Came to Prove Himself Right

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Ques Glover sat down at a table in his uniform one October evening, taking a break from filming introductory videos to be displayed at Kansas State men's basketball games at Bramlage Coliseum.

Soon, the 6-foot, 180-pound combo guard and Samford transfer would like to put highlight videos on the videoboard as well.

"I'm so excited," Glover said. "When I left Samford, my goal was to play at the highest level possible. I chose K-State to get to the highest level and prove myself right. Being able to be a playmaker on a team that has a pretty good chance in the Big 12 was a no-brainer. It's a dream come true, for sure."

Glover, a graduate transfer, signed with K-State on August 18 and arrived on campus shortly after, carrying hopes and aspirations of being a scoring threat, a facilitator, and the top on-ball defender for the Wildcats. He came to K-State after playing two years at Florida (2019-21) and two years at Samford (2021-23), where he led the Bulldogs to 21 wins and a share of the Southern Conference regular-season championship last season.

A two-time All-SoCon selection, he led the league with 19.2 points per game and ranked second with 4.4 assists per game in 2021-22, and he was a finalist for the Lou Henson Award, which annually honors the nation's top mid-major player. This past season, he averaged a team-high 14.7 points while fighting through a meniscus injury, and, upon his return, finished his last 10 games averaging 20 points per contest.

Nothing would stand between Glover and his opportunity to shine.

"I'm tough," he said. "I tore my meniscus last year, and that was really hard, and it was my first injury. I came back and played the rest of the season. I'm back at 100%. It's great to be out there playing like myself. Just being tough — that's one of the things I'm most proud of."

Glover has seen action in 99 games with 46 starts in his college career. He has scored 1,022 points on 46% shooting from the floor, including 30.6% on 3-pointers. He has scored at least 20 points in 20 games.

"Our plan all along has been to sign two guards out of the portal that have each played 90 or more games of college basketball so we can have an experienced backcourt, and Ques fits that," K-State head coach Jerome Tang said. "He's going to provide leadership, scoring and experience exactly where we need it."

Glover's dedication and success began at an early age. At age 10, he helped his AAU team win the national championship. In middle school, he scored his first 40-point game. In high school, he led Bearden High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, to the 2018 Class AAA State Championship. A two-time all-state selection, he was named Tennessee's Class AAA Mr. Basketball and the Knoxville News Sentinel's Player of the Year after averaging 21 points per game as a senior.

"I love the game," he said. "I love that it makes my parents happy when I play and am doing something to make my parents and family happy. Just seeing that smile on their faces when our team wins or I have a good game, that's really why I play the game."

Although Glover said that he received more than 30 scholarship offers from mid-major schools, he waited, eventually receiving interest from Vanderbilt, Butler, Florida and Tennessee. At Florida, he averaged 3.6 points on 42.1% shooting in 51 games and played with former Florida and K-State talent Keyontae Johnson.

"When I went to Florida, I was pretty much a score-first guard," Glover said. "When I went to Samford, I developed more playmaking and continued to score and became a better on-ball defender."

After two years at Samford, and a brief transfer to BYU, Glover entered the transfer portal again. He became reunited with Johnson on the phone. Johnson explained the tight-knit family atmosphere of the K-State program.

"Keyontae told me they were interested in me, and he told me everything about the program," Glover said. "It was a no-brainer for me. Seeing them have success and instilling a lot of confidence into Markquis Nowell and believing in him, it was really a no-brainer."

Glover became the third impactful transfer signed by Tang, joining 2023 Conference USA Player of the Year and NIT Most Outstanding Player Tylor Perry and 2022 Big East All-Freshman and All-Tournament Team member Arthur Kaluma.

K-State returns four lettermen and two redshirts in addition to eight newcomers to the roster.

The Wildcats were picked to finish sixth in the Preseason Big 12 poll.

"I feel like that's a little low," Glover said. "We have a lot of guys and a lot of talent here. We've been working hard every day. Guys come to the gym on their own and guys are practicing and guys are coming back watching film with the coaches. We have a lot more talent than being picked sixth. I'm really excited to prove those rankings wrong."

The Wildcats take on Emporia State in an exhibition game Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum before opening the season against USC in the Hall of Fame Series Las Vegas on November 6 at 9 p.m. (CT) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

"That's going to be a big game," Glover said. "That is our first chance to show why we should be ranked. We're going to continue to work hard and continue to grow. Win, lose or draw, they're going to feel us, for sure."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Ques Glover

Keyontae Johnson

Arthur Kaluma

Markquis Nowell

Tylor Perry

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