had signed to play with Weber at Illinois before switching his commitment. The 6’8” Johnson, on the other hand, decided to sign at KSU in April.

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Three Key Takeaways.

1. Kansas State wins with experience. Kansas State has been here before, and it showed. They didn’t panic when they let Southern Miss back in the game twice. After Jordan Henriquez went to the bench with his fourth foul with more than six minutes left, they slowed it down, got the ball inside, and either scored on close shots or got to the line several possessions in a row. They shot 26-34 from the line, blocked 7 shots, and forced bad shots for Southern Miss at the end.
2. Batman and Robin came up big. Rodney McGruder had 30 points on 69% from the field as well as 4 steals. Jordan Henriquez came up with 15 points, 9 boards, and 6 blocks to completely stuff the stat sheet today. With him in the game, Southern Miss didn’t have a chance to get the ball inside.
3. Southern Miss’ bench kept them in the game. It is not often where you can say that your bench outscored your starters, but that was the case today for Southern Miss. Not only did Southern Miss outscore Kansas State’s bench 35-9, but they outscored their own starters 35-29. In the end it wasn’t enough to beat Kansas State, but without their depth, the game would have been a blow out.

Star of the Game. Rodney McGruder, Kansas State. McGruder not only led all scorers today with 30, but he carried Kansas State on his back from start to finish. It is safe to say that he had gotten in foul trouble, or struggled to make shots, that Southern Miss would be advancing, and not Kansas State. It was so obvious how dominant he was, that even the Southern Miss band was calling him the one man show every time he shot  free throws. If the stat line of 11-16 from the field, 2-5 from 3-point, and 6-8 from the line doesn’t read efficiently dominant, I am not sure what does.

Sights and Sounds. Even though the Consol Energy Center is where the Pittsburgh Penguins play hockey, you couldn’t have figured that out today. The Southern Miss band proved to me that not only can college kids play great music, but they can talk trash with the best of them although they may have crossed the line with some of their chants (like the one at Angel Rodriguez, which if true definitely did). The Southern Miss band started doing that during warmups if you can believe it.

What’s Next? Kansas State will take on the winner of Syracuse/UNC Asheville on Saturday. Frank Martin will need to give his guys some kind of pep talk because I wasn’t that impressed with Kansas State today. If someone figures out a way to shut down McGruder, they are in for a world of hurt. Kansas State needs more guys to step up, and they will need to do a more consistent job of playing lock down defense throughout the game, whoever they play.

Danny Spewak is a Big 12 Microsite writer and will provide wall-to-wall coverage of the Big 12 Tournament from the Sprint Center in Kansas City this weekend. He filed this piece after Baylor’s 82-74 victory over Kansas State. You can follow him on Twitter @dspewak.

On the first possession of the game, the man they call “soft” rose high into the air, catching a pass from point guard Pierre Jackson to slam home an alley-oop from the left side of the rim. The team they call “soft” played so tough on Thursday it actually made Frank Martin speechless as he sat on the bench in the final minutes with his chin resting on his left hand in dismay. Baylor isn’t supposed to play like this, not against a Kansas State team that prides itself on physicality and intimidation. And Perry Jones isn’t supposed to play so aggressively, not after every member of the mainstream media ripped him to pieces these past two years for failing to reach his potential. He’s supposed to back down in the face of pressure, especially against a seven-foot behemoth like Jordan Henriquez in the post. But Jones looked every bit like a future NBA lottery pick after that alley-oop just ten seconds into the basketball game. It didn’t matter who guarded him or where he was on the floor. It didn’t matter whether he pulled up from three, from 15 feet or from two inches under the basket. Jones swished everything, scoring 21 of his 31 points in the first half. “I guess I was just in a zone today,” Jones said. “Just being aggressive and more assertive.”

