Growing Her Game Every Day
Mar 03, 2026 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
She sits in a familiar setting behind a table and in front of a purple back drop wearing her white No. 23 Kansas State uniform, dark hair a bit sweaty, eyes focused and looking ahead, as if replaying her past 30 minutes on the basketball court while sitting in the postgame news conference. It's another game for Jordan Speiser and another standout performance in a line of standout performances down the stretch of her true freshman season in Manhattan.
The outcome of this game stings — a 93-79 loss to Iowa State — in the regular-season finale at Bramlage Coliseum, but Speiser and the Wildcats gave it all they had, because it's all they've known all season, during this period of growth, a few upperclassmen intertwined with what ESPN called the eighth-best freshman class in America.
Next stop: K-State, 15-16, meets Cincinnati, 11-19, at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday in the Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. K-State, which went 8-10 in the Big 12 season, has lost four of its last five games, and needs a push to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm not sure what I'll think about when I get onto the basketball court, honestly," Speiser says. "Probably a lot. I'll be happy to be there and try to get a W."
At the moment, Speiser comes off one of her best showings of her 31 games as a Wildcat. She came off the bench to score 17 points against Iowa State, which marked her second-most points in a game this season and the 16th time she has reached double-digits scoring. She went 4-of-8 on 3-pointers for her second straight game with four 3-pointers and her 16th game with at least two 3-pointers in a game. She had three steals, giving her eight games with at least two steals.
She heads into her first Big 12 Tournament fourth on the team with 9.4 points per game, fifth with 22.2 minutes per game, and she is shooting 36.4% from the floor and 32.5% from 3-point range while starting in three of 31 games.
"My mindset is to always stay ready no matter when you go in or how long you stay in," she says. "You have to be there for your team. We needed energy. I wanted to be that for my team. I try my best. I helped my team with energy for sure."
This has been a season of growth for the 6-foot-1 guard/forward who arrived at K-State as a five-star prospect and the No. 14-rated player by ProspectsNation.com and No. 4-rated shooting guard by 247Sports, a phenom from Lutheran of St. Charles County who played in the 2025 McDonald's All-American Game and was selected to play for Team USA in the 2025 Nike Hoops Summit.
Arguably the highest-rated high school prospect ever to sign with K-State, Speiser, a native of Warrenton, Missouri, is playing her role, an expanded role, where she's ever a 3-point threat, and now also dribble drives the lane, takes defenders off the bounce and sends basketballs softly off the glass.
We saw her capabilities early on when she collected two double-doubles during the first month of the season — tied for the most by a Big 12 freshman this season — while she became the seventh K-State freshman in 25 years to achieve the feat. She had 11 points and 10 rebounds in her first collegiate start against Lamar on November 10, and then she had 13 points and 10 rebounds eight days later against Troy.
"Jordan has played well and has really battled," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie says. "Jordan is a competitor. She competes. Her overall game continues to improve. Offensively, we're able to move her around. She obviously has deep range and can get her shot off quick, but she's played better off the bounce and in the post."
Against Iowa State, like so many times this season, Speiser brought the crowd at Bramlage Coliseum to life.
With 4:52 left in the third quarter, Speiser pump-faked Cyclone forward Alisa Williams, took a step to the right, set up, and knocked down an open 3-pointer for a 54-53 lead. Speiser hopped back on defense, pumping her right fist over and over again in victory.
Less than one minute later, she nailed another 3 from the top of the key to make it 58-53. She turned and sailed back on defense, leaned over and clapped her hands hard, yelling as her teammates joined her. Then with 4:52 left in the fourth quarter, as Iowa State widened its lead, a defiant Speiser drove inside and drew a foul while going up strong with her right hand. She sank both free throws.
Oh yes, Speiser has achieved many things her freshman season. Among them? Her 89.4% (59-of-66) free-throw accuracy ranks No. 1 all-time in K-State history and third best for a single season. At one point, she made 20 free throws in a row.
But there's so much more.
