By Mark Janssen

Yes, Jacob Pullen's shooting stroke is OK.
 
He demonstrated that Monday night by pouring home a season-high 26 points in K-State's 85-61 victory over Emporia State University in Bramlage Coliseum.

By Mark Janssen

It's early in the year, but K-State's women's basketball team has a bit of a swagger to its game, which has led to a 5-0 start to the season heading into Tuesday's home game against South Dakota State.
 
While Frank Martin is struggling to find it with his men, coach Deb Patterson likes the leadership of her women, despite not having a senior that is playing significant minutes.

By Mark Janssen

When one thinks of great Kansas State quarterbacks, it becomes a conversation of eras.
 
For those in their 20s, Josh Freeman comes to mind; for those in their 30s and 40s, it might be Michael Bishop; but for those in their 50s and beyond, there's only one name ... and that name is Lynn Dickey.

By Mark Janssen
 
Below are a few notes heading into Saturday's 3 p.m. Kansas State game at North Texas.
 
STORY WORTH RETELLING: Bill Snyder was on the North Texas staff under coach Hayden Fry for three years from 1976-78 when the Mean Green won 7, 10 and 9 games for the most successful three-year stretch in NT history.

By Mark Janssen

Please feel free to hum along...

On the road again
Just can't wait to get on the road again
The life I love is making music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again

On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again
And I can't wait to get on the road again

Such is the life of Chuck Hall and his Kansas State football equipment staff over these final three Saturdays of the 2010 college football season.

Happy Thanksgiving Wildcat Nation!

It's hard to believe the semester is nearing completion, but I wanted to take this opportunity to wish K-Staters everywhere a Happy Thanksgiving.

We have had an exciting fall semester so far - Coach Snyder has our football program back in the bowl picture, we have ranked among the nation's best for home attendance in volleyball and our women's cross country team capped a memorable season reaching the NCAA Championships for the first time in 10 years and finished No. 25 in the nation!

Both basketball teams are also off to terrific starts, and we appreciate those who attended the CBE Classic at Sprint Center and helped turn Kansas City purple.

By Mark Janssen
 
I'm thankful for...
"... my wonderful family - Mary Lawrence, Jack, Virginia, Mary-Dell - and the special opportunity we have to be at K-State." - John Currie, athletics director

"... every opportunity that has been given to me in my life. That's my family, to my professional experiences. That, and the health that the good Lord has given me, my wife, my kids and my mom. That, and all the great players that I've been fortunate to coach and be a part of their lives. I've been around so many great players that have allowed me to move forward as a basketball coach and make a career out of it." - Frank Martin, men's basketball coach

"...  my family and friends." - Shalee Lehning, assistant women's basketball coach

"...  my family - wife, Jodi, and kids Ella and Grant." - Chad Weiberg, associate AD

"... just to be here. When you become whatever age I am, you become thankful for every day. Seriously, I am grateful to have the opportunity to help young people, but first and foremost is the wonderful family that I have. I have been blessed with wonderful people to surround myself with - a great wife, great children, great grandchildren, and a great great-grandchild." - Bill Snyder, football coach

"... all the members of my family have their health." - Tim Norris, men's golf coach

"... the opportunity to do what I enjoy doing on a daily basis with the support of a great family." - Jill Shields, associate AD

"... the grace of God, a healthy loving family and sincere friendships." - Laird Veatch, associate athletic director

"... my family, my health and the opportunity to love what I do each and every day." - Suzie Fritz, volleyball coach

"... my health, family, and being a part of K-State." - Kristi Knight, women's golf coach

"... my wife Peg, kids Trav and wife Christy, and Kell and husband Pres, and of course the do-no-wrong grandkids - Avery, Tate, Lincoln, Campbell ... plus one to be named at a later date." - Mark Janssen, 'Sports Extra' writer

By Mark Janssen

Wade Weibert stands 6-foot-6 inches tall and spins the scales past 300 pounds. On a daily basis the giant-of-a-Wildcat goes facemask to facemask with a helmet-equipped man of equal size and with one of those nasty defensive lineman dispositions.
 
Yet here's what Weibert says about his desire to be faced with returning a volleyball slam from outside-hitter JuliAnne Chisholm of the K-State volleyball team.
 
"No way! I've seen her in high school during warm-ups hit one of our girls in the head and give her a concussion," said Weibert. "I'll line up against a 300-pound dude any day before taking a hit from her."

By Mark Janssen

To Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder, playing proper defense is no more complicated than this: "It's seeing what you're supposed to see, being where you're supposed to be, and doing what you're supposed to do."
 
In the last two games those three "supposed to's" have been lacking as Colorado touched the Wildcat defense for 476 yards and Missouri hit K-State for 440 yards. And before that in Big 12 losses, O-State ran up 511 yards, Baylor 683 and Nebraska 587.
 
"We're going through a pattern of growth, and we're struggling with it, quite obviously," said Snyder.

By Mark Janssen

Coaches who reach the "Big Dance" in men's basketball often say, "We're 'not' just happy being here."
 
Kansas State cross country coach Mike Smith, however, thinks otherwise heading into today's cross country run at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.

