Kansas State University Athletics
Ask the AD Transcript - January 16, 2019
Jan 16, 2019 | Athletics
K-State Director of Athletics Gene Taylor sat down with the Wildcats' Director of Sportscasting and Video Services Brian Smoller in another edition of Ask the AD, touching on the start of conference play in basketball and a number of football topics, including Signing Day, Spring Game (on April 13), and a couple questions from the social audience.
BS: A full slate of spring sports is about to begin, but what are your thoughts on basketball so far?
GT: The men started off a little rough in the Big 12 but had two really great wins recently - obviously at Iowa State was a huge win and the big comeback against West Virginia. Barry Brown and some of the things he's done to close out games has been phenomenal. Every win in the Big 12 is critically important. As you go through the season you've got a gauntlet of teams, as we go to Oklahoma this week and TCU. It never gets any easier. The men got Dean (Wade) back so I think they're full force.
The women are having kind of an up and down year, they've had some good wins, some big wins. Then they've had it tough, almost a comeback win against Kansas this week. It's just a difficult league, but we're starting off well, pretty excited about it.
BS: Hopefully the crowds keep turning out, had some great crowds for the women's games the last couple of games and the guys have had great support even when the students are gone. We've seen good crowds hopefully that continues. Obviously a lot of buzz still going on about K-State football and the hire of Coach (Chris) Klieman, building towards what could be an interesting couple months as well. Football still seems to be paramount in everyone's minds.
GT: It is, and a lot of buzz still - I've been around a couple different places in the last few weeks and people are still talking about it. I was in Denver last night and saw some K-Staters, they're very excited about Coach and the staff that he's putting together. Obviously, that's almost complete at this point. They're busy. January is a busy month for them to be on the road recruiting. They've got one more signing date, I think they've got eight scholarships to sign. He's on the road with all of the assistants. There is, there's just a lot of buzz still about football.
BS: Speaking of Signing Day, it sounds like we'll have something special for fans that day?
GT: Coach Klieman likes to promote that so we're going to have - details to come - an event for Signing Day that the public can come and see and learn about some of the recruits that we've got. We'll probably talk a little bit more about the ones we signed in December and the group we bring in in February. It should be a fun event.
BS: Then after that, finally, practice begins. We'll see those guys in action, I'm sure Chris (Klieman) is chomping at the bit to get out there with his guys as well?
GT: Right now they're busy on the road, trying to get settled in. The transition of a football staff is very, very complicated. You've got families moving, you've got them in temporary housing, eventually they're going to get houses of their own, and they're on the road recruiting, so it's a pretty stressful time. I think they do want to get settled into their office, start looking at film of the team we have and start putting their stuff together for next fall, but really this spring is going to be very, very critical.
BS: We'll have more details to come, but sounds like the Spring Football Game will be April 13, so reserve that date. Speaking of football, let's jump right into our questions from the fans. Our first question comes from Twitter - who is responsible for the pregame festivities (music, video, etc.) at football and basketball games? Is it strictly the head coach or is there a production team that chooses? I'm assuming the head coach gets some input.
GT: The coaches do get input, and sometimes the players want input in terms of the warm-up music and pre-game music. We have our fan experience, and our marketing staff - Joni Smoller and her group - a lot of our media relations group, the production team, get together. We've even got a plan here coming together in the next few days to talk about next year's football production, particularly the new set of coaches - what kind of music do they want to play, in terms of when the team's out there, when the fans are starting to come in. It's a very complicated piece, there's a lot that goes into it, a lot that goes into planning that part of the pregame and warm-up. Coaches do have an input, but at the end of the day we've got to kind of blend what the players want, what the coaches want and what's important for the fans as well.
BS: The next question comes about basketball and an event that's around a game, it's called "Hoops & Hops" it's later this year for men's basketball. Our good friend Scott Wildcat, thanks Scott for the question. Asking if there are any similar plans for other sports like hoops and Hops.
GT: Not that I know of on the books right now. Hoops and Hops was very popular last year, it was the first year we had done it pregame for basketball so it has been brought back this year. Our fans enjoy it. I think it just kind of depends on the crowd and the venue. For a baseball game it might be tough to find a venue for that if we wanted to do it actually in the baseball stadium. Our staff is very creative, our marketing staff, our fan experience staff, our Ahearn Fund staff, all of the folks are very creative about trying to find opportunities to mix our fans and create new events, so don't be surprised if there is something that comes along.
