Smith Posting Up in Office, Building and Evaluating
May 19, 2026 | General, Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
When we last spoke with Luke Smith, the 27-year-old former star point guard and two-year assistant coach under head coach Casey Alexander at Belmont, was the first Kansas State assistant coach to pull open the large glass doors to the Ice Family Basketball Center, and he quickly joined Alexander in his office to begin work.
They talked about potential players. They discussed roster construction. That day in early April, as they sat inside Alexander's new second-story office, the head coach and assistant coach were on the ground floor of building Alexander's first roster as head coach at the Power 4 level.
"We need 13 players, so let's go find players," Smith recalls of that fateful day when the head coach and assistant coach began envisioning the future.
And now?
"Now our thinking is much more, 'How can we get this team to be the best team it can be on the floor and off the floor?"
Smith adds: "Our mindset has shifted."
Smith hasn't yet moved into a house in Manhattan. He and fiancé Hannah will wed in Knoxville, Tennessee, on August 8 — "during a dead period in recruiting," he wants you to know — before the couple moves to the Little Apple.
"I have a wedding shower with her family in Illinois this weekend," Smith says. "She told me we wouldn't get married if I miss it."
Monday was all about K-State hoops. And after the madness of the transfer portal, Smith is ready to move forward with the Wildcats.
"You never expect to get 10 out of the portal," Smith says during K-State men's basketball's media availability on Monday. "You never want to have to do that, and hopefully next year that's not the case, but when you go into a new job it's kind of what comes with the territory and what's expected. It was a lot of fun, just everybody being down there in the room with Zooms for nine hours the first day and I don't know how many visits we ended up doing, but it was great.
"The crazy thing is learning on the fly. You're about to bring a kid to campus and then you realize that no one besides (director of men's basketball operations) Bailey Bachamp on our staff has ever done a visit at Kansas State. That part was funny and interesting, but it was a great month."
Smith says the last couple weeks have encompassed more extensive film study to learn more about the crop of transfers that joined the Wildcats.
"I'm done way more film on the guys who are coming in, and I'm trying to see how we can evolve offensively and defensively, so it's been way more basketball focused the last couple weeks, which has been fun to turn that page and get started on that," Smith says. "We're just trying to see how all the pieces come together, what we need to tweak from last year, and how we can be even better in our process and how we approach offense and defense."
Smith, who says that he measures 5-foot-11, fancies himself as being the shortest coach in the country that is coaching post players. Smith also coached post players last season at Belmont.
When Smith looks up at 7-foot-1, 255-pound JT Rock, 7-foot, 230-pound Pape N'Diaye and 6-foot-11, 213-pound Matt Gilhool, he sees versatility and an ability to step out and shoot the ball, which he says "will be an extra dynamic for us that we should enjoy."
Rock was the first-ever signee for Alexander at K-State and was announced as a part of the team on April 17. He has three years of Division I experience while averaging 5.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 10.7 minutes during his 46-game career that features two seasons at Iowa State and one season at New Mexico.
"It was like 1:00 a.m. we were in the office trying to find some guys, and someone said, 'Watch this kid from New Mexico,'" Smith says. "In some ways, you can get caught up in the minutes (10.7) and points per game (5.2), but you watch and evaluate these kids and how good you think they are. We hadn't really looked at any stats, we just turned on his film, and we were just blown away by his size and versatility and ability to shoot the ball.
"The next day we had a Zoom with (Rock) and then the next day he was on campus and he committed right after that. He's a huge human being and he can shoot it. He was really efficient from 2 last year. Probably 60-70% of his shots were from 2, but balancing that frequency, you have to be unpredictable with that, so you get him to understand that, and understand angles and understand when to roll and when to pop and the times to do that. That'll be super important for him."
Less than a week after Rock joined the team, Gilhool came aboard as well after he redshirted his freshman season at LSU last season. Gilhool was a 4-star prospect who averaged 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game to earn Pennsylvania All-State honors his senior season.
