The buzz at the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Media Day was the disrespectful, as some have called it, preseason ranking handed to the Wildcat by their peers.

Preseason polls placed KSU #9 in the conference, but the players and coach alike aren’t fazed by the low vote.

“Is it sunny in the summertime?” asked Senior Forward D.J. Johnson in response to their low ranking. “I think we’re better than 9th and I think we’ll show that as well…we’re pretty mentally tough and we’ve been tested…so we’ll see how the preseason goes and that will be another test to see how mentally tough we are.”

Senior Wesley Iwundu said that his role on the team will be simple.

“Just kind of do it all, from scoring to rebounding to passing – just being the older guy that’s been through it all,” said Iwundu.

In his four years at K-State, Iwundu was selected to the All-Big 12 Third Team as well as the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. “It’s my fourth year and I’ve been through the good and the bad, so I think this year I’ve just got to put it all in motion.”

Iwundu said he’d like to see the team make it back to the NCAA tournament.

“We want to get back there, we missed it the past two years so I think that will be a big goal for us and also just making some noise and being competitive in the conference,” said Iwundu.

Head Coach Bruce Weber expects nothing less than their best effort from his team and is looking to his upperclassmen to lead the young team.

“It starts with D.J. Johnson, he’s a fifth year guy, was part of a big 12 championship his freshman year and played a key role, played quality minutes…he’s a graduate, he’s older [so] you’ve got to expect big things from him; Wesley Iwundu…very versatile, can do a lot of things, and then Carlbe Ervin might be our most improved guy…so you’ve got three guys that have set the culture, they know it’s their last year, they want to go out winners and they’ve been good leaders, good teammates,” said Weber.

The Wildcats open conference play at home on Friday, December 30th versus Texas.