BS: Alright, our last questions comes from Facebook, from Steve Sims, which asks, "what counseling services are available for athletes in trouble?" Thankfully, this has not been a huge problem for you in your first year as Athletic Director, but it's not just trouble, other issues as well.
GT: Sure, we have a wonderful Sports Psychologist, Anne Weese, she has been here just about a year. She does a tremendous job beyond just emotional issues. She is there to help them through performance issues, she's there to help them through struggling in the classroom. We actually have a pretty unique team with our athletic trainer, sports psychologist, our academic team to really focus on athletes that are struggling whether its something maybe from home, maybe they have had a loss in the family, so we cover a lot of gamut and a lot of areas to help our athletes through difficult times. We also have option off campus. If it's something that's very, very serious that Anne doesn't feel she has the expertise to handle or if an athlete needs more detailed counseling, we have people off-campus, then we have a counseling center on-campus. There's a lot of resources available. I told Anne when we hired her that it probably won't be too long before she's so busy that we may need some help, because as coaches and athletes get comfortable with what she can provide for them. It's a great service for our student-athletes and then there are plenty more options for them.
BS: You see it becoming an expanded part of collegiate athletics, with her role and roles like that as we move into the era that we are in, it becomes more and more important with mental health, no doubt about it. Great question, thanks Steve. We will wrap this edition of Ask the AD up, talking about the Ahearn Fund's new "All-In" Campaign. Your thoughts and detail of that?
GT: We're just trying to get a lot of folks that maybe aren't aware of the Ahearn Fund, or the Ahearn Fund members to up their membership level in terms of bringing more dollars. Obviously, the more dollars we can bring the better for our budgets. If you're a new member, anything from a $50 donation all the way to $10,000 and above, you will have opportunities to win some great prizes or be entered into some great prizes. So we're just asking our fanbase to consider if you're already an Ahearn Fund member, an additional gift, or if you're not an Ahearn Fund member, please join the Ahearn Fund. It supports our student-athletes directly and almost 100 percent of the money goes to student-athlete support, so it's a great program and I'm looking forward to just increasing our membership.
BS: A full slate of spring sports is about to begin, but what are your thoughts on basketball so far?
GT: The men started off a little rough in the Big 12 but had two really great wins recently - obviously at Iowa State was a huge win and the big comeback against West Virginia. Barry Brown and some of the things he's done to close out games has been phenomenal. Every win in the Big 12 is critically important. As you go through the season you've got a gauntlet of teams, as we go to Oklahoma this week and TCU. It never gets any easier. The men got Dean (Wade) back so I think they're full force.
The women are having kind of an up and down year, they've had some good wins, some big wins. Then they've had it tough, almost a comeback win against Kansas this week. It's just a difficult league, but we're starting off well, pretty excited about it.
BS: Hopefully the crowds keep turning out, had some great crowds for the women's games the last couple of games and the guys have had great support even when the students are gone. We've seen good crowds hopefully that continues. Obviously a lot of buzz still going on about K-State football and the hire of Coach (Chris) Klieman, building towards what could be an interesting couple months as well. Football still seems to be paramount in everyone's minds.
GT: It is, and a lot of buzz still - I've been around a couple different places in the last few weeks and people are still talking about it. I was in Denver last night and saw some K-Staters, they're very excited about Coach and the staff that he's putting together. Obviously, that's almost complete at this point. They're busy. January is a busy month for them to be on the road recruiting. They've got one more signing date, I think they've got eight scholarships to sign. He's on the road with all of the assistants. There is, there's just a lot of buzz still about football.
BS: Speaking of Signing Day, it sounds like we'll have something special for fans that day?
GT: Coach Klieman likes to promote that so we're going to have - details to come - an event for Signing Day that the public can come and see and learn about some of the recruits that we've got. We'll probably talk a little bit more about the ones we signed in December and the group we bring in in February. It should be a fun event.
BS: Then after that, finally, practice begins. We'll see those guys in action, I'm sure Chris (Klieman) is chomping at the bit to get out there with his guys as well?
