Men’s Basketball Team Receives Big 12 Championship Rings

Sep 02, 2019 | Men's Basketball

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By: The team and staff received the ring on Saturday in private ceremony

MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State men's basketball team was rewarded for their 2018-19 Big 12 championship season on Saturday (August 31), as the Wildcats received their championship rings in a private ceremony at the Ice Family Basketball Center.

The nine returning members of the team – Cartier Diarra, James Love III, Makol Mawien, Pierson McAtee, Mike McGuirl, Nigel Shadd, Xavier Sneed, Levi Stockard III and Shaun Williams – as well departed seniors Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade – received their championship rings, along with athletics director Gene Taylor, head coach Bruce Weber and members of the coaching and support staff.

Later in the day on Saturday, the team and coaching staff were honored for their second Big 12 Championship in seven seasons when they were honored at the end of the first quarter of the football team's 49-14 season-opening win over Nicholls at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

Designed by Balfour, the silver championship rings have a Powercat logo on top of a basketball surrounded by the wording "2019 Big 12" and "Champions." The "K-State" word mark and Big 12 Championship trophy are engraved on one side of the ring with the team's 14-4 conference record, while the player's name and the "Octagon of Dome" were engraved on the other.

K-State posted a 25-9 overall record in 2018-19, which included winning a share of the Big 12 regular-season title with a 14-4 mark and a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the 31^st time in school history. It was just the seventh 25-win season in school history, including the first time in consecutive seasons, while the 14 in league play tied the school record held by the 1958-59 and 2012-13 teams. The program has now won 21 conference championships, including 19 in the regular season. It was the second league title in the Big 12 era (joining the 2012-13 season).

Brown and Wade as well as fellow departed senior Kamau Stokes (who was unable to attend) will now embark on their professional careers. Brown and Wade have been invited to the training camps for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers, which begin Tuesday, October 1. Stokes recently signed a contract to play for Polpharma Starogard Gdanski in the Polish Basketball League (Polska Liga Koszykówki), which is the highest-tier league in Poland. The team's schedule is expected to start in early October.

The trio led the Wildcats to an 88-51 (.633) during their four-year careers, including a 71-35 (.670) mark and NCAA Tournament appearances in each of the last three seasons. The trio accounted for 4,533 points in their respective careers, which ranks third all-time in Big 12 history and the top mark in school history.

K-State returns nine lettermen in 2019-20, which includes All-Big 12 honorable mention selection Xavier Sneed (10.6 ppg., 5.5 rpg.) and fellow senior Makol Mawien (7.0 ppg., 4.9 rpg.). The Wildcats also return rising juniors Cartier Diarra (6.8 ppg., 3.3 rpg.), Mike McGuirl (3.6 ppg., 1.5 rpg.) and Levi Stockard III (1.8 ppg., 1.5 rpg.) as well as a highly-regarded signing class that includes a trio of Top 200 high school players in DaJuan Gordon, Antonio Gordon and Montavious Murphy and NJCAA All-American David Sloan.

Season tickets for the 2019-20 season went on sale June 24 with a variety of pricing options available, including the new Flex Season Ticket and the popular Wildcat 4-Pack and Young Alumni packages.