EA Sports All-Stars at Kansas State
Thursday, November 6, 2003
7:00 p.m. CST
Bramlage Coliseum (13,340)
Manhattan, Kan.
Tip Time: 7:00 p.m. CST.
Television: None
Radio: None
The Records: Kansas State is making its 2003-04 debut and is playing its first of two exhibition games. The EA Sports Midwest All-Stars are 0-3 heading into their game with K-State after suffering a 100-61 setback at Texas Tech on Wednesday. EA Sports opened its season with 97-87 loss at Wyoming on Nov. 1 before dropping a 91-87 decision to Kansas on Tuesday.
K-State Coach Jim Wooldridge: Wooldridge (Louisiana Tech ’77) is in his fourth season at Kansas State and owns a record of 37-51 (.420). The 2003-04 campaign marks Wooldridge’s 17th as a collegiate head coach. He has amassed a 266-198 (.573) all-time record. Although the team did not improve their win total for the first time under Wooldridge last season, the Wildcat battled night-in and night-out in arguably the nation’s best conference. Of the team’s 12 losses in league play, nine came by 10 points or less.
EA Sports Coach Price Johnson: Johnson is assisted by Bob Piercy.
The Series: EA Sports leads 1-0. Kansas State lost to EA Sports Southeast All-Stars by a score of 91-81, on Nov. 7, 2002.
Officials: Announced on game day.
Wildcats open exhibition slate vs. EA Sports Midwest All-Stars Thursday
Kansas State, under the guidance of fourth-year head coach Jim Wooldridge, tips off its 2003-04 exhibition schedule Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. when the Wildcats welcome the EA Sports Midwest All-Stars (0-3) to Bramlage Coliseum.
The game is the first of two exhibitions for K-State, which wraps up its preseason docket on Saturday, Nov. 15, when the Cats meet Global Sports at 5:30 p.m.
There is no television or radio for either exhibition contest. The first audio broadcast over the 28-station Mid America Sports Network will be Nov. 21 against Birmingham-Southern.
A quick look at the Cats
Kansas State returns two starters and six letterwinners from last season's 13-17 (4-12, 11th Big 12) squad, including senior point guard Frank Richards, who is the only returning player to start in all 30 games last season. Richards finished among the Big 12 leaders in both assists per game (4.87, 5th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.62, 9th). His 146 assists and 4.87 assists per game ranks No. 5 on K-State’s single-season chart. In addition, he is team’s top returning scorer at 9.9 points per game. He registered double-digit points in 16 games, including seven of the team’s final nine games.
The Wildcats also return guards Tim Ellis and Jarrett Hart, who started 15 and 14 games, respectively, in 2002-03. Ellis ranked 14th in the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage (38.2), while Hart finished second on the team in assists (3.0 apg.) and fourth in rebounds (3.4 rpg.) and steals (0.8 spg.).
Although he started just one game as a freshman last season, Marques Hayden will be counted on to provide valuable time in the Wildcat frontcourt. He saw action in all 30 games in 2002-03.
Also back for K-State are junior forward Travis Canby and sophomore guard Schyler Thomas. Neither started a contest last season, but both saw action in 26 games, including 15 in Big 12 play.
Noting K-State’s newcomers
One of the nation’s top recruiting classes, which includes six scholarship players and two walk-ons, comprise Kansas State’s group of eight rookies in 2003-04. The group, which includes high school standouts Lance Harris, Tyler Hughes, Cartier Martin and Dez Willingham, junior college transfers Dramane Diarra and Jeremiah Massey and walk-ons Justin Williams and Mark Frederick, was ranked as the No. 1 recruiting class by Hoop Scoop magazine.
Clark Francis of Hoop Scoop related, “(K-State’s) top eight players are good enough to play for almost anybody in the country. As a result, we should be talking about one of the most improved teams in college basketball at this time as year from now.”
The ranking marked the third straight year that a Kansas State recruiting class has been rated as one of the nation’s 25 best. Last year’s class, which includes returning starters Frank Richards and Tim Ellis and key reserves Jarrett Hart and Marques Hayden, was rated as the No. 11 recruiting class by the publication.
More on the rookies
The eight-man recruiting class is the largest at Kansas State since the 1978-79 season when legendary Wildcat coach Jack Hartman also brought in eight rookies. Of note, those recruits read like a “Who’s who” of Wildcat basketball lore with names such as Tyrone Adams, Tim Jankovich and Ed Nealy. In addition, the four true freshmen are the most in one class since Hartman’s last team in 1985-86.
The Coach
Now entering his fourth season at Kansas State, head coach Jim Wooldridge has the Wildcat program on the cusp of re-establishing itself as a significant force both in the Big 12 Conference and nationally. Although the team did not improve their win total for the first time under Wooldridge in 2002-03, the Wildcats battled night-in and night-out in arguably the nation’s best conference. Of the team’s 12 losses in league play, nine came by 10 points or less, including a two-point setback to eventual Elite Eight participant Oklahoma. However, the Wildcats did beat five teams that advanced to the postseason last season, including NCAA Tournament participants Colorado and NIT finalist Texas Tech. Wooldridge owns an overall record of 266-198 (.573) in his 16th season as head coach, including a 37-51 (.420) mark at K-State.
Wildcats in exhibition play
Kansas State is 2-4 in exhibition games in head coach Jim Wooldridge’s three seasons in Manhattan.
The Wildcats split its pair of exhibition games last season, falling to EA Sports, 91-81, before bouncing back with a 95-68 win over Athletes First.
The book on the EA Sports All-Stars
Thursday’s game at K-State will be the fourth of a 13-game tour for the EA Sports Midwest All-Stars.
