SE: Mike McGuirl on Coming Back and What’s Next for K-State Men’s Hoops
Mar 31, 2021 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
After he scored nine points in about 90 seconds to help K-State defeat No. 7 Oklahoma on Senior Night, Mike McGuirl didn't check Twitter. Or Facebook. Or Instagram. Not even once.
"I know the good and the bad of social media. I try and stay level-headed and just focus on moving forward," he said. "It was fun, but I knew at the time there were going to be more wins in the future."
That would explain why, when McGuirl decided last week to return to Kansas State for another season, there was no splashy post or fancy announcement video. In a statement released by K-State Men's Basketball, McGuirl had just one sentence about his future plans.
"This was an easy decision for me," he said. "The coaches and the Kansas State community have been so great to me and I wanted another year with my brothers on the team."
As was the case when he walked out of Bramlage Coliseum on Senior Night, McGuirl is already focused on more wins in the future.
But he had a little more to say this week about his decision, one that will see an All-Big 12 player with Elite Eight and conference championship experience return to Manhattan.
"The main thing is the culture," McGuirl said. "Even though we went through a rough patch these past two seasons, at the end of the year, it started to feel like Kansas State Basketball again."
That's when the 'Cats won four out of six games and went the distance in the Big 12 tournament with a Baylor team that is headed to the Final Four.
But, McGuirl is quick to point out, it's not like the Wildcats unlocked a cheat code in February.
He was ready to ride with this team from day one. That includes a core of talented freshmen that McGuirl met just a few months before the 2020-21 season began.
"They're good kids. Everybody wants to win and they're here for the right reasons," he said. "That's why we were able to grow throughout the year. Everybody stayed with it and stayed hungry."
While the roster is full of new faces, many of the same coaches who discovered McGuirl when he was a high school star in New England are still with the program. It was that staff that turned to McGuirl, then expecting to redshirt, when injuries hit the Wildcats in his freshman season.
Coming into the team's first round NCAA Tournament game against Creighton, McGuirl had 13 points in his college career. He dropped 17 points that night in a win over the Bluejays.
Then, he did one of his first-ever postgame interviews, live on CBS with Tracy Wolfson.
"Everything became worth it at the end of the season…I had some nerves, well, a lot of nerves, not some nerves," McGuirl said. "I didn't know what to expect, but playing in the Big 12 is a different experience."
In the time he's been at K-State, McGuirl and the Wildcats have finished above and below every single team in the conference at least once. He's spent four seasons watching programs climb to the top of the Big 12, after K-State reached the peak during his sophomore season.
That influenced his decision too.
"It's pretty cool how every year there could be a new team at the top and you can go from the bottom to the top very quickly," McGuirl said. "I saw it happen with Baylor."
While the Bears reached the school's first Final Four appearance in 71 years this season, McGuirl and his teammates were just beginning the climb.
As the only senior on the roster, McGuirl was the guy who faced the media after every tough loss, doing his best to speak for the team after going hard for 40 minutes every night.
"It was very, very humbling," he said. "The only thing I could do was go out there and represent myself, my coaches and my teammates the right way. That's how a leader, especially a person in my position, should be."
It was a different challenge when the Wildcats finally broke through, snapping a 13-game losing streak with a victory over TCU in Fort Worth. McGuirl had to make it clear: the job isn't done.
"Coach Weber really emphasized that all year. He stuck with us," McGuirl said. "He always sticks with you and there was never one day where you saw him come in like, 'I don't want to be here. I'm mad about everything that's happened.' It was just positivity and encouragement."
That was the feeling in the locker room after the TCU win. The Wildcats splashed water on McGuirl in the locker room and the K-State Men's Basketball Twitter account shared a photo of him smiling while he did postgame media, after dropping 16 points against the Horned Frogs.
It was something McGuirl had felt before and he knew it was something the Wildcats could recapture. It started on defense, where K-State dramatically improved late in the season and began to resemble some of the Bruce Weber-coached teams that made noise in the Big 12.