GT: Right now they're busy on the road, trying to get settled in. The transition of a football staff is very, very complicated. You've got families moving, you've got them in temporary housing, eventually they're going to get houses of their own, and they're on the road recruiting, so it's a pretty stressful time. I think they do want to get settled into their office, start looking at film of the team we have and start putting their stuff together for next fall, but really this spring is going to be very, very critical.
BS: We'll have more details to come, but sounds like the Spring Football Game will be April 13, so reserve that date. Speaking of football, let's jump right into our questions from the fans. Our first question comes from Twitter - who is responsible for the pregame festivities (music, video, etc.) at football and basketball games? Is it strictly the head coach or is there a production team that chooses? I'm assuming the head coach gets some input.
GT: The coaches do get input, and sometimes the players want input in terms of the warm-up music and pre-game music. We have our fan experience, and our marketing staff - Joni Smoller and her group - a lot of our media relations group, the production team, get together. We've even got a plan here coming together in the next few days to talk about next year's football production, particularly the new set of coaches - what kind of music do they want to play, in terms of when the team's out there, when the fans are starting to come in. It's a very complicated piece, there's a lot that goes into it, a lot that goes into planning that part of the pregame and warm-up. Coaches do have an input, but at the end of the day we've got to kind of blend what the players want, what the coaches want and what's important for the fans as well.
BS: The next question comes about basketball and an event that's around a game, it's called "Hoops & Hops" it's later this year for men's basketball. Our good friend Scott Wildcat, thanks Scott for the question. Asking if there are any similar plans for other sports like hoops and Hops.
GT: Not that I know of on the books right now. Hoops and Hops was very popular last year, it was the first year we had done it pregame for basketball so it has been brought back this year. Our fans enjoy it. I think it just kind of depends on the crowd and the venue. For a baseball game it might be tough to find a venue for that if we wanted to do it actually in the baseball stadium. Our staff is very creative, our marketing staff, our fan experience staff, our Ahearn Fund staff, all of the folks are very creative about trying to find opportunities to mix our fans and create new events, so don't be surprised if there is something that comes along.
BS: Alright, our last questions comes from Facebook, from Steve Sims, which asks, "what counseling services are available for athletes in trouble?" Thankfully, this has not been a huge problem for you in your first year as Athletic Director, but it's not just trouble, other issues as well.
GT: Sure, we have a wonderful Sports Psychologist, Anne Weese, she has been here just about a year. She does a tremendous job beyond just emotional issues. She is there to help them through performance issues, she's there to help them through struggling in the classroom. We actually have a pretty unique team with our athletic trainer, sports psychologist, our academic team to really focus on athletes that are struggling whether its something maybe from home, maybe they have had a loss in the family, so we cover a lot of gamut and a lot of areas to help our athletes through difficult times. We also have option off campus. If it's something that's very, very serious that Anne doesn't feel she has the expertise to handle or if an athlete needs more detailed counseling, we have people off-campus, then we have a counseling center on-campus. There's a lot of resources available. I told Anne when we hired her that it probably won't be too long before she's so busy that we may need some help, because as coaches and athletes get comfortable with what she can provide for them. It's a great service for our student-athletes and then there are plenty more options for them.
BS: You see it becoming an expanded part of collegiate athletics, with her role and roles like that as we move into the era that we are in, it becomes more and more important with mental health, no doubt about it. Great question, thanks Steve. We will wrap this edition of Ask the AD up, talking about the Ahearn Fund's new "All-In" Campaign. Your thoughts and detail of that?
GT: We're just trying to get a lot of folks that maybe aren't aware of the Ahearn Fund, or the Ahearn Fund members to up their membership level in terms of bringing more dollars. Obviously, the more dollars we can bring the better for our budgets. If you're a new member, anything from a $50 donation all the way to $10,000 and above, you will have opportunities to win some great prizes or be entered into some great prizes. So we're just asking our fanbase to consider if you're already an Ahearn Fund member, an additional gift, or if you're not an Ahearn Fund member, please join the Ahearn Fund. It supports our student-athletes directly and almost 100 percent of the money goes to student-athlete support, so it's a great program and I'm looking forward to just increasing our membership.
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