Kansas State University Athletics
Excited to See Where She Can Go
Nov 13, 2025 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Nearly five months to the day that Jordan Speiser pulled into the Ice Family Basketball Training Center for the first time as a freshman on her own, the 6-foot-1 guard from Warrenton, Missouri, and arguably the highest-rated high school prospect ever to sign with the Wildcats, recorded her first career double-double while making her first-career start in a white jersey.
That Speiser scored 11 points and added 10 rebounds as K-State rolled to an 89-61 win over Lamar at Bramlage Coliseum on Monday showed hints of the vast potential of the 2025 McDonald's All-American, who was the No. 6 overall player and No. 4 shooting guard in the Class of 2025, and who's still finding her groove at the Division I level.
"The double-double just came from rebounding my shots, which aren't falling right now," said Speiser, who shot 5-of-13 from the floor, including 1-of-8 on 3-pointers, in a career-high 22 minutes. "It'll start falling, I understand that. I still shot eight 3s, but understand I need to get to the basket and impact the game in other ways. I hustle hard."
That's precisely what K-State head coach Jeff Mittie first noticed about Speiser when the 2023-24 Gatorade Missouri Girls Basketball Player of the Year began workouts with the Wildcats: She hustled.
"What impressed me most about her was her work in the weight room right away," Mittie said. "A lot of players come in having trained, but when we get them, they really haven't gone through what we're going to put them through, whether it be conditioning or a practice or the weight room. She came in right away and had a really good foundation and drive to improve."
Speiser averaged 20.9 points on 42.8% shooting from the floor, and she made 102 3-pointers on 42.0% shooting from long range during her senior season at Lutheran of St. Charles County High School, while also averaging 7.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals. She opened eyes early, as she received her first-ever recruiting letter from Geno Auriemma in the seventh grade. On Speiser's first-ever unofficial visit, Caitlin Clark served as her host at Iowa.
But Speiser said, "when you know, you know," and she chose K-State — calling Oklahoma, TCU, North Carolina and Iowa to cancel her visits — and she delivered her announcement to Mittie in person during a surprise visit to Manhattan.
On September 13, 2024, Speiser and her parents made the 4 ½-hour drive from Warrenton to Manhattan, entered the Ice Family Basketball Training Center, went upstairs and entered a spacious conference room, where Mittie and his assistant coaches sat entrenched in a meeting.
Speiser walked into the conference room and announced to the K-State coaching staff, "I'm home. I'm a Wildcat."
Nobody was more surprised than Mittie. A few days prior, he had visited Speiser at Lutheran High School, and she informed him that she was taking an official visit to Iowa.
"I thought you were going to Iowa," Mittie said.
Speiser replied, "Yeah, we made a wrong turn."
"It was surprising," Mittie said after Monday's game, recalling the fateful day of Speiser's in-person announcement. "Yeah, it was surprising that she was walking into our conference room. Now, I've been around long enough to know that they're not coming into the conference room to tell me, 'No.' So I felt pretty good about it. In today's world, they might not even call you and send you a text.
"I felt good seeing her. That was pretty cool."
This summer, one 247Sports scout wrote that Speiser "might be the best spot-up jump shooter in the country," while ESPN wrote that "Speiser has a strong base and broad build to go along with a quick trigger, high-release finish."
K-State fans will get their chance to see a lot of Speiser this season and as she ascends throughout her career.
"Her potential is through the roof," said K-State junior guard Taryn Sides, who had a season-high 20 points against Lamar. "She can really shoot that thing. I know she probably hasn't shot as well as she's wanted to, but I know it's coming. She shoots it really well in practice, and I know it'll translate to the game. She's continued to grow in other areas as well. Today, she got to the basket better. Her defense has gotten better. I'm excited to see where she can get to."
In her first three games, Speiser is averaging 7.7 points and 5.0 rebounds. She is shooting 29.0% (9-of-31) from the floor, including 14.3% (3-of-21) from 3-point range.
As for maintaining confidence at this early stage of her career?
"It's extremely hard," Speiser said. "I have coaches instilling confidence into me, telling me to keep shooting, that they're going to fall. I'm not worried about it."
Sides, who started out her own freshman season shooting 6-of-25 from the floor a few years ago, has been there, and she understands the early-season freshman struggle can be real.
"I've made a lot of freshman mistakes in basketball and outside of basketball, and Taryn has reeled me in and been that veteran on the team, and a friend, and just helps me out in all ways," Speiser said.
Speiser has learned a lot during her first five months at K-State.
"It's been great," she said. "It's been a lot of fun. I've been learning the whole time, learning how to live on my own, and basketball-wise being able to play, to adjust to the speed difference from high school. I'm really having fun."
And better days lie ahead for Speiser, who will join her K-State teammates in playing four games in the next nine days. K-State gets South Dakota at home on Thursday, then Texas A&M on Sunday, and then Troy on Tuesday, before traveling to play Green Bay next Saturday. Then five days later, the Wildcats conclude their busiest November in history with games against Columbia, North Carolina and South Dakota State in the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico.
Mittie has no doubts about Speiser's talents and potential as the season moves along.
"She's going to shoot the ball better over the course of this year," he said. "She's got that type of ability. I'm seeing an improved patience off the bounce. She's able to post up, which is a part of mixing her game up, which we wanted to get her to. She improved on that daily. Tonight, you saw a hell of a pass there at the end on the left-hand pass for a 3. Not many players can make that pass. She's learning when to make it and when not to make it.
