Weber Announces the Signing of Amaad Wainright

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber announced the signing of junior college guard Amaad Wainright (Kansas City, Mo./Trinity Valley Community College) to a Financial Aid Agreement on Tuesday.

A 6-foot-4, 200-pound combo guard, Wainright joins the Wildcats after a two-year stint at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, where he helped the Cardinals win 24 games and finish No. 14 in the final NJCAA poll as a sophomore in 2016-17. He redshirted the 2015-16 season due to injury.

A native of Kansas City and the brother of Baylor men’s basketball standout (2013-17) turned Bear football player Ishmail Wainright, he started his community college career at Metropolitan Community College – Penn Valley in his hometown averaging 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds in 2014-15.

Rated No. 26 on a list of the Top 100 community college players by JucoRecruiting.com, Wainright will have two years of eligibility remaining when he arrives at K-State.

“We are excited to welcome Amaad and his family to our program,” said Weber. “Much like Makol (Mawien), he fills the need for an older, more veteran player while also giving us a versatile combo guard that helps with the void left with the graduation of Wes (Iwundu) and Carlbe (Ervin II). Amaad is a big-bodied guard who can play multiple backcourt positions. He can shoot the ball, but can also handle and distribute to his teammates.”

Coached by Guy Furr at Trinity Valley Community College, Wainright ranked first or second on the team in 11 categories, including team-highs in field goals made (174), attempted (375), 3-point field goal percentage (36.0), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1), starts (29) and games played (31), in 2016-17. He averaged 14.2 points on 46.4 percent shooting (174-of-375), including 36 percent (54-of-150) from 3-point range, to go with 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He ranked second in scoring, 3-point field goals made, assists and steals.

Wainright scored in double figures in 25 of 31 games played, including a season-high 45-point effort in a 161-158 win over Daytona State College on Nov. 25, as he connected on 15-of-28 field goals, including 7-of-10 from 3-point range. He also scored 20 points or better in three other contests, while he registered four double-doubles.

Wainright spent two years at Hogan Prep in Kansas City before playing his senior season at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, Calif., where he averaged a double-double for the Indians in 2013-14. In 26 games, he averaged 24.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 3.1 steals and 1.9 blocks per game. He scored in double figures in 25 of 26 games, including 19 20-point games and 11 30-point games, to go with 18 double-doubles. He scored a season-high 43 points in a loss to Valencia on Dec. 4, 2013, connecting on 17-of-36 field goals to go with 19 rebounds.

“Amaad is not only a local player from Kansas City, which is always an important to our program, but also comes from a terrific basketball family dating back to his grandfather, Maurice King, who was a groundbreaking player at Kansas. His brother, Ish, was also an excellent four-year player at Baylor,” said Weber.

Wainright is the fifth member of the 2017 Signing Class and the second to join the Wildcats during the Spring period, along with fellow community college transfer Makol Mawien (West Valley City, Utah/New Mexico Junior College). The duo join the Fall Signing Class of Mike McGuirl (Ellington, Conn./East Catholic), Nigel Shadd(Chandler, Ariz./Tri-City Christian) and Levi Stockard III (St. Louis, Mo./Vashon).

“We are excited about the mixture of talented young players we have in the five incoming recruits,” said Weber. “As a staff, we feel like we filled our needs while also upgrading our experience level and balancing our classes.”

Amaad Wainright

6-4 // 200 // SG

Kansas City, Mo.