"She's had a tremendous freshman year," says legendary Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly, who has seen plenty of freshmen talent in his 31-year coaching career. "The kid, I got to see her a lot when she played in AAU for the All-Iowa Attack, so we saw her a lot in Ames. She shoots it and it's so easy. The thing about her when you coach against her and watch her play — everyone thought she could catch and shoot 3s, but she's physical. They ask her to guard inside and outside, and she's really skilled, and she puts the ball on the deck, and she shoots the 3 so deep you have to chase her off it, and then she goes by her.
"She's going to be a tremendous player. She's one of the best freshmen in our league without question."
The key?
"You have to grow your game every day," Speiser says. "Coming into college, I knew I couldn't just be a shooter. I'm still trying to keep growing my game, but the coaches are helping me expand it defensively and offensively. I'm working every day to do that."
And it seems that Speiser is playing her best basketball down the stretch. In the last five games against Iowa State, UCF, Kansas, Baylor and Iowa State, she shot 41.5% (21-of-51) on 3-pointers while averaging 12.8 points per outing.
"I'm playing with decent confidence from my coaches and teammates," Speiser says. "We're getting into win-or-go-home, and you have to play with confidence. If you're not going to find it in yourself, my coaches and teammates give me confidence, so I'm grateful for that."
The spotlight has fallen upon Speiser and her impact as a freshman most of the season. She's been one of the leaders on one of the youngest rosters in college basketball, the spotlight-getter for a five-member freshman class that also features Aniya Foy, Gina Garcia, Brandie Harrod and Ivona Scekic, and that ESPN ranked as the No. 8 freshman class in the country.
Most notably, Garcia ranks first in the Big 12 and fourth in the nation with 151 assists as a freshman, while Harrod ranks 13th in the Big 12 with 2.19 offensive rebounds per game.
"We've all matured a lot," Speiser says. "We gravitate toward each other and bring each other along. Everyone is able to see it. It definitely gets talked about sometimes, too. It makes me really excited since we're all really close and to stay together for four years is going to be special."
More wins and more memories ahead, for sure.
"Basketball is like life," she says. "You just have to keep moving forward. Obviously, we've taken losses this season, but you have to keep moving forward. The next day is a new day and attack that day with your best."
In some ways, the attack has just begun.
She sits in a familiar setting behind a table and in front of a purple back drop wearing her white No. 23 Kansas State uniform, dark hair a bit sweaty, eyes focused and looking ahead, as if replaying her past 30 minutes on the basketball court while sitting in the postgame news conference. It's another game for Jordan Speiser and another standout performance in a line of standout performances down the stretch of her true freshman season in Manhattan.
The outcome of this game stings — a 93-79 loss to Iowa State — in the regular-season finale at Bramlage Coliseum, but Speiser and the Wildcats gave it all they had, because it's all they've known all season, during this period of growth, a few upperclassmen intertwined with what ESPN called the eighth-best freshman class in America.
Next stop: K-State, 15-16, meets Cincinnati, 11-19, at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday in the Big 12 Tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. K-State, which went 8-10 in the Big 12 season, has lost four of its last five games, and needs a push to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm not sure what I'll think about when I get onto the basketball court, honestly," Speiser says. "Probably a lot. I'll be happy to be there and try to get a W."
At the moment, Speiser comes off one of her best showings of her 31 games as a Wildcat. She came off the bench to score 17 points against Iowa State, which marked her second-most points in a game this season and the 16th time she has reached double-digits scoring. She went 4-of-8 on 3-pointers for her second straight game with four 3-pointers and her 16th game with at least two 3-pointers in a game. She had three steals, giving her eight games with at least two steals.
She heads into her first Big 12 Tournament fourth on the team with 9.4 points per game, fifth with 22.2 minutes per game, and she is shooting 36.4% from the floor and 32.5% from 3-point range while starting in three of 31 games.
"My mindset is to always stay ready no matter when you go in or how long you stay in," she says. "You have to be there for your team. We needed energy. I wanted to be that for my team. I try my best. I helped my team with energy for sure."
This has been a season of growth for the 6-foot-1 guard/forward who arrived at K-State as a five-star prospect and the No. 14-rated player by ProspectsNation.com and No. 4-rated shooting guard by 247Sports, a phenom from Lutheran of St. Charles County who played in the 2025 McDonald's All-American Game and was selected to play for Team USA in the 2025 Nike Hoops Summit.
