Kaluma Finding His Edge

By: D. Scott Fritchen

There was one player on the basketball court at Bramlage Coliseum six hours prior to tipoff. He shot layups. Then he shot mid-range jumpshots. Then he shot 3-pointers. Six hours later, he was back on the basketball court, this time helping lead Kansas State to a thrilling 70-66 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday. He scored 23 points, added nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. He shot 7-for-12 from the floor. He sank 3-of-5 3-point attempts. He scored the final 11 points of the first half for the Wildcats.

The player? Arthur Kaluma, who on Monday was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.

"He plays with a fearlessness that really good players have to have," Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton Jr. says.

There's a story to tell, all right, about the 6-foot-7, 225-pound Kaluma, the native of Glendale, Arizona, the star of Universal Academy in Irving, Texas, and the top-50 prospect out of Dream City Christian. He had a dream and he bypassed scholarship offers from Oklahoma, Kansas, Syracuse, Arizona, Texas A&M, UNLV, USC, Arkansas and Arizona State to play basketball for Greg McDermott at Creighton. So strong was Kaluma's faith in himself and in his game that he played two seasons for the Bluejays and led them to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.

When he opted to enter the transfer portal, K-State head coach Jerome Tang, who had seen Kaluma play in the eighth or ninth grade, brought him and his family to Manhattan. Kaluma fell in love with the coaches and basketball program.

"When we knew he was going to be in the portal, we knew he was a person we wanted to spend some time with," Tang says. "When they came on the visit, I just felt like we aligned on and off the court with what we needed and what he wanted, and the kind of environment his parents wanted him in, where he wouldn't just be developed as a basketball player but as a man surrounded by Godly men."

He's a fine addition for the Wildcats.

Kaluma is one of only two Big 12 players to rank in the top-10 in both scoring and rebounding, ranking 10^th in scoring at 15.2 points and third in rebounding at 7.9 per game. He scored 20 points against Central Arkansas and Oral Roberts. He scored a season-high 26 points against Villanova. And he scored 23 points against the Cowboys, including the team's final 11 points in the first half.

"It just came naturally," Kaluma says. "I'm trying to focus on letting the game come to me so I was seeing my spots where I could be aggressive."

It's fascinating to watch, really, how Kaluma affects the game on the offensive and defensive ends of the court. Offensively, he's shooting 45.6% (83-of-182) from the floor, including 41.1% (30-of-73) on 3-pointers. That includes 12-of-22 3-pointers over the past four games. He also has seven dunks this season.

He earned Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors by virtue of his strong performances against No. 9 Baylor and Oklahoma State. He averaged 17.5 points on 52.4% (11-of-21) shooting, including 54.5% (6-of-11) on 3-pointers, to go along with 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks in 38.5 minutes per game.

Kaluma hit the game-winning 4-point play with 20 seconds left in the overtime win against the Bears. He had 12 points and 10 rebounds in 40 minutes.

Against Oklahoma State, he reached 1,000 career points.

"He can make shots," Tang says. "The fact that he's shooting the 3 at such a high clip, you have to respect that, and because you have to respect that, it makes him quicker, so he shows the ball, the defense raises up, and then he quickly gets into the lane and gets a dunk.

"He's learning how to take advantage of the mismatches. If they put a smaller guy on him, he had a couple times today, he was able to take advantage of that. The fact that he can put that ball in the hole makes him super valuable."

As for his defense?

"I just think he can be an All-Big 12 Defensive player because of his length and athleticism," Tang says, "and I don't know that he uses his instincts on defense yet the way that he's capable of."

What's made Kaluma such a consistent scorer for the Wildcats?

"He does it every day in practice," center Will McNair says. "There's nothing that really surprises us. The other day, he was going crazy. We knew he was going to have a great game."

Adds guard Cam Carter: "We don't run plays for him for no reason."

Perhaps a portion of Kaluma's success, at least, can be attributed to Tang's encouragement for him to find his edge.

"This week we asked the guys, 'What are you doing that will give us the best chance to get a W? What is the thing that gives you your edge?'" Tang says. "The fact that he's spending so much more time in the gym is giving him this edge that he can take any shot at any time and it's going to go in."

More times than not, the basketball is finding its way into the basket. It's a craft that Kaluma continues to work on daily.

Even six hours before a game.

"Coming off a top-10 win (against No. 9 Baylor), teams often relax," Kaluma says. "I wanted to make sure I was locked in for this game because I knew what could happen. They came out there and fought us hard. I'm just glad we pulled it out."

There's more to come for Kaluma and the Wildcats, who prepare to face No. 23/18 Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, on Wednesday.

"I want him to think more shot-first on the catch," Tang says. "By doing that it's going to make defenses react to him even more, and that'll create things for other people. I said a while ago I thought he could get a triple-double, and I still think he can because of the skill set that he has.

"I'm excited to see that happen."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Cam Carter

Arthur Kaluma

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