By Mark Janssen

Kansas State's men's basketball team begins play tonight at 8:30 in the 2010 O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic set for the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
 
Playing in the 6:30 p.m. opener will be No. 1 Duke against Marquette, followed by No. 3 K-State versus No. 12 Gonzaga at 8:30. Both games are set for ESPN2.
 
Tuesday, the losing teams will play at 6:45 on ESPNU, while the winners play at 9:00 on ESPN2.

By Mark Janssen

As "Mr. K-State" Ernie Barrett says, "No one is more deserving than Tex Winter to enter a Hall of Fame."
 
Already a member of the state of Kansas Hall of Fame, and the Kansas State Hall of Fame, tonight at Kansas City's Midland Theater, the former Wildcat basketball coach will be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

By Mark Janssen

It was on Tuesday that K-State football coach Bill Snyder last spoke as to who might be the starting quarterback today when Kansas State faces Colorado in a 1:10 (central time) kickoff in Boulder, Colo.
 
"I do not have a time limit on when we are going to make a decision," said the Wildcat coach at his weekly press conference. "Whenever it seems apparent to do what is best for us, we will make that decision."

By Mark Janssen

Whoa ... it wasn't supposed to go like this. Not against Presbyterian College ... enrollment 1,200. Not a school that had lost to Vanderbilt by 41 points last week.
 
This team nicknamed the Blue Hose came to Bramlage Coliseum for more than the payday; they came to play, trailing by only four, 69-65, with less than three minutes left in the game before the talent, not to mention depth, of Kansas State won out, 76-67.

By Mark Janssen

Put a fancy mathematical formula to it and Corey Adams says his long-snaps travel at "... between 45 and 50 miles per hour ... at least that's what someone told me."
 
While 40-yard-dash times are prevalent to the game of football, for Adams, it's a blurrish .7 second clocking that counts most. That's the touch-to-touch time between when the ball leaves Adams' hands to when it smacks into the hands of his punter, who is standing 14 to 15 yards away.

By Mark Janssen

Sydney Messick says, "Not in a million years would I think I would be in this position. No ... way."
 
But the K-State senior thought wrong.

Commentary

By Mark Janssen

If Tuesday's Wildcat showing is a sign of hoops to come, cheer-on K-Staters ... cheer on.
 
Just when one was about to question the chemistry of this K-State team, and just when one might be thinking this roster of 10 freshmen and sophomores was too young ... they displayed maturity beyond their years, and flashed a coming of age moment in the 73-57 victory over No. 24 Virginia Tech.
 
Just when one knew the Purples were finished when Jacob Pullen had two fouls (18:32), and then three (12:33), so early in the game, 'Cat, after 'Cat, after 'Cat stepped to the front.

By Mark Janssen

This summer I improved the most on ...? My mentality as an athlete. I built on my mental toughness and discipline.

Kansas State women's basketball coach Deb Patterson is hoping there is truth in the preseason words of Jalana Childs.

Good morning Wildcats!

It continues to be a very busy and exciting month here at Kansas State and we began the week with some great news as our women's cross country team earned an at-large berth to next week's NCAA Championships for the first time since the 2000 season!

Congratulations to Coach Mike Smith and the team of Martina Tresch, Sydney Messick, Boglarka Bozzay, Avery Clifton and Meghan Heuer, who finished 5th in the Regional meet this past Saturday to punch their ticket. Martina and Sydney earned all-region honors as well by finishing 11th and 15th individually, and Sydney is our only senior from that group so we are very excited about the way the program is developing.

By Mark Janssen

Editor's Note: "Sports Extra" is thrilled to be featuring former K-State basketball coach Tex Winter today as the Wildcat legend is set to enter the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo., on Sunday night in a ceremony at the Midland Theater. The induction ceremony will be held at 8 p.m. and tickets are available to the public for $50 each and can be purchased by calling 913-563-5400.
 
This afternoon when K-State entertains Virginia Tech in Bramlage Coliseum, Winter will be recognized during halftime ceremonies. Winter, 88, suffered a stroke nearly two years ago while visiting Manhattan for a Wildcat basketball reunion. He is currently living with his wife, Nancy, in Manhattan's Meadowlark Hills retirement community.

Today "Sports Extra" features Winter through the voice of Phil Jackson; Sunday, Winter again will be recognized by several K-Staters that he coached.

By Mark Janssen

Laird Veatch has traveled throughout the Big 12 Conference with administrative stops at Texas, Iowa State and Missouri.
 
But to the former K-State All-Big 8 Wildcat - on the field and in the classroom - there's no place like home.

By Mark Janssen

Let's just say that K-State owns the Commerce Bank Classic.
 
First, it has been its own little invitational for the past 16 years.
 
Secondly, the Wildcats have won 13 of the 16 event titles, posting a 29-3 record in the process.

By Mark Janssen

For those who have questioned K-State's shooting ability, on this night they munched on their words as the Wildcats settled into a 3-point game that resulted in a 75-61 victory over James Madison in the 2010-11 season opener in Bramlage Coliseum.

By Mark Janssen

Wade Weibert said after the victory over Texas last weekend, "Now that we have this sixth win out of the way, we'll be able to rock."
 