"We have plenty of tape," Smith says. "You have to turn on the practice film. He was a highly rated recruit and (K-State assistant coach) JJ Butler had a previous relationship with him. I went back and watched his AAU and high school stuff. He's a big kid and he's a real, real athlete. The physical side last year was the biggest development for him, and he got bigger and stronger, so we're excited about that. His versatility to roll and pop from ball screens or setting a screen off the ball being able to roll or curl back and shoot a 3 — we love guys who can do a number of things.
"He probably has one of the higher upsides on our team. I'm excited to tap into that and have him be a productive player for us."
Three days later on April 27, N'Diaye joined the Wildcats after one season at Xavier and another season at UNLV. N'Diaye averaged 2.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 61 total games.
"Pape had a relationship with John Cooper from our staff from UNLV," Smith says. "Pape is big, long, can shoot the 3 as well, but really he's an elite rim protector. With him and JT Rock, their defensive metric and analytics were pretty off the charts.
"A lot of what we do offensively is touch the paint, kick it out, and get good 2s or 3s. Having guys who are big, can stay in the paint and protect the rim keeps people out of the paint and makes people have to take tough 2s, which is what we're trying to do defensively. We want to make bad 3-point shooters take hard 3s, or make people take hard 2s. Having big guys who can block or alter shots is something that we analytically really value."
When Rock, N'Diaye or Gilhool do something exciting on the hardwood, expect Smith's emotions to follow suit from the bench. Also, expect Smith to form strong bonds with his big men.
"I'm a little bit fiery during games," Smith says. "Casey says I'm a little out of control. Maybe I need to tame that down. I've always leaned more toward the offensive side of the ball. I help Casey with play calls and those things during the game, but I genuinely love the relationship building side of it and getting to know these guys and the players.
"Obviously, it was a mad dash, so we know them, but we haven't got to be in the gym with them or put in the sweat equity with them. I love being on the court for workouts. We all are pretty well rounded and do a lot of things, but me being a young guy and having those relationships, I can relate but still coach them hard. That's one of the things I bring to the table."
When we last spoke with Luke Smith, the 27-year-old former star point guard and two-year assistant coach under head coach Casey Alexander at Belmont, was the first Kansas State assistant coach to pull open the large glass doors to the Ice Family Basketball Center, and he quickly joined Alexander in his office to begin work.
They talked about potential players. They discussed roster construction. That day in early April, as they sat inside Alexander's new second-story office, the head coach and assistant coach were on the ground floor of building Alexander's first roster as head coach at the Power 4 level.
"We need 13 players, so let's go find players," Smith recalls of that fateful day when the head coach and assistant coach began envisioning the future.
And now?
"Now our thinking is much more, 'How can we get this team to be the best team it can be on the floor and off the floor?"
Smith adds: "Our mindset has shifted."
Smith hasn't yet moved into a house in Manhattan. He and fiancé Hannah will wed in Knoxville, Tennessee, on August 8 — "during a dead period in recruiting," he wants you to know — before the couple moves to the Little Apple.
"I have a wedding shower with her family in Illinois this weekend," Smith says. "She told me we wouldn't get married if I miss it."
Monday was all about K-State hoops. And after the madness of the transfer portal, Smith is ready to move forward with the Wildcats.
"You never expect to get 10 out of the portal," Smith says during K-State men's basketball's media availability on Monday. "You never want to have to do that, and hopefully next year that's not the case, but when you go into a new job it's kind of what comes with the territory and what's expected. It was a lot of fun, just everybody being down there in the room with Zooms for nine hours the first day and I don't know how many visits we ended up doing, but it was great.
"The crazy thing is learning on the fly. You're about to bring a kid to campus and then you realize that no one besides (director of men's basketball operations) Bailey Bachamp on our staff has ever done a visit at Kansas State. That part was funny and interesting, but it was a great month."
Smith says the last couple weeks have encompassed more extensive film study to learn more about the crop of transfers that joined the Wildcats.
