SE: Beard Making Most of Minutes, Leadership Opportunity for K-State WBB
Feb 05, 2020 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Jasauen Beard realized pretty early on at K-State she was not going to be a 35-minute-per-game player. Averaging just over 16 minutes a game this season, she's at peace with it.
Sure, K-State women's basketball's senior forward would like to play more. Any competitive person would. But Beard's now better equipped to channel her reality in a positive way, to make the most of the opportunities she's given.
Take K-State's 65-61 loss at TCU last Saturday, for example. Beard only played 14 minutes, yet she led the Wildcats in scoring with 16 points on 6-of-10 from the field. She was plus-12 on the plus-minus, which charts the net changes in score when a player is on or off the court.
"I have built the mindset to be able to produce and do as much as possible, whether that is points or those other stat aspects. I try to convince myself that no matter if I get two minutes or I get three minutes, as long as I give my all during that time, stats will speak for themselves," Beard said. "I try to do the most with what I have. If I only get 14 minutes, I'm going to try and do as much as I can with those 14 minutes and be my best in those 14 minutes. I feel like that is how I got to the 16 points in that time."
Beard's scoring average this season sits at 6.8 going into K-State's home game against Texas Tech on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. With her playing time factored in, she's K-State's third-most productive scorer, at 0.42 points per minute behind Ayoka Lee's 0.49 and Peyton Williams' 0.45. Her field goal percentage (46.1) also ranks third on the team.
Lately, she's been even better in both regards.
Thrown into the starting lineup the last nine games after junior Rachel Ranke underwent season-ending surgery, Beard has seen a slight uptick in minutes with the move, 19.4 a game during that stretch. She's also continued to improve how she's used those minutes.
In her last five games, Beard has averaged 9.2 points in 17.8 minutes per game, or 0.52 points per minute, on 50 percent shooting (19 of 38). She's also grabbed 3.7 rebounds since moving into the starting lineup, up from her 2.7 average in the 10 games before.
"I think she's just getting consistent minutes now. I just think she's been more consistent as a player. Her numbers have been pretty solid (since) January," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. "She was really frustrated, I think, and inconsistent in December and I just think she's gotten better, consistent minutes. We've probably done a better job at getting her minutes in that rotation where she knows where she's at. We moved her into the starting lineup, and I think that's an area she feels a little more comfortable at."
Beard put it a different way. She said she's not comfortable, just more focused on what's important.
"I try not to get too comfortable because comfortability means that I'm not working as hard as I could be," she said. "I feel like if I'm not too comfortable, I'll continue to work hard to try to maintain that leadership spot and to maintain that starting position, not just to have the starting position but to be a leader and to be productive in that position as well."
This was not always the case for Beard, either. She used to struggle with this, the internal battle of getting hung up on why she's not getting more minutes versus focusing on the things that will ultimately lead to more playing time.
Ultimately, she said maturity paid dividends. So did the advice of her father, who urged her to just enjoy her senior season.
"He helped me a lot. He was the one who was, like, 'If you only get three minutes, you have to enjoy this season. Don't ponder on those things about not getting enough minutes,' because at the end of this season, when I'm done, I don't have college basketball anymore, so I kind of want to remember that I gave my all and I enjoyed giving my all, no matter how much playing time I got," Beard said. "I had to grow and mature in that aspect to be able to see that, at the end, I don't want to say, 'Dang, I didn't give my all.' As long as I am giving my all, I can be happy at the end of the season."
Beard picked up another motivating factor in all of this as well this season. Multiple factors, to be more exact. Beard's tried to set a good example for her younger teammates, especially freshmen like Emilee Ebert and Emma Chapman, who went from being their high school's top player to role players off the bench at K-State.
"I tell Emilee and Emma all the time, 'Kayla Goth and Peyton Williams, their freshman year, their story to where they finished out and where Peyton is now is completely different.' I try to get that across to them, to see that I can't go to the bench complaining or looking down because I got taken out of the game or I'm only playing 14 minutes, because they are playing a lot less," Beard said. "So, whenever they do get in the game, they have that same type of mindset. 'I may only get in for four minutes, I may only get in for five, but with that four to five minutes, if I'm giving it my all and if Coach sees that, then I can't do anything more. I can't complain. This is what it is. I'm doing my all and giving him everything I possibly can.
"I know how it is as a freshman, playing behind some great seniors. You have to wait your turn, but you have to learn at the same time."
Again, this role has grown on Beard. She's learned from her mentors, people like Mittie, her father and K-State assistant coach Ebony Haliburton, how to lead and its importance for the future of the program.
"I didn't used to but now I kind of take pride in it because it is an opportunity," she said. "It is a great privilege to have somebody look up to you and be able to come to you in those aspects, looking for advice or just for me to be able to speak to them and for them to actually listen and take it constructively. I just feel like it's a privilege. I always say it's a blessing to be a blessing. If I can help them, it's helping me."
