SE: K-State MBB Plans to Carry Three Seniors’ Legacies, Traits Forward
Mar 23, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — One sat in a boot in street clothes. One sat on the bench for most of the first half with foul trouble. One stood in disbelief when it was all over.
K-State's three seniors — Dean Wade, Barry Brown, Jr. and Kamau Stokes — didn't go out how they wanted to as Wildcats. A 70-64 loss to No. 13 seed UC Irvine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday was the exact opposite of what they had in mind.
It was a stark reminder of something the three seniors already knew: Life isn't always fair, and neither is basketball.
Wade, a two-time First Team All-Big 12 selection, was sidelined with a foot injury. Brown, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, sat the last 14:15 of the first half after he picked up his second foul. Stokes did about all he could, scoring a team-high 18 points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists.
None of it was enough to move on, however. Which brought the tears, the what-ifs and, eventually, the perspective.
"They built this program from the ground up," freshman guard Shaun Neal-Williams said of the seniors. "This loss hurts."
It hurt, and still hurts, for a long list of reasons. For those in the locker room, one of the biggest was what it really meant. K-State lost more than a first-round game. The Wildcats lost a senior trio that, through any and all adversity, kept the program on an upward trajectory.
"They built a legacy," Levi Stockard III said. "They built it from nothing. They built it from the ground up."
From freshmen trying to figure it out to one of the most impactful classes in the storied program's history, these three left the program better than they found it. They went 5-13 in Big 12 play and ended without a postseason as freshmen. Then, a First Four win in the NCAA Tournament as sophomores. A year later, 10 Big 12 wins and an Elite Eight run. This season, a Big 12 Championship and a second straight 25-win season.
So, what have those three meant to the program? Truthfully, you did not have to ask on Friday in the locker room. You could see it on their teammates' faces, in the redness around their eyes and the tears down their cheeks. You could hear it when they spoke about their leaders, a certain respect and appreciation for the trail they blazed.
"Everything," junior Xavier Sneed said of what the seniors have taught him.
Stokes, Brown and Wade finished as 1,000-point scorers and put their name in handfuls of top-10 lists in K-State's record book. None of them had an easy road to a memorable career, either.
Wade was sidelined multiple times with injuries his junior and senior campaigns, including for nearly all of both postseasons. Stokes tore an ACL as a freshman, broke a foot as a junior and battled injuries and migraines this season. Brown, at times, carried out the group's mission without either his two classmates on the floor.
Whatever got in their way, they usually found a way to make it work. They did so with work. It was their solution to any and all problems. It's what their teammates plan to carry forward from here.
"Their effort, their work ethic…they showed us everything," Stockard said. "They set great examples for us. We just have to follow their steps, carry the load. They showed us how to do it. Now we have to do it."
"I learned a lot from them. It hurts that they're gone, right now, but we just have to get back in the gym and keep working," Neal-Williams said. "Hard work. That's all it's about. We just have to get back in the gym and keep working."
K-State will return three starters from its lineup on Friday, including a pair of to-be seniors in Sneed and Makol Mawien. Both of them plan to model their leadership off the group of Wildcats that just finished their K-State careers.
"They're great leaders, all three," Sneed said. "Everything they did, on and off the court, for us…now with me becoming a senior, I'm just trying to grow off that and be a better example and lead even more, leave a legacy and try to make it a dynasty here."
"They've paved the way for us, showed us how to get there and helped us stay on track," Mawien added. "They gave us a model of how to get there, like a formula. They gave us a DNA for how to do it. It's going to help us out for the future."
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — One sat in a boot in street clothes. One sat on the bench for most of the first half with foul trouble. One stood in disbelief when it was all over.
K-State's three seniors — Dean Wade, Barry Brown, Jr. and Kamau Stokes — didn't go out how they wanted to as Wildcats. A 70-64 loss to No. 13 seed UC Irvine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday was the exact opposite of what they had in mind.
It was a stark reminder of something the three seniors already knew: Life isn't always fair, and neither is basketball.
Wade, a two-time First Team All-Big 12 selection, was sidelined with a foot injury. Brown, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, sat the last 14:15 of the first half after he picked up his second foul. Stokes did about all he could, scoring a team-high 18 points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists.
None of it was enough to move on, however. Which brought the tears, the what-ifs and, eventually, the perspective.
"They built this program from the ground up," freshman guard Shaun Neal-Williams said of the seniors. "This loss hurts."
It hurt, and still hurts, for a long list of reasons. For those in the locker room, one of the biggest was what it really meant. K-State lost more than a first-round game. The Wildcats lost a senior trio that, through any and all adversity, kept the program on an upward trajectory.
"They built a legacy," Levi Stockard III said. "They built it from nothing. They built it from the ground up."
From freshmen trying to figure it out to one of the most impactful classes in the storied program's history, these three left the program better than they found it. They went 5-13 in Big 12 play and ended without a postseason as freshmen. Then, a First Four win in the NCAA Tournament as sophomores. A year later, 10 Big 12 wins and an Elite Eight run. This season, a Big 12 Championship and a second straight 25-win season.
So, what have those three meant to the program? Truthfully, you did not have to ask on Friday in the locker room. You could see it on their teammates' faces, in the redness around their eyes and the tears down their cheeks. You could hear it when they spoke about their leaders, a certain respect and appreciation for the trail they blazed.
"Everything," junior Xavier Sneed said of what the seniors have taught him.
Stokes, Brown and Wade finished as 1,000-point scorers and put their name in handfuls of top-10 lists in K-State's record book. None of them had an easy road to a memorable career, either.
Wade was sidelined multiple times with injuries his junior and senior campaigns, including for nearly all of both postseasons. Stokes tore an ACL as a freshman, broke a foot as a junior and battled injuries and migraines this season. Brown, at times, carried out the group's mission without either his two classmates on the floor.
Whatever got in their way, they usually found a way to make it work. They did so with work. It was their solution to any and all problems. It's what their teammates plan to carry forward from here.
"Their effort, their work ethic…they showed us everything," Stockard said. "They set great examples for us. We just have to follow their steps, carry the load. They showed us how to do it. Now we have to do it."
"I learned a lot from them. It hurts that they're gone, right now, but we just have to get back in the gym and keep working," Neal-Williams said. "Hard work. That's all it's about. We just have to get back in the gym and keep working."
K-State will return three starters from its lineup on Friday, including a pair of to-be seniors in Sneed and Makol Mawien. Both of them plan to model their leadership off the group of Wildcats that just finished their K-State careers.
"They're great leaders, all three," Sneed said. "Everything they did, on and off the court, for us…now with me becoming a senior, I'm just trying to grow off that and be a better example and lead even more, leave a legacy and try to make it a dynasty here."
"They've paved the way for us, showed us how to get there and helped us stay on track," Mawien added. "They gave us a model of how to get there, like a formula. They gave us a DNA for how to do it. It's going to help us out for the future."
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