"It was a journey," McGuirl said. "I don't want to make any excuses, but in the preseason, we were practicing with seven guys. We're just trying to string practices together, hoping there's going to be a season and that we would get to play. Then the first game comes around and it's like, 'Damn, this doesn't feel like a normal first game.' We didn't know what it took at first."
McGuirl described the Wildcats early in the season as "highly confident, but with no reason to be as confident as we were." His teammates were adjusting to the college game and McGuirl was adjusting to being the face of a team that experienced more than a few humbling losses.
Flash forward to Senior Night, with the Wildcats looking to shock No. 7 Oklahoma for their second Big 12 win of the season. McGuirl was already playing well, with his parents in the stands, but he wasn't focused on stuffing the box score with a real chance to beat the Sooners.
He had 10 points heading into the final five minutes and the Wildcats were hanging around. Then, he knocked down a corner three to bring K-State within one possession.
Suddenly, whenever McGuirl had space, he couldn't miss. Give him nine points in 90 seconds and an unforgettable Senior Night win.
McGuirl didn't break his no-social media rule, but there was some rule-bending.
Especially when Jermaine Henderson nearly ran into an official after McGuirl sank his last bucket of the night to give K-State the lead for good.
"I'm going to be honest, I watched a lot of highlights," he said. "I saw his reaction and everybody's reaction. When I came back to the bench, Coach Lowery was just like, 'Woah.' It was special."
The celebration continued postgame, after McGuirl literally had to get his teammates to stop mobbing him so they could make it back to the locker room.
Sure, he isn't coming back because of one moment. But Mike McGuirl is returning to K-State because of the guys who made that moment possible.
"A lot of the year we were humbled by the results and the losses, but throughout it all, everybody worked hard," McGuirl said. "I'm surrounded by the people I want to be surrounded by."
After he scored nine points in about 90 seconds to help K-State defeat No. 7 Oklahoma on Senior Night, Mike McGuirl didn't check Twitter. Or Facebook. Or Instagram. Not even once.
"I know the good and the bad of social media. I try and stay level-headed and just focus on moving forward," he said. "It was fun, but I knew at the time there were going to be more wins in the future."
That would explain why, when McGuirl decided last week to return to Kansas State for another season, there was no splashy post or fancy announcement video. In a statement released by K-State Men's Basketball, McGuirl had just one sentence about his future plans.
"This was an easy decision for me," he said. "The coaches and the Kansas State community have been so great to me and I wanted another year with my brothers on the team."
As was the case when he walked out of Bramlage Coliseum on Senior Night, McGuirl is already focused on more wins in the future.
But he had a little more to say this week about his decision, one that will see an All-Big 12 player with Elite Eight and conference championship experience return to Manhattan.
"The main thing is the culture," McGuirl said. "Even though we went through a rough patch these past two seasons, at the end of the year, it started to feel like Kansas State Basketball again."
That's when the 'Cats won four out of six games and went the distance in the Big 12 tournament with a Baylor team that is headed to the Final Four.
But, McGuirl is quick to point out, it's not like the Wildcats unlocked a cheat code in February.
He was ready to ride with this team from day one. That includes a core of talented freshmen that McGuirl met just a few months before the 2020-21 season began.
"They're good kids. Everybody wants to win and they're here for the right reasons," he said. "That's why we were able to grow throughout the year. Everybody stayed with it and stayed hungry."
While the roster is full of new faces, many of the same coaches who discovered McGuirl when he was a high school star in New England are still with the program. It was that staff that turned to McGuirl, then expecting to redshirt, when injuries hit the Wildcats in his freshman season.
Coming into the team's first round NCAA Tournament game against Creighton, McGuirl had 13 points in his college career. He dropped 17 points that night in a win over the Bluejays.
Then, he did one of his first-ever postgame interviews, live on CBS with Tracy Wolfson.
"Everything became worth it at the end of the season…I had some nerves, well, a lot of nerves, not some nerves," McGuirl said. "I didn't know what to expect, but playing in the Big 12 is a different experience."