Jasauen Beard realized pretty early on at K-State she was not going to be a 35-minute-per-game player. Averaging just over 16 minutes a game this season, she's at peace with it.
Sure, K-State women's basketball's senior forward would like to play more. Any competitive person would. But Beard's now better equipped to channel her reality in a positive way, to make the most of the opportunities she's given.
Take K-State's 65-61 loss at TCU last Saturday, for example. Beard only played 14 minutes, yet she led the Wildcats in scoring with 16 points on 6-of-10 from the field. She was plus-12 on the plus-minus, which charts the net changes in score when a player is on or off the court.
"I have built the mindset to be able to produce and do as much as possible, whether that is points or those other stat aspects. I try to convince myself that no matter if I get two minutes or I get three minutes, as long as I give my all during that time, stats will speak for themselves," Beard said. "I try to do the most with what I have. If I only get 14 minutes, I'm going to try and do as much as I can with those 14 minutes and be my best in those 14 minutes. I feel like that is how I got to the 16 points in that time."
Beard's scoring average this season sits at 6.8 going into K-State's home game against Texas Tech on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. With her playing time factored in, she's K-State's third-most productive scorer, at 0.42 points per minute behind Ayoka Lee's 0.49 and Peyton Williams' 0.45. Her field goal percentage (46.1) also ranks third on the team.
Lately, she's been even better in both regards.
Thrown into the starting lineup the last nine games after junior Rachel Ranke underwent season-ending surgery, Beard has seen a slight uptick in minutes with the move, 19.4 a game during that stretch. She's also continued to improve how she's used those minutes.
In her last five games, Beard has averaged 9.2 points in 17.8 minutes per game, or 0.52 points per minute, on 50 percent shooting (19 of 38). She's also grabbed 3.7 rebounds since moving into the starting lineup, up from her 2.7 average in the 10 games before.
"I think she's just getting consistent minutes now. I just think she's been more consistent as a player. Her numbers have been pretty solid (since) January," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. "She was really frustrated, I think, and inconsistent in December and I just think she's gotten better, consistent minutes. We've probably done a better job at getting her minutes in that rotation where she knows where she's at. We moved her into the starting lineup, and I think that's an area she feels a little more comfortable at."
Beard put it a different way. She said she's not comfortable, just more focused on what's important.
"I try not to get too comfortable because comfortability means that I'm not working as hard as I could be," she said. "I feel like if I'm not too comfortable, I'll continue to work hard to try to maintain that leadership spot and to maintain that starting position, not just to have the starting position but to be a leader and to be productive in that position as well."
This was not always the case for Beard, either. She used to struggle with this, the internal battle of getting hung up on why she's not getting more minutes versus focusing on the things that will ultimately lead to more playing time.
Ultimately, she said maturity paid dividends. So did the advice of her father, who urged her to just enjoy her senior season.
"He helped me a lot. He was the one who was, like, 'If you only get three minutes, you have to enjoy this season. Don't ponder on those things about not getting enough minutes,' because at the end of this season, when I'm done, I don't have college basketball anymore, so I kind of want to remember that I gave my all and I enjoyed giving my all, no matter how much playing time I got," Beard said. "I had to grow and mature in that aspect to be able to see that, at the end, I don't want to say, 'Dang, I didn't give my all.' As long as I am giving my all, I can be happy at the end of the season."
Beard picked up another motivating factor in all of this as well this season. Multiple factors, to be more exact. Beard's tried to set a good example for her younger teammates, especially freshmen like Emilee Ebert and Emma Chapman, who went from being their high school's top player to role players off the bench at K-State.
"I tell Emilee and Emma all the time, 'Kayla Goth and Peyton Williams, their freshman year, their story to where they finished out and where Peyton is now is completely different.' I try to get that across to them, to see that I can't go to the bench complaining or looking down because I got taken out of the game or I'm only playing 14 minutes, because they are playing a lot less," Beard said. "So, whenever they do get in the game, they have that same type of mindset. 'I may only get in for four minutes, I may only get in for five, but with that four to five minutes, if I'm giving it my all and if Coach sees that, then I can't do anything more. I can't complain. This is what it is. I'm doing my all and giving him everything I possibly can.
"I know how it is as a freshman, playing behind some great seniors. You have to wait your turn, but you have to learn at the same time."
Again, this role has grown on Beard. She's learned from her mentors, people like Mittie, her father and K-State assistant coach Ebony Haliburton, how to lead and its importance for the future of the program.
"I didn't used to but now I kind of take pride in it because it is an opportunity," she said. "It is a great privilege to have somebody look up to you and be able to come to you in those aspects, looking for advice or just for me to be able to speak to them and for them to actually listen and take it constructively. I just feel like it's a privilege. I always say it's a blessing to be a blessing. If I can help them, it's helping me."
Players Mentioned
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