"I'm done way more film on the guys who are coming in, and I'm trying to see how we can evolve offensively and defensively, so it's been way more basketball focused the last couple weeks, which has been fun to turn that page and get started on that," Smith says. "We're just trying to see how all the pieces come together, what we need to tweak from last year, and how we can be even better in our process and how we approach offense and defense."
Smith, who says that he measures 5-foot-11, fancies himself as being the shortest coach in the country that is coaching post players. Smith also coached post players last season at Belmont.
When Smith looks up at 7-foot-1, 255-pound JT Rock, 7-foot, 230-pound Pape N'Diaye and 6-foot-11, 213-pound Matt Gilhool, he sees versatility and an ability to step out and shoot the ball, which he says "will be an extra dynamic for us that we should enjoy."
Rock was the first-ever signee for Alexander at K-State and was announced as a part of the team on April 17. He has three years of Division I experience while averaging 5.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 10.7 minutes during his 46-game career that features two seasons at Iowa State and one season at New Mexico.
"It was like 1:00 a.m. we were in the office trying to find some guys, and someone said, 'Watch this kid from New Mexico,'" Smith says. "In some ways, you can get caught up in the minutes (10.7) and points per game (5.2), but you watch and evaluate these kids and how good you think they are. We hadn't really looked at any stats, we just turned on his film, and we were just blown away by his size and versatility and ability to shoot the ball.
"The next day we had a Zoom with (Rock) and then the next day he was on campus and he committed right after that. He's a huge human being and he can shoot it. He was really efficient from 2 last year. Probably 60-70% of his shots were from 2, but balancing that frequency, you have to be unpredictable with that, so you get him to understand that, and understand angles and understand when to roll and when to pop and the times to do that. That'll be super important for him."
Less than a week after Rock joined the team, Gilhool came aboard as well after he redshirted his freshman season at LSU last season. Gilhool was a 4-star prospect who averaged 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game to earn Pennsylvania All-State honors his senior season.
"We have plenty of tape," Smith says. "You have to turn on the practice film. He was a highly rated recruit and (K-State assistant coach) JJ Butler had a previous relationship with him. I went back and watched his AAU and high school stuff. He's a big kid and he's a real, real athlete. The physical side last year was the biggest development for him, and he got bigger and stronger, so we're excited about that. His versatility to roll and pop from ball screens or setting a screen off the ball being able to roll or curl back and shoot a 3 — we love guys who can do a number of things.
"He probably has one of the higher upsides on our team. I'm excited to tap into that and have him be a productive player for us."
Three days later on April 27, N'Diaye joined the Wildcats after one season at Xavier and another season at UNLV. N'Diaye averaged 2.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 61 total games.
"Pape had a relationship with John Cooper from our staff from UNLV," Smith says. "Pape is big, long, can shoot the 3 as well, but really he's an elite rim protector. With him and JT Rock, their defensive metric and analytics were pretty off the charts.
"A lot of what we do offensively is touch the paint, kick it out, and get good 2s or 3s. Having guys who are big, can stay in the paint and protect the rim keeps people out of the paint and makes people have to take tough 2s, which is what we're trying to do defensively. We want to make bad 3-point shooters take hard 3s, or make people take hard 2s. Having big guys who can block or alter shots is something that we analytically really value."
When Rock, N'Diaye or Gilhool do something exciting on the hardwood, expect Smith's emotions to follow suit from the bench. Also, expect Smith to form strong bonds with his big men.
"I'm a little bit fiery during games," Smith says. "Casey says I'm a little out of control. Maybe I need to tame that down. I've always leaned more toward the offensive side of the ball. I help Casey with play calls and those things during the game, but I genuinely love the relationship building side of it and getting to know these guys and the players.
"Obviously, it was a mad dash, so we know them, but we haven't got to be in the gym with them or put in the sweat equity with them. I love being on the court for workouts. We all are pretty well rounded and do a lot of things, but me being a young guy and having those relationships, I can relate but still coach them hard. That's one of the things I bring to the table."
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