Baylor Played Like Men on Thursday. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Kansas State looked helpless against Jones and the rest of the Bears’ half-court offense, which Jackson ran by controlling tempo and finding the open man. He finished with eight assists and added 13 points, wowing the Sprint Center crowd with his quickness from end to end. On Thursday, Baylor was the team that dove for loose balls, hustled for offensive rebounds and earned deflections on the defensive end. Backup point guard A.J. Walton, still an important part of this team despite losing his starting spot to Jackson, tallied four steals and harassed the Wildcats all afternoon. “I thought A.J. was huge tonight,” coach Scott Drew said. “Defensively he did a very good job, and those four steals were huge. He guarded without getting in foul trouble.”

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Danny Spewak is a Big 12 microsite writer and will provide wall-to-wall coverage from the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. You can follow him on Twitter @dspewak.

Known for his fiery demeanor and sideline tirades, a subdued Frank Martin seemed fairly relaxed just a day before his team’s quarterfinal matchup with Baylor. “We’re playing as well as we have all year,” Martin said at practice. “They’ve been sharp, they’ve been enthusiastic. Now, you’ve gotta go play.” Martin, who called the Bears a potential Final Four team despite a few hiccups during the Big 12 season, used his 40-minute practice window to shore up a few areas from a technical standpoint. For about five minutes, his assistants worked on defending a play that burned his team on the first possession of the game in Waco on February 18. They warned the players to “watch Quincy Miller!” after he sets the screen that allows for a wide-open layup for Pierre Jackson. Apparently, Miller is the key  to this entire play. To get a better idea of what they were working on in practice, take a look at the play in question:

First, Jackson has the ball out top with Miller in the post.

Now, notice Miller, who’s about to set a screen near the free throw line. This is the what Martin and his assistants stressed to their team today– make sure you fight through him. Here, Miller’s making his move to set the screen and free up Jackson to drive to the rim.

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Steve Fetch is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12. You can also find his musings online at Rock Chalk Talk or on Twitter @fetch9.

Reader’s Take

The Week That Was

• Jayhawks Tumble In Ames: Kansas lost its first conference game, losing 74-62 to Iowa State in Ames. Kansas didn’t make many shots and sent the Cyclones to the foul line, but what will undoubtedly make Bill Self the angriest is the general lack of effort. Kansas had the second-lowest offensive rebound rate of Self’s tenure, and there were multiple times when a lone Cyclone got a loose ball despite three Jayhawks being around it. It certainly won’t be a fun couple of practices for the Jayhawks this week as they get prepped for Missouri.
• Nash Bash: Like Kansas, Missouri was bitten by the upset bug, losing 79-72 in Stillwater. LeBryan Nash had by far the best game of his college career, pouring in 27 points on 12-18 shooting (3-4 from three), and the Cowboys held Missouri to just 4-19 shooting from distance. Missouri probably has the best offense in the country, but it is so dependent on jump shots that when they have an off night in that department, they seem to be a bit more vulnerable to an upset than the best offense in the country should be.
• White Shows His Stripes: ESPN had a very nice story on Iowa State forward Royce White, highlighting some of the issues he has had in his life with anxiety. White had numerous criminal and other behavior issues while at Minnesota and while his anxiety should not be used as a blanket excuse, it is yet another caution that we as fans should not make our minds up about a player’s character without knowing the full story.

After Spinning His Wheels For Most Of The Season, LeBryan Nash Raised The Roof In Stillwater. (AP)

Power Rankings

1. Kansas (17-4, 7-1): The Jayhawks remain in first in the rankings due to their loss being “better” than Missouri’s. They are just now hitting the meat of their conference schedule, with three of their next five games on the road at Missouri, Baylor, and Kansas State. Winning all three of them will all but lock up the conference title for Kansas, but if they play like they did in Ames they will be lucky to win one of them, and their streak of Big 12 titles could be over.
2. Missouri (17-2, 4-1): The Tigers, as I mentioned above, rebounded nearly half of their misses at Baylor over the weekend and shot 68% from two, with Ricardo Ratliffe scoring 27 points on 11-14 shooting.  All season, they have struggled rebounding and at defending the two-point shot, so questions about how they will react when faced with size in the tournament are still valid, but they answered some of those questions on Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »

