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Kansas State basketball: Returning to the big stage

BY KELLIS ROBINETT

The Wichita Eagle

MANHATTAN — In a region with names like Butler and Xavier, it's strange to think of Kansas State as the upstart. But of the teams headed to Salt Lake City this week, K-State has by far the least recent Sweet 16 experience.

The Wildcats haven't been on this stage since 1988, when star player Mitch Richmond and coach Lon Kruger took K-State to the Elite Eight. Butler and Xavier, meanwhile, have become regulars at the regional level. The Bulldogs were here as recently as 2007 and the Musketeers are making their third straight trip.

Add historical powerhouse Syracuse into the mix as the fourth team in the pod, and the Wildcats are practically the new kid on the block.

"It's just another great step for these kids," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "They've continued to elevate our program and continued to build that bridge that connects the tradition K-State has with the present. That's been a big objective of ours since I got here."

Some may look at the Wildcats' tournament inexperience as an advantage for the other three teams, but K-State players don't think that will be a factor.

Their competitors may have experience at this level, but after playing nine NCAA Tournament teams and traveling all across the country for games in the regular season, these Wildcats say there's nothing they haven't seen yet.

"That's why we play a very competitive schedule," senior guard Chris Merriewether said. "If we didn't play anybody all year I think something like the Sweet 16 would be very tough for us, but we probably wouldn't be here if that were the case. Since we actually played people, I think that prepared us for very difficult games in March."

The first two games of the NCAA Tournament posed few challenges for the Wildcats. They advanced through both with double-digit victories.

ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla watched K-State play North Texas at the Ford Center, and saw the BYU game on TV. He said it didn't look like the big stage bothered the Wildcats at all.

He expects it won't in Salt Lake City, either.

"The thing that has set K-State apart all season is that they always play with a sense of urgency," Fraschilla said. "In Oklahoma City, nothing changed. They went out there and played like it was life and death. When you play like that, nothing is going to surprise you."

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