Community College: Trinity Valley Community College (coached by Guy Furr)

High School: John Burroughs (coached by Adam Hochberg)

AAU: Kansas City Keys (coached by John Brooks)

Primary Recruiter: Brad Korn

Bio:

A transfer from Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, where he spent two seasons (2015-16/2016-17) playing for head coach Guy Furr… He was redshirted in 2015-16 due to injury.
Trinity Valley posted a 57-9 overall record during his two seasons, including 34-4 in Region 14 play.
Helped the Cardinals to a 24-7 overall record, including a tie for first place in the North Division of Region 14 play with a 15-4 mark, in 2016-17… The team finished No. 14 in the final NJCAA poll after losing to Angelina College in the Region 14 quarterfinals on March 9.
Played with two other Division I signees, including Hyron Edwards (Texas Tech) and Josh Stamps(FIU).
Rated as the No. 26 player in the community college ranks by JucoRecruiting.com.
Averaged 14.2 points on 46.4 percent shooting (174-of-375), including 36 percent (54-of-150) from 3-point range, with 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks per game… Played in all 31 games with a team-best 29 starts… Connected on 60.9 percent (39-of-64) from the free throw line.
Ranked first or second on the team in 11 categories, including team-highs in field goals made (174) and attempted (375), 3-point field goal percentage (36.0), assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1), starts (29) and games played (31)… Was second in scoring (14.2 ppg.), assists (3.7 apg.), steals (1.5 spg.), 3-point field goals made (54) and attempted (150)… Placed fourth in rebounding (4.5 rpg.).
Scored in double figures in 25 of 31 games played as a sophomore, including a season-high 45 points in a 161-158 win over Daytona State College on Nov. 25 on 15-of-28 shooting from the field, including 7-of-10 from 3-point range… Scored 20 or more points in 3 other contests.
Four times posted a double-double (3 in points/rebounds), including a 20-point, 10-rebound effort in a win over Kilgore College on Feb. 8… Tied season-high of 10 rebounds two other times.
Tallied a double-double (points/assists) with 23 points and a season-high 10 assists in a win over Jacksonville College on Jan. 6… Dished out 5 or more assists on 11 occasions.
Signed a National Letter of Intent with North Texas in November, but was released from that commitment in March after the school parted ways with head coach Tony Beneford.
Played one season at Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley in Kansas City, where he averaged 17.4 points on 47.3 percent shooting, including 45.5 percent from 3-point range, to go with 8.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists as a freshman in 2014-15… Connected on 69.1 percent from the free throw line.
Played his final high school season at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, Calif., where he led the school to a 16-11 record under head coach Adam Hochberg.
Averaged 24.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 3.1 steals and 1.9 blocks per game as a senior in 2013-14… Connected on 41.8 percent (235-of-562) from the field, including 27.3 percent (47-of-172) from 3-point range… Also shot 64.5 percent (131-of-203) from the free throw line.
Scored in double figures in 25 of 26 games played with 19 20-point games and 11 30-point games… Scored a season-high 43 points vs. Valencia (12/4/13) on 17-of-36 field goals to go with 19 rebounds.
Tallied 18 double-doubles (17 points/rebounds, 1 points/assists) in 26 games played.
Registered double-digit rebounds 17 times, including a season-high 23 twice.
Played his sophomore and junior seasons at Hogan Prep in Kansas City for head coach Steve Stitzer.
Averaged 22 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists per game as a junior in 2012-13.
Brother, Ishmail, played in 135 games with 104 starts in four years at Baylor (2013-17), helping the Bears to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
Grandfather, Maurice King, became the first African American starter at Kansas during the 1954 season… He played four seasons (1953-57) for the legendary Jayhawk coach Phog Allen and was a teammate and fraternity brother of Wilt Chamberlain… King went on to be chosen in the sixth round of the 1957 NBA Draft and won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 1960.

Trinity Valley Community College Head Coach Guy Furr:

“There are not enough good things that I can say about Amaad. He is a fantastic player who can do a little bit of everything, but he is an even better person off the court. I don’t know if there is a more excited person to be playing at K-State. He is just thrilled to be able to wear the Purple and White and follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and brother and play in the Big 12. He fills up the stat sheet. Some nights he would lead us in scoring, some nights in rebounding or some nights in assists. He is very unselfish and a great teammate. Simply, Amaad is a winner on and off the court.”