1. During the past month, the folks at Ballin’ is a Habit have taken a cross-country road trip to visit 13 college basketball venues across the Midwest. It’s a hoops fan’s dream trip — when I ran into them in Springfield during a Creighton-Missouri State game last week, I even told them how jealous I was of their month-long trek. From Nashville to Assembly Hall, they’ve been everywhere. And most recently, they made a stop at Allen Fieldhouse, where they caught up with KU’s Connor Teahan. The piece outlines his journey beginning in high school, when most of his scholarship offers consisted of Missouri Valley Conference schools. Now a senior, Teahan has cracked the rotation for a Top 10 team and one of the most historic programs in college basketball. If you’re a fan of the underdog story, BIAH’s feature is worth a read.
2. Talk radio is terrific for controversy, and that’s exactly what former UMKC coach Rich Zvosec stirred up after saying Laurence Bowers‘ injury was “addition by subtraction” for Missouri this season. He attributed MU’s success to its four-guard lineup, and he claimed that Bowers would only disrupt this unique style. We see his point, but that’s still a ridiculous position to take. How could losing an All-Big 12 forward ever be a good thing? Even with Bowers in the lineup, Missouri would still be faster than just about every team in the nation. It would still shoot lights out from three and run an efficient half-court offense. That’s because the players have rallied around Frank Haith to play unselfish, inspired basketball. Sure, the four-guard lineup helps, but that’s not why MU beat Baylor last Saturday. That happened because Ricardo Ratliffe came to play and the Tigers’ outrebounded and out-toughed the Bears. You think having Laurence Bowers blocking shots, rebounding and providing post depth wouldn’t help this team? C’mon, Coach Z.
3. Frank Martin announced Tuesday night the reinstatement of Jordan Henriquez, who could not practice with the team for the past six days because of “conduct detrimental to the team.” We’re still not sure what that phrase means, but Martin attempted to explain it, saying the junior center “just lost his focus and needed time to understand his priorities.” Whatever he did, the junior center and KSU’s best shot-blocker is now back in action. He still may not play against Texas Tech tomorrow night, but the Wildcats shouldn’t have much trouble without him in Lubbock. If they do, then they’ve got bigger problems than Henriquez’s detrimental conduct.
4. In this age of lame student sections, Kansas actually pulled out a decent Billy Cundiff reference during some free throws in the Jayhawks’ win over Texas A&M on Monday. The Aggies still shot 7-11 from the line, so it didn’t exactly have the desired effect. Still, credit those guys for coming up with something at least somewhat original, although it certainly does not top the time Missouri’s student section made blow-up versions of these incriminating pictures of a future NBA Rookie of the Year in a win over Oklahoma in 2009. That’s still an all-time favorite to this day.
5. Staying with Missouri, here’s yet another look at the Tigers’ resurgence under Frank Haith. This time, the guys at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch conduct a roundtable about Haith’s success, and there’s nothing new here. Missouri is ranked higher than its been in a decade, and after a tumultuous offseason and the departure of Mike Anderson. Like we’ve been saying for a while, as long as MU keeps winning, expect these articles to keep rolling out.