"Yeah, I think we're going to see a lot of big moments from her."
Nearly five months to the day that Jordan Speiser pulled into the Ice Family Basketball Training Center for the first time as a freshman on her own, the 6-foot-1 guard from Warrenton, Missouri, and arguably the highest-rated high school prospect ever to sign with the Wildcats, recorded her first career double-double while making her first-career start in a white jersey.
That Speiser scored 11 points and added 10 rebounds as K-State rolled to an 89-61 win over Lamar at Bramlage Coliseum on Monday showed hints of the vast potential of the 2025 McDonald's All-American, who was the No. 6 overall player and No. 4 shooting guard in the Class of 2025, and who's still finding her groove at the Division I level.
"The double-double just came from rebounding my shots, which aren't falling right now," said Speiser, who shot 5-of-13 from the floor, including 1-of-8 on 3-pointers, in a career-high 22 minutes. "It'll start falling, I understand that. I still shot eight 3s, but understand I need to get to the basket and impact the game in other ways. I hustle hard."
That's precisely what K-State head coach Jeff Mittie first noticed about Speiser when the 2023-24 Gatorade Missouri Girls Basketball Player of the Year began workouts with the Wildcats: She hustled.
"What impressed me most about her was her work in the weight room right away," Mittie said. "A lot of players come in having trained, but when we get them, they really haven't gone through what we're going to put them through, whether it be conditioning or a practice or the weight room. She came in right away and had a really good foundation and drive to improve."
Speiser averaged 20.9 points on 42.8% shooting from the floor, and she made 102 3-pointers on 42.0% shooting from long range during her senior season at Lutheran of St. Charles County High School, while also averaging 7.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals. She opened eyes early, as she received her first-ever recruiting letter from Geno Auriemma in the seventh grade. On Speiser's first-ever unofficial visit, Caitlin Clark served as her host at Iowa.
But Speiser said, "when you know, you know," and she chose K-State — calling Oklahoma, TCU, North Carolina and Iowa to cancel her visits — and she delivered her announcement to Mittie in person during a surprise visit to Manhattan.
On September 13, 2024, Speiser and her parents made the 4 ½-hour drive from Warrenton to Manhattan, entered the Ice Family Basketball Training Center, went upstairs and entered a spacious conference room, where Mittie and his assistant coaches sat entrenched in a meeting.
Speiser walked into the conference room and announced to the K-State coaching staff, "I'm home. I'm a Wildcat."
Nobody was more surprised than Mittie. A few days prior, he had visited Speiser at Lutheran High School, and she informed him that she was taking an official visit to Iowa.
"I thought you were going to Iowa," Mittie said.
Speiser replied, "Yeah, we made a wrong turn."
"It was surprising," Mittie said after Monday's game, recalling the fateful day of Speiser's in-person announcement. "Yeah, it was surprising that she was walking into our conference room. Now, I've been around long enough to know that they're not coming into the conference room to tell me, 'No.' So I felt pretty good about it. In today's world, they might not even call you and send you a text.
"I felt good seeing her. That was pretty cool."
This summer, one 247Sports scout wrote that Speiser "might be the best spot-up jump shooter in the country," while ESPN wrote that "Speiser has a strong base and broad build to go along with a quick trigger, high-release finish."
K-State fans will get their chance to see a lot of Speiser this season and as she ascends throughout her career.
"Her potential is through the roof," said K-State junior guard Taryn Sides, who had a season-high 20 points against Lamar. "She can really shoot that thing. I know she probably hasn't shot as well as she's wanted to, but I know it's coming. She shoots it really well in practice, and I know it'll translate to the game. She's continued to grow in other areas as well. Today, she got to the basket better. Her defense has gotten better. I'm excited to see where she can get to."
In her first three games, Speiser is averaging 7.7 points and 5.0 rebounds. She is shooting 29.0% (9-of-31) from the floor, including 14.3% (3-of-21) from 3-point range.
As for maintaining confidence at this early stage of her career?
"It's extremely hard," Speiser said. "I have coaches instilling confidence into me, telling me to keep shooting, that they're going to fall. I'm not worried about it."
Sides, who started out her own freshman season shooting 6-of-25 from the floor a few years ago, has been there, and she understands the early-season freshman struggle can be real.
"I've made a lot of freshman mistakes in basketball and outside of basketball, and Taryn has reeled me in and been that veteran on the team, and a friend, and just helps me out in all ways," Speiser said.
Speiser has learned a lot during her first five months at K-State.
"It's been great," she said. "It's been a lot of fun. I've been learning the whole time, learning how to live on my own, and basketball-wise being able to play, to adjust to the speed difference from high school. I'm really having fun."
And better days lie ahead for Speiser, who will join her K-State teammates in playing four games in the next nine days. K-State gets South Dakota at home on Thursday, then Texas A&M on Sunday, and then Troy on Tuesday, before traveling to play Green Bay next Saturday. Then five days later, the Wildcats conclude their busiest November in history with games against Columbia, North Carolina and South Dakota State in the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico.
Mittie has no doubts about Speiser's talents and potential as the season moves along.
"She's going to shoot the ball better over the course of this year," he said. "She's got that type of ability. I'm seeing an improved patience off the bounce. She's able to post up, which is a part of mixing her game up, which we wanted to get her to. She improved on that daily. Tonight, you saw a hell of a pass there at the end on the left-hand pass for a 3. Not many players can make that pass. She's learning when to make it and when not to make it.
"Yeah, I think we're going to see a lot of big moments from her."
Players Mentioned
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