The All-Stars enter the week at 0-3 after losing 100-61 at Texas Tech on Wednesday and 91-87 at preseason No. 5 Kansas on Tuesday. After its trip to Manhattan, the team gets a day off before embarking on a five-day, five-game road trip that will take the squad to Wisconsin, No. 22 Pittsburgh, Illinois State, Iowa and No. 11 Texas.
EA Sports’ Midwest squad will conclude its tour with games at Arkansas, No. 15 Oklahoma, SMU and Texas A&M.
The EA Sports Midwest All-Stars are led by head coach Price Johnson and assistant Bob Piercy. The nine-man roster of former college and pro players includes: Robert O’Kelly (Wake Forest), Mike Brownlee (West Virginia), Lucas Johnson (Illinois), Anthony Evans (Georgia).
Robert O’Kelly led four All-Stars in double figures in the opener with Wyoming with 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while Mike Brownlee chipped in 11 points. In the narrow loss to Kansas, Brownlee posted a game-high 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 7-of-11 from beyond the arc, while O’Kelly dropped in 18 points. In addition, Lucas Johnson and former Western Carolina star Cory Largent chipped in double-digit points in each contest. Anthony Evans has led the team in rebounding in both contests
Free for all (students)
Both men’s basketball exhibition games are free for Kansas State students. Students can pick up tickets at the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum with a university I.D.
Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow
Kansas State lost four lettermen from the 2002-03, including starting forwards Gilson DeJesus, Matt Siebrandt and Pervis Pasco. DeJesus and Pasco were both named to the honorable mention All-Big 12 team, while Siebrandt was selected to the conference’s All-Improved Team. The three accounted for over 45 percent of the team’s scoring, rebounding, field goals and blocks.
DeJesus, who led the team in scoring and three-point shooting, ranked among the Big 12 leaders in four categories. He ranked third in three-point field goal percentage (43.7), fourth in three-point field goals made (2.67), 19th in rebounding (5.7 rpg.) and 30th in scoring (11.2 ppg.).
Pasco ranked among the Big 12’s top 10 in four categories, including eighth in blocked shots (1.53 bpg.) and ninth in rebounds (7.5 rpg.).
Siebrandt, who finished in a statistical dead heat for the Big 12 shooting lead in league games.
Experience Needed
Kansas State’s roster may look chalked full of experience with six returning lettermen and four seniors. However, of the 16 players listed on the Wildcat roster, eight will be new to the program, including four true freshmen in 2003-04. In total, only junior Travis Canby has played more than one season at K-State. The balance of the roster, 14 of the 16 players, have played one year or less of Division I basketball.
Diaper Dandies
All six new scholarship players for Kansas State this coming season received some type of acclaim during the 2002-03 season.
Freshman Dez Willingham, who was named the most valuable player of the Class 5A State Tournament en route to guiding DeSoto High School to the state title, was one of three signees ranked among Hoop Scoop’s top 170 players. Willingham ranked No. 66 nationally, while fellow freshmen Cartier Martin and Lance Harris were rated at No. 104 and No. 167, respectively.
A two-time first team all-state selection, Cartier Martin was also named to Parade magazine’s All-American fourth team.
Junior Jeremiah Massey was one of three California Community College Players of the Year. He was a consensus Top 70 junior college prospect.
Willingham (72), Martin (89) and Harris (172), along with freshman Tyler Hughes (274) were all top 300 prospects by Prepstars, while Massey and junior Dramane Diarra were listed among the “Best of the Rest” from the junior college ranks by the service.
Heartbreak City
Of Kansas State’s 17 losses in 2002-03, 13 came by fewer than 10 points, including eight of its 12 Big 12 Conference setbacks. The common denominator in all 13 of its close losses seemed to be slow starts and playing on the road. Kansas State trailed or was tied at the half in 12 of its 13 close losses, while nine of the 13 came away from Bramlage Coliseum. Overall, Kansas State was 0-12 when trailing or tied at the half last season and just 2-12 in away/neutral site games. Four of the K-State’s five home losses in 2002-03 were by seven points or less, including a two-point overtime loss to No. 6 Oklahoma.
Improvement In The Air
Although Kansas State did not progress in the win-loss column in 2002-03, the statistics show that the Wildcats played better basketball in Big 12 play.
In 2001-02, K-State finished Big 12 play with a 6-10 record. However, of the 10 losses, just two were by fewer than 10 points. In fact, the Wildcats’ average margin of loss in Big 12 games was 16.1 points, while its average margin of victory was 10.2 points. Though K-State finished 4-12 in 2002-03, eight of its losses were by single digits, resulting in an average loss margin in Big 12 games of 9.3 points, with three of the four wins coming by double figures.
On the rebounding front, K-State outboarded eight of its 16 Big 12 foes last season. In 2001-02, the Wildcats finished with the advantage on the glass in just three of 16 games.
Shooting For The Stars
Kansas State’s most surprising statistic of the season may have been its shooting from the field, where the Wildcats hit at a 45.8-percent clip to rank third in the Big 12. The field goal percentage was the best by a Wildcat team since 1997-98 team connected on 45.9 percent. However, it was the third-highest in the last 14 years when the 1989-90 team posted a 46.4 percent field goal percentage. From three-point range, K-State shot 36.1 percent, the best mark since the 1999-2000 team hit 36.8 percent.
Tube Time
Kansas State will make a total of 18 regular-season television appearances during the 2003-04 season, including six each on ESPN (ABC, ESPN or ESPN Regional) and Fox Sports Net Midwest. K-State signed a three-year contract with Fox Sports in September to be the exclusive third-tier television right holder. In addition, the Wildcat Television Network and Metro Sports will team up to provide six other telecasts.
