2006-07 Basketball Season in Review

After last night's disappointing loss to DePaul, it's time for a little reflection on the up-and-down ride that was this year in Wildcat basketball.

I'll admit to being one who was initially skeptical when Bob Huggins was hired as our new head coach. That was mostly due to the fact that my only information on him was what the media printed, which was mostly thugs and 0% graduation rates. After doing a little more research, I found that his players at Cincy didn't have a whole lot more problems with the law than the average college program, and in my opinion the NCAA graduation rate calculation is horribly flawed. I would never say I was against hiring Huggins, but I did have to come around to the idea that it was a great hire. To this point, Huggins has done absolutely nothing to disappoint me.

The start to the season had me thoroughly worried, because I was naive enough to believe that a great coach like Huggins could take moderately talented team and immediately make them winners. I forgot that even great coaches have to get players to buy into their system, and Huggins is not an endearing person who gets you to buy in on his charm. It took the players a while to see that his system really did work, but after the wins against New Mexico and USC, something clicked on with the players.

Just as the season was looking up, it all seemed to come crashing down again, with the big loss to Xavier and the season-ending injury to Bill Walker. I managed to make it to three games in person this year, and the first was the Big Monday tilt with Texas Tech, and after that game I was sure we were headed for a finish in the lower third of the Big 12. But I think it was clear it took the team a while to readjust to not having Walker out there, and once they did the light came back on, hence the seven-game winning streak culminating in the win in Austin (the second game I attended).

The team far exceeded my expectations by finishing 10-6 and 4th place in the league. I really thought prior to the season we would have a good chance to beat KU at home this year, and indeed we played them as tough as (almost) anybody, but they are too talented and deep and present horrible matchup problems for us this year. We did see that once we get an infusion of upper-level talent next year (Walker and Beasley primarily), the Streak's days will be numbered. Mostly we need to get players in here who aren't afraid of that Streak, and I'm sure Walker and Beasley have that type of attitude.

Of course the season ended on a disappointing note with the third loss to KU in OKC and the NCAA tournament snub. All my friends down here in Texas, and indeed all of my friends in Nebraska and from KU (yes, I do admit to having Jayhawk friends) could not believe we got left out. I know it wasn't your fault, Arkansas fans, but your team had no business being in the tournament ahead of K-State. Same goes for Stanford. But even in a difficult situation, Huggins had the best response possible, basically saying we could have won more games. In the future, I don't think that's going to be a problem.

I was able to attend the NIT game against Vermont with several of my friends who are still in Manhattan. It really illustrated to me how far the team and program had come in just one year. I was impressed that we managed to get nearly 8,700 people for that game; my friends (who had gone to every home game that year) were not. I was impressed by the atmosphere, as it seemed the whole crowd was really loud and into it; my friends were not. And to top it all off, we drew a sellout crowd for an NIT game against DePaul while the students were gone over spring break. I'm excited for the future with the players coming in and the fan support that has been shown this year.

One final note. Thanks to all the seniors this year for all they did in their time at K-State.
Cartier Martin: This kid made huge strides from his freshman (when I saw him put up shots that would make a 4th grader proud) to his junior year (when he became one of the Big 12's leading scorers and a deadly outside shooter), but the improvement he made from the beginning of this year to the end was almost unbelieveable. It would have been so easy for him to quit when he got in Huggins' doghouse and couldn't find his butt with both hands in his back pocket early in the season, but he didn't. By the end of the season, I didn't cringe when I saw him put the ball on the floor or go underneath to rebound or rotate to pick up somebody else's man. Thanks for everything, C-Mart.
Lance Harris: One of the most athletic players we've had in a long time, and a streaky shooter who single-handedly kept us in the game in Austin earlier this year. Also one heck of a nice guy, from my one personal encounter with him at Buffalo Wild Wings two years ago.
Akeem Wright: This dude got big thanks to Huggins' training program, and he turned into the defensive stopper we needed him to be. He made life hell on Vermont's PG during our second-half comeback, and was always the one guy opposing players didn't want to see. Also became a good rebounder during the season.
Serge Afeli: A fan favorite and a feel-good story. Gotta love a guy who loves his school and team so much be breaks down in tears on senior day.
Jermaine Maybank: He won't get much credit from the mainstream media, but this guy was a huge bonus for us this year. He played some good minutes to spell Clent Stewart at point and showed his athletic ability several times with big dunks. A good, smart role player that every program should have one of. Thanks for the one year, Jermaine.
And also to the graduating seniors, congrats on getting your diploma.

Can't wait til next season.