So, with the pressure of being bowl eligible out of the way, K-State will rock down the road to the University of Missouri today for an 11:30 a.m. kickoff against the No. 20 Tigers in a game that will be on Fox Sports Net.

By Mark Janssen

In a single phrase, Kansas State men's basketball coach Frank Martin says, "We're just not very good right now."
 
He adds, "We're a very young team. When you have a team with 10 freshmen and sophomores, there are going to be a lot of unique challenges. You're just not going to know what you're going to have from day to day.

By Mark Janssen

Let the games begin!
 
"It's time to get a real test," said women's basketball coach Deb Patterson, who enters her 15th Wildcat season. "I don't know that I have a great idea of what our toughness quotient is, or our character, or the fight, but the game is on now."

By Mark Janssen

Most of the jibber-jabber at a Tuesday weekly Kansas State football press conference is to look ahead ... in this case to the 11:30 a.m. kickoff Saturday at the University of Missouri.
 
But this past Tuesday, at least half of the chatter was about that 39-14 win over the University of Texas, and the most unique way that it came about.

By Mark Janssen

Kansas State cross country coach Mike Smith hopes Saturday will be that given day.
 
That one day where every runner has that maximum effort. If that happens, Smith says, "I think we have an outside chance of making the NCAA's."

By Mark Janssen

The norm is that nine games into a season, positions are pretty well established.
 
Oh, there's flipping first- and second-teamers on occasion, and doors are constantly opening for others due to injury, but going from offense to defense nine games into a season is pretty unusual. And when it happens, it's usually a cornerback/receiver double.

By Mark Janssen

"Identity."
 
That was the buzz-word following Tuesday's K-State basketball exhibition opener against Newman of Wichita.

By Mark Janssen

Kansas State played to its strength, and Texas demonstrated it had none.
 
That was the story Saturday night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium as the Wildcats became bowl-eligible for just the second time in the last seven years with a 39-14 whippin' on the Longhorns.

By Mark Janssen

The Pumpkin month was none too kind to Kansas State and Texas, and now those schools are giving thanks to the flip of the calendar to November.
 
K-State went 1-3 in the month of October with a win over Kansas, but losses to Nebraska, Baylor and Oklahoma State in games where the 'Cats gave up 119 points.
 
Texas also went 1-3 in October with the win over No. 5 Nebraska, but losses to Oklahoma, Iowa State and Baylor. In none of those losses did the Longhorns score more than two touchdowns.

By Mark Janssen

DeLoss Dodds vividly remembers one of his lowest days as a young K-Stater. It was Dec. 9, 1950. He was a 13-year-old.

Good morning Wildcats!

November is a wild month for an intercollegiate athletics department - and our fans! With so many of our teams in the midst or beginning of their competitive seasons, it seems there is something going on just about every day. Our golf teams were in action the first half of the week. Men's basketball beat Newman before a sold-out Bramlage Coliseum Tuesday (3,500 students in attendance - wow!), volleyball beat Texas Tech 3-1 last night in Ahearn and women's basketball plays an exhibition game at 7 p.m., tonight in Bramlage.

Tomorrow, our nationally recognized equestrian program will take on Oklahoma State at Timber Creek Stables (click here for map and schedule of competition). Congratulations are also in order for our women's cross country team, which finished 6th in last weekend's Big 12 Conference meet and qualified for the November 13 NCAA Midwest Championships in Peoria, Ill. Sydney Messick led the Cats with a 5K time of 20:49:85 - thus earning her All-Big 12 honors.

By Mark Janssen

The calendar just flipped to November, but Saturday, 22 Kansas State seniors will be featured on Senior Night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium when the Wildcats close out their home season against the University of Texas.
 
For certain, it will be an emotional night.

By Mark Janssen

Players, players everywhere, and Kansas State coach Deb Patterson likes the way it looks.
 
With an active roster of seven or eight players at the end of last year, Patterson has 12 healthy 'Cats roaming the Bramlage Coliseum floor this year heading into the 2010-11 season.

By Mark Janssen

What coach Frank Martin learned Tuesday night was this: "We're talented, but we have a lot of work to do. Our upper-classmen have to be better leaders, which has been a concern of mine. It's hard to lead when you're not doing your job, and our upper-classmen have been inconsistent in that in practice."

By Mark Janssen

The banter throughout the press box last Saturday included such early-game lines as, "What would the score be if not for Ty Zimmerman?"
 
Here's why:

By Mark Janssen

It was a year ago that the preseason perception was that the men of Frank Martin would be good ... very good, but in all likelihood, not "Elite Eight" good. 
 
But the Wildcats smiled and used the "Fear The Beard" of Jacob Pullen, to a school-record 29 victories, which included 11 in the Big 12, which placed them second.

By Mark Janssen

Rand and Patti Berney don't even blink in explaining their gifting Kansas State University $5 million to establish the Berney Family Capital Project Fund.
 
"You need to know that you can trust your leaders," said Rand, who is senior vice president of corporate shared services at ConocoPhillips in Bartlesville, Okla. "You have to have the confidence to know where they are taking you."