1. Kansas State received good news on Tuesday when center Jordan Henriquez was reinstated to the team after a brief suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Frank Martin’s comments about Henriquez were particularly interesting, stating that the junior is “a big-time kid” who “lost sight of what he needed to do.” According to the coach, this was only the second time in his 27 years of coaching that he’d suspended a player, which makes us wonder if all the yelling and histrionics scares the kids so much that they generally toe the line. Regardless, K-State will have Henriquez back in the lineup for tonight’s game against Texas Tech in Lubbock.
2. Connecticut is not as lucky today as it continues to await the decision on the eligibility of one of its key players, Ryan Boatright. His 12th day in limbo passed on Tuesday as the NCAA investigated banking records from his mother’s accounts, allegedly as a result of a felon ex-boyfriend of hers dropping dime about cash deposits made to her bank on behalf of Boatright. Whether true or not, the New York Times‘ Joey Nocera has taken the opportunity to skewer the NCAA in a two-part piece that published in the last several days. Part One focused on the impermissible benefit in the form of a plane ticket that Boatright’s mother received during her son’s recruitment from none other than Reggie Rose (what IS it with this guy and NCAA violations involving planes?) — this violation cost Boatright the first six games of the season. Part Two discusses the most recent possible violation, several cash deposits that Boatright’s mother claims were from friends so that she could buy Christmas presents for her family last year. In the meantime, Boatright has not been able to suit up for the Huskies in its last three games, two of which ended up as losses (vs. Cincinnati; @ Tennessee). Jim Calhoun’s team really needs the offensive and ball-handling duties that the freshman guard provides, but for now all they can do is wait.
3. Minnesota’s Trevor Mbakwe has had a difficult college career filled with injuries, suspensions and even criminal charges filed against him. His latest disappointment came earlier this season when, only seven games into his senior year, he injured his knee and was forced to call it quits. The problem is that even though he was a freshman at Marquette in 2007-08, he’s only played one full season of college basketball — 2010-11 at Minnesota. His freshman year in Milwaukee was cut short because of another knee injury, and the next year was his mandatory redshirt year as a transfer to play for Tubby Smith. In 2009-10, he spent the entire season suspended as a result of assualt charges he faced in Miami, and of course this year he only played seven games. As a result of all this, Mbakwe is considering petitioning to the NCAA for a rare sixth season of eligiblity in 2012-13. His argument will revolve around his suspension year at Minnesota, which the NCAA will need to determine was a set of circumstances “beyond his control.” The Florida case against Mbakwe may be three years old now, but its adjudication is actually still pending, so if he can successfully beat the rap in the next few months, maybe he’ll be able to sell that factor on the NCAA when he asks for another year to play college basketball.
4. As we wrote about on the ACC microsite yesterday, Gary Williams was commemorated by dedicating the floor of Maryland’s Comcast Center with his name on Monday night. But, as the Baltimore Sun‘s Jeff Barker writes, there was at least one other former Maryland coach very miffed by such a public display of affection. Lefty Driesell may not have won a national title in College Park, but he built the Terrapins program to heights not seen again until Williams’ arrival in the late 1980s, and he believes that such an honor is “a disservice to players such as Tom McMillen, John Lucas, Len Elmore, Brad Davis, Greg Manning, Adrian Branch and Steve Sheppard” and that he doesn’t believe any coach’s name should be on the floor at Maryland. For what it’s worth, the school is reportedly considering some kind of honor for Driesell, but it’s unknown what, if any, form that will take.
5. Pat Forde and his Forde Minutes were back yesterday with more drops of knowledge than you could shake a Dragon at. He finds a way to tailor a column that examines in-conference strength of schedule (thanks, @kenpomeroy), the best programs to have never reached a Final Four (left unsaid: avoid playing Connecticut), and a re-examination of the three schools that he thought had potential for greatness this season (agree with one choice, still thinking on another, disagree on the third). As always, it’s a fun and enlightening read, and one well worth the time but shouldn’t take you nearly as long as the column name suggests.

Steve Fetch is the RTC correspondent for the Big 12. You can also find his musings online at Rock Chalk Talk or on Twitter @fetch9.

Reader’s Take

The Week That Was

• Bears Dropped At Home: Baylor’s Big 12 title hopes took a huge hit this week, losing at Kansas and at home to Missouri. Though they are just two games back of leader Kansas and play both the Jayhawks and Tigers again, their Big 12 title odds are down to just 3.8% according to teamrankings.com and some questions probably need to be asked of Scott Drew. Baylor settled for jumpers time and time again against Missouri and let the Tigers rebound nearly half of their misses; inexcusable numbers for a team with the size that Baylor has.
• Frank Martin Hands Down Punishment: Kansas State’s big front line took a hit this past week when they suspended junior Jordan Henriquez indefinitely. Henriquez wasn’t a big offensive threat, averaging 7.1 points per game in under 20 minutes per game, but he was very good on the glass at 11.9%, which ranked third on the team, and was their best defensive rebounder as well. With the Wildcats ranking seventh in Big 12 play in defensive rebounding, Henriquez’s absence will be felt.
• What Can Brown To For You?: Last week, I highlighted the good side of J’Covan Brown, so this week the bad: Brown helped Texas come back from an 18-point deficit against Kansas over the weekend, but proceeded to shoot them out of the game, making only four of the 18 two-point shots he took on Saturday. Myck Kabongo had a rough game and the Horns lack someone other than Brown who can create his own shot so it’s understandable that he’d shoot that much, but he did them no favors this weekend.

