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Stevesie, Pete, LSOC, EMAWgeddon, and anyone else attending MOAP2.5 - none of you are retards on this issue, right?
MANHATTAN --- Championship banners once hung from the roof of Bramlage Coliseum before a decorative motif was painted along the upper rim to trumpet the titles Kansas State has won in basketball. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the change wasn't made because they had run out of ceiling space.More than a quarter-century has passed since Kansas State captured its last conference championship in 1977. That team went on to claim the first Big Eight postseason tournament, then reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing a controversial 67-66 decision to eventual champion Marquette.Last year marked the 25th anniversary of that conference championship. It came and went with no reunion."We haven't ever gotten together again. We probably need to," said Mike Evans, a junior guard who led the Wildcats with a 20.2-point average.When Evans was asked to remember K-State's last league title, he laughed, he beamed, he even chortled. Yet there also was a trace of sadness. That season, Dean Harris should have been a senior. A promising 6- foot-8 forward who averaged almost eight points as a freshman, Harris was killed in an automobile crash in the summer of 1974.Another car crash in London claimed the life of Larry Dassie, a senior forward on the 1976-77 team, after Dassie had gone on to play professionally overseas."Dassie, of that group, was my best friend," Evans said.Then too there was the curious disappearance of Curtis Redding, a brash, vibrant freshman who broke on the scene by averaging 16.6 points and earning newcomer of the year honors in the Big Eight. Redding played with Evans again the following season, then left with the assistant who brought him, Mark Reiner, and transferred to St. John's."I haven't talked to Curtis since he left," said Evans, who has spoken with people close to Redding who say the two-year wonder is now teaching in New York.Together, Redding, Dassie and senior center Daryl Winston made up a frontline in which all three measured only 6-foot-5. Scott Langton, a Manhattan junior, was the 5-11 point guard. The 6-1 Evans started every game he played at K-State, pouring in 30 points in his debut before leaving as the program's all-time leading scorer."Nobody thought we could win the Big Eight because we were small. We didn't have the tall bruisers," Evans said.Despite going undefeated over the second half of the conference schedule, skeptics remained going into the postseason tournament. But the Cats rallied from a huge deficit in the final to beat Missouri and claim both trophies that season."That's the most important thing you can do is win your league," Evans said. "We had to go to Kansas City and get the (NCAA) bid. So once you're able to separate yourself from everybody the first time, then do it again, there can be no doubt about who you are as a team."Others who followed Evans and joined him on the All-Century team, which Kansas State fans named in conjunction with the centennial season for the program, tried mightily."We finished second every year to that danged Missouri team," said Ed Nealy, a power forward who came to K-State the season after Evans left.Before Nealy was introduced as an All-Century pick at halftime of K-State's game with Missouri on March 1, he looked to see if former Tiger star Jon Sundvold was working as the TV analyst."I was hoping Sundvold might be up here so I could throw something at him," Nealy joked of his former NBA teammate. "We had such a rivalry with Missouri then."These days, the rivalries have grown dormant.K-State has not finished even second in a conference race since 1988, the year it reached the Midwest Regional final but lost to Kansas.Now, KU's win streaks against K-State are 26 games overall, nine in Lawrence and 20 in Manhattan.The sunflower is wilting in that showdown, especially after Roy Williams just claimed his ninth conference title in 15 seasons as KU coach."They went to the Big 12 and instead of getting easier it got tougher," said Nealy, who now lives in San Antonio. "K-State's a special place to get somebody to come play. My wife (DeAnn), coming out here for the first time, asked, 'Why would you build a university in the middle of nowhere?""Well, it was good for me, but you've got to find that special player who will work hard, and if you can get a bunch of them, you can do some things."Tex Winter was a coach who did some things.His first recruit as a K-State assistant was Ernie Barrett, the oldest member of the All-Century team. Winter later served as head coach for 15 seasons from 1954-68. His 262-117 mark included eight of the conference championships that seem so completely out of grasp today.When Jim Wooldridge was hired as K-State's coach, he was recommended by Winter. They coached together one season with the Chicago Bulls and Wooldridge, after using the triangle offense before, learned even more pointers from its inventor.Now, it is by Winter's legacy at K-State that Wooldridge is judged, to some extent."Tradition can put some pressure on the current staff, very definitely," Winter said. "But at the same time I think it can help 'em. They've got a lot to live up to."Five roadblocks for Kansas StateIt's been 26 years since the Kansas State last won a conference championship, and while there have been some signs of a recovery, the Wildcats still are near the bottom of the Big 12 looking up. Here are five factors impeding their climb back to prominence:TRADITIONYes, the glory days of Kansas State are fun to recall. The introduction of the All-Century team at the Missouri game on March 1 elicited some of the loudest cheers ever heard in Bramlage Coliseum. But it is tough to rebuild a program if the bar is raised too high. Remember, K-State was once great, but its last trip to the Final Four was in 1964.TELEVISIONClick the remote and a basketball almost pops out the screen and hits your face. The game is on almost every night, yet Kansas State does not receive a large share of coverage. That hurts whatever identity K-State can create with recruits, and also reduces familiarity among potential fans. Until the Cats improve, there's nothing big about Monday. It's just another practice day in Manhattan.ROCK CHALKForever, Kansas was a program Kansas State had to battle for state pride, conference championships and NCAA Tournament berths. But the Jayhawks have separated themselves as one of the country's elite programs. It is hard playing in KU's shadow, especially when the Jayhawks have won 20 straight in Manhattan. Many set the bar at KU's level, which is unfair.CLOSE CALLSSomehow, some way, Kansas State must learn how to win its share of close games. The fact it has lost a huge majority of its games by single digits this season proves it can play with Big 12 opponents. But good teams, and good coaches, win close games. Before this season, Jim Wooldridge was 10-9 at K-State in games decided by six points (two 3-pointers) or less. This season he is 0-5.BRAMLAGE BLUESOf the 10 legends named to K-State's All-Century team, only one, Steve Henson, ever played in Bramlage Coliseum. If K-State ever wins consistently, Bramlage will be full, loud and proud. Until then, the gym will often be half-full at best, and with no upper deck to hide empty seats, it looks and feels awful. Especially for a mid-week loss to Baylor.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90064139?D-II%20Northern%20Kentucky%20shocks%20West%20Virginia%20in%20men%27s%20basketball
Quote from: fun muffin on November 06, 2011, 03:29:14 PMhttp://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90064139?D-II%20Northern%20Kentucky%20shocks%20West%20Virginia%20in%20men%27s%20basketball
KU is right on par with Notre Dame ... when it comes to adding additional conference revenue
Beer pro tip: never drink anything other than BL, coors, pbr, maybe a few others that I'm forgetting