In the time he's been at K-State, McGuirl and the Wildcats have finished above and below every single team in the conference at least once. He's spent four seasons watching programs climb to the top of the Big 12, after K-State reached the peak during his sophomore season.
That influenced his decision too.
"It's pretty cool how every year there could be a new team at the top and you can go from the bottom to the top very quickly," McGuirl said. "I saw it happen with Baylor."
While the Bears reached the school's first Final Four appearance in 71 years this season, McGuirl and his teammates were just beginning the climb.
As the only senior on the roster, McGuirl was the guy who faced the media after every tough loss, doing his best to speak for the team after going hard for 40 minutes every night.
"It was very, very humbling," he said. "The only thing I could do was go out there and represent myself, my coaches and my teammates the right way. That's how a leader, especially a person in my position, should be."
It was a different challenge when the Wildcats finally broke through, snapping a 13-game losing streak with a victory over TCU in Fort Worth. McGuirl had to make it clear: the job isn't done.
"Coach Weber really emphasized that all year. He stuck with us," McGuirl said. "He always sticks with you and there was never one day where you saw him come in like, 'I don't want to be here. I'm mad about everything that's happened.' It was just positivity and encouragement."
That was the feeling in the locker room after the TCU win. The Wildcats splashed water on McGuirl in the locker room and the K-State Men's Basketball Twitter account shared a photo of him smiling while he did postgame media, after dropping 16 points against the Horned Frogs.
"I'm really happy for everybody."
— K-State Men's Basketball (@KStateMBB) February 21, 2021
🎙 Mike McGuirl #KStateMBB x EMAW pic.twitter.com/gbXVIPqBQp
It was something McGuirl had felt before and he knew it was something the Wildcats could recapture. It started on defense, where K-State dramatically improved late in the season and began to resemble some of the Bruce Weber-coached teams that made noise in the Big 12.
"It was a journey," McGuirl said. "I don't want to make any excuses, but in the preseason, we were practicing with seven guys. We're just trying to string practices together, hoping there's going to be a season and that we would get to play. Then the first game comes around and it's like, 'Damn, this doesn't feel like a normal first game.' We didn't know what it took at first."
McGuirl described the Wildcats early in the season as "highly confident, but with no reason to be as confident as we were." His teammates were adjusting to the college game and McGuirl was adjusting to being the face of a team that experienced more than a few humbling losses.
Flash forward to Senior Night, with the Wildcats looking to shock No. 7 Oklahoma for their second Big 12 win of the season. McGuirl was already playing well, with his parents in the stands, but he wasn't focused on stuffing the box score with a real chance to beat the Sooners.
He had 10 points heading into the final five minutes and the Wildcats were hanging around. Then, he knocked down a corner three to bring K-State within one possession.
Suddenly, whenever McGuirl had space, he couldn't miss. Give him nine points in 90 seconds and an unforgettable Senior Night win.
McGuirl didn't break his no-social media rule, but there was some rule-bending.
Especially when Jermaine Henderson nearly ran into an official after McGuirl sank his last bucket of the night to give K-State the lead for good.
"I'm going to be honest, I watched a lot of highlights," he said. "I saw his reaction and everybody's reaction. When I came back to the bench, Coach Lowery was just like, 'Woah.' It was special."
The celebration continued postgame, after McGuirl literally had to get his teammates to stop mobbing him so they could make it back to the locker room.
Sure, he isn't coming back because of one moment. But Mike McGuirl is returning to K-State because of the guys who made that moment possible.
"A lot of the year we were humbled by the results and the losses, but throughout it all, everybody worked hard," McGuirl said. "I'm surrounded by the people I want to be surrounded by."
Mike McGuirl has some unfinished business 💜#KStateMBB x EMAW pic.twitter.com/jxGNZSEDVJ
— K-State Men's Basketball (@KStateMBB) March 23, 2021
Players Mentioned
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