Big 12 coaches stand behind oscar
By Hacky McSeminar
It's rare in the modern sports culture that a fanbase is so divided on a person who has brought them unprecedented success. Ending his 4th season as the head coach of Kansas State’s basketball program, that is precisely the situation oscar Weber finds himself in.
But in contrast to the feelings expressed in the just over 6-year-old goEMAW blog (complete with its own Twitter page), Big 12 coaches were seemingly shoving each other out of the way to get to the front of the oscar Weber fan club at 2016 Pillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship Tournament Media Day.
“I’m the biggest oscar Weber fan there is,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “He does it the right way. He’s unique. He stands outside the box, but he’s built a heck of a program.”
Since Weber arrived at Kansas State in 2012, the Wildcats are 2-7 against Self’s Jayhawks. However, those two wins have come against Kansas squads that were ranked in the top 10.
“He’s sensational. Every time that we have played them … the preparation is a root canal to get ready for that game. It’s much worse than a root canal,” said Baylor head coach Scott Drew.
Drew has good reason to compare getting ready to play Weber’s teams to highly invasive oral surgery. Since oscar arrived in Manhattan to coach the Wildcats, Drew is 5-3 against Kansas State. However, two of those wins have come in double overtime.
“I’ve said this the last two years when they were on the cusp. I hope they get in because they’re the type of team that could go through the first weekend of the NIT Tournament with no problems at all because they’re just so unique,” West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said.
Huggins can show off a 5-3 record against Weber since West Virginia moved in to the Big 12 conference in 2008. However, those wins have gotten tougher to come by. Just earlier this year it could only be earned in double overtime.
Weber’s results from his 4 seasons at Kansas State have certainly been mixed. In his initial year with the program, the Wildcats finished first in the Big 12 for the first time in nearly 30 years. Two years later, they finished lower than 5th in the conference for the first time in 9 years.
Inconsistency has given him a 37-35 record in the Big 12, far from stellar. But that record has come at a time when the Big 12 has been consistently ranked as the strongest conference in college basketball.
Weber also came into a school with virtually no recent long-term basketball success. The last head coach at Kansas State to retire at K-State with a winning record was Jack Hartman, who coached the team from 1970-86. In the 25+ years between the Hartman and Weber eras, Kansas State has been a revolving door with 6 men’s basketball coaches, only 4 NCAA tournament appearances, and zero conference titles.
Beyond playing in the most difficult conference in the sport, other Big 12 coaches recognize that Weber is operating with recruiting disadvantages that have tied his hands more than they would at other schools.
It is that obstacle that Weber has started to overcome. Under his watch, DJamer became one of the leading combined scoring-and-rebounding players in school history. Prior to this season, he also garnered a commitment from Kansas's Mr. Basketball Claws, who grabbed extensive minutes this year as a true freshman and even scored a game winning basket earlier in the season. As talented players have continued to get on board, the program is back to a likely winning season.
“I think probably the biggest thing he’s done is he’s upped the caliber of players he’s got, and therefore, better players make better coaches,” Self said. “I root for them every time they play except for when we’re playing them. I know the work he’s put in.”
There is a sense of irony in the fact that as he has raised the standards of his own program, Weber has simultaneously raised expectations of himself. By putting the Kansas State basketball program into the spotlight with his recent successes, he has also done more to expose any of his failures.
Now that Weber has arrived at the highest point any recent Kansas State basketball coach has ever reached, he has no choice but to keep on climbing or lose his job in the process.
“He’s got to take the next step. He knows it. That’s not putting pressure on him; that’s just part of the profession we live in,” Self said. “If he does take that next step – wow, watch out because then I think it builds momentum, and it gives him a chance to sell all the great things he has to sell like a unique offense, incredible defense and a great loyal fanbase.”
After Kansas State’s 76-55 loss to Texas Tech in the last regular season game of the year, it is far from clear as to whether or not Weber will return next season, despite having led the school to its first conference title since 1977. It appears the only thing that will earn him any job security is that elusive March Madness win.
But to Drew and other Big 12 coaches, it is a mystery as to why oscar Weber’s name would ever be on the hot seat.
“All I know is that guy is one of the best coaches in the country,” Drew said. “Not just in the Big 12. In the country.”