Arguably the highest-rated high school prospect ever to sign with K-State, Speiser, a native of Warrenton, Missouri, is playing her role, an expanded role, where she's ever a 3-point threat, and now also dribble drives the lane, takes defenders off the bounce and sends basketballs softly off the glass.
We saw her capabilities early on when she collected two double-doubles during the first month of the season — tied for the most by a Big 12 freshman this season — while she became the seventh K-State freshman in 25 years to achieve the feat. She had 11 points and 10 rebounds in her first collegiate start against Lamar on November 10, and then she had 13 points and 10 rebounds eight days later against Troy.
"Jordan has played well and has really battled," K-State head coach Jeff Mittie says. "Jordan is a competitor. She competes. Her overall game continues to improve. Offensively, we're able to move her around. She obviously has deep range and can get her shot off quick, but she's played better off the bounce and in the post."
Against Iowa State, like so many times this season, Speiser brought the crowd at Bramlage Coliseum to life.
With 4:52 left in the third quarter, Speiser pump-faked Cyclone forward Alisa Williams, took a step to the right, set up, and knocked down an open 3-pointer for a 54-53 lead. Speiser hopped back on defense, pumping her right fist over and over again in victory.
Less than one minute later, she nailed another 3 from the top of the key to make it 58-53. She turned and sailed back on defense, leaned over and clapped her hands hard, yelling as her teammates joined her. Then with 4:52 left in the fourth quarter, as Iowa State widened its lead, a defiant Speiser drove inside and drew a foul while going up strong with her right hand. She sank both free throws.
Oh yes, Speiser has achieved many things her freshman season. Among them? Her 89.4% (59-of-66) free-throw accuracy ranks No. 1 all-time in K-State history and third best for a single season. At one point, she made 20 free throws in a row.
But there's so much more.
"She's had a tremendous freshman year," says legendary Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly, who has seen plenty of freshmen talent in his 31-year coaching career. "The kid, I got to see her a lot when she played in AAU for the All-Iowa Attack, so we saw her a lot in Ames. She shoots it and it's so easy. The thing about her when you coach against her and watch her play — everyone thought she could catch and shoot 3s, but she's physical. They ask her to guard inside and outside, and she's really skilled, and she puts the ball on the deck, and she shoots the 3 so deep you have to chase her off it, and then she goes by her.
"She's going to be a tremendous player. She's one of the best freshmen in our league without question."
The key?
"You have to grow your game every day," Speiser says. "Coming into college, I knew I couldn't just be a shooter. I'm still trying to keep growing my game, but the coaches are helping me expand it defensively and offensively. I'm working every day to do that."
And it seems that Speiser is playing her best basketball down the stretch. In the last five games against Iowa State, UCF, Kansas, Baylor and Iowa State, she shot 41.5% (21-of-51) on 3-pointers while averaging 12.8 points per outing.
"I'm playing with decent confidence from my coaches and teammates," Speiser says. "We're getting into win-or-go-home, and you have to play with confidence. If you're not going to find it in yourself, my coaches and teammates give me confidence, so I'm grateful for that."
The spotlight has fallen upon Speiser and her impact as a freshman most of the season. She's been one of the leaders on one of the youngest rosters in college basketball, the spotlight-getter for a five-member freshman class that also features Aniya Foy, Gina Garcia, Brandie Harrod and Ivona Scekic, and that ESPN ranked as the No. 8 freshman class in the country.
Most notably, Garcia ranks first in the Big 12 and fourth in the nation with 151 assists as a freshman, while Harrod ranks 13th in the Big 12 with 2.19 offensive rebounds per game.
"We've all matured a lot," Speiser says. "We gravitate toward each other and bring each other along. Everyone is able to see it. It definitely gets talked about sometimes, too. It makes me really excited since we're all really close and to stay together for four years is going to be special."
More wins and more memories ahead, for sure.
"Basketball is like life," she says. "You just have to keep moving forward. Obviously, we've taken losses this season, but you have to keep moving forward. The next day is a new day and attack that day with your best."
In some ways, the attack has just begun.
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