Kim English, Phil Pressey and Ricardo Ratliffe Brimmed With Confidence As They Toppled Baylor On Saturday. (Tony Gutierrez/AP)

Power Rankings

1. Kansas (16-3, 6-0): On the one-year anniversary of his mother’s death, Thomas Robinson turned in a very good performance with 17 points and nine rebounds to keep the Jayhawks unbeaten in Big 12 play. After the game, he had the early frontrunner for heartbreaking quote of the year, saying: “No disrespect intended, but that’s something I have to live with every day… For the media, it’s an anniversary.” Robinson’s main focus this year has been to take care of his little sister, Jayla, and with him projected to be a high lottery pick, that certainly looks to be a goal that can be accomplished, but even if not, a scholarship fund has reached roughly $300,000 in donations from fans. Read the rest of this entry »

After earning a spot in Frank Martin‘s starting five earlier this month, Jordan Henriquez learned Thursday that his coach has indefinitely suspended him. The situation does not seem all that serious, especially since Martin used the mysterious “conduct detrimental to the team” excuse to suspend his 7’0” junior center. Martin said Henriquez, who will not practice during the suspension, has “lost sense of what’s expected of him on a daily basis.” In his past two outings, Henriquez scored a total of three points in 16 minutes against Oklahoma and Texas. Before that, though, Henriquez actually looked like a breakout candidate. He dominated his team’s win over Missouri on the defensive end and scored 12 points in a loss to Baylor last week. No longer did Henriquez look like a project. He looked like an elite big man in the making.

Frank Martin Wants Jordan Henriquez To Take Some Time Off (Credit: Jeff Moffett/Icon SMI)

Something must have changed with Henriquez’s approach. And it happened rather quickly. But judging by Martin’s encouraging language, don’t expect him to sit out for too long. It doesn’t sound like Henriquez broke any laws or even violated any rules off-the-court. Perhaps a few games off will get his head right.

Martin needs his center back as soon as possible. Henriquez is not a star, but he is Kansas State’s best shot-blocker and the only player capable of controlling a game defensively in the paint. Fortunately, Martin has assembled a deep team this season with a lot of bodies, especially at forward. Still, Nino Williams, another reserve forward, is also hurt, which means Martin may need to use freshman Adrian Diaz in his rotation more. Diaz, another seven-footer out of Florida, played eight minutes and scored two points against Texas.

It’s not the best Saturday of all-time in Big 12 hoops. In fact, with only one ranked team in the conference (Kansas State) playing on the road, playoff football may be the better option if you’re looking for dramatic storylines and unpredictable results. If that’s not your thing, though, here’s a look at the admittedly boring match-ups in in the league this weekend.

• Texas at #9 Missouri, Saturday, 12 p.m. CT (ESPN2)

Myck Kabongo Will Need To Stay Poised in Columbia

A loss in Austin last year snapped Missouri’s three-game winning streak against the Longhorns, but the Tigers shouldn’t have much trouble on Saturday in the teams’ final game in Columbia for the foreseeable future. Missouri may have shut up the critics by winning at Iowa State on Wednesday, but nobody has ever questioned whether this team can win at home. Since 2008-09, the Tigers have lost just three games at Mizzou Arena and normally blow young teams like Texas out of the water on Norm Stewart Court. The Longhorns, who already lost in Ames this year, are also not a very good match-up for Missouri. They don’t have the size to bully the Tigers down low, and their young guards could really struggle with Missouri’s quickness. Look for a rebound game from Marcus Denmon, who shoots lights out at home. Missouri missed his normal production at Iowa State, but it can’t afford many more off-nights from its star.

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