FLORENCE, Ala. (June 3, 2017) – For just the second time in YETI FLW College Fishing history, the National Championship winners Travis Blenn and Kyle Alsop from Kansas State University faced off Saturday in a one-day fish-off on Wilson Lake in North Alabama to decide which team member would represent their school at the 2017 Forrest Wood Cup, the world championship of bass fishing.

After the scales settled and the final fish had been weighed, Alsop won the Forrest Wood Cup qualification with a five-bass limit totaling 10 pounds, 5 ounces. Blenn weighed a five-bass limit totaling 7 pounds, 7 ounces, giving Alsop the win and advancing him to compete against the best anglers in the world on Lake Murray in Columbia, South Carolina at the Forrest Wood Cup.

“This has been such an unbelievable experience this week,” said Alsop, a recent KSU mechanical engineering graduate who resides in Overland Park, Kansas. “I can’t believe that I’m going to fish in the Forrest Wood Cup. I might get my tail whipped, but I’m going to have fun doing it.”

Anderson is guaranteed at least a $10,000 paycheck, as that amount is awarded to the last-place finisher at the Forrest Wood Cup. The angler that wins the Forrest Wood Cup will earn $300,000 – professional bass fishing’s most lucrative prize.

“I can’t wait to sit down and start looking at some maps and doing a little research,” Alsop said. “I’m going to treat it like every other tournament I guess, but we’ll see what happens. Our old teammate on the fishing team Ryan Patterson won a national championship there in 2012, so I’m definitely going to talk to him for some advice. I cannot wait until August.”

The final standings after the one-day fish-off on Wilson Lake were:

1st:  Kansas State University – Kyle Alsop, Overland Park, Kan., five bass, 10-5, Entry into 2017 Forrest Wood Cup

2nd:  Kansas State University – Travis Blenn, Westmoreland, Kan., five bass, 7-7

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State Athletics Director Gene Taylor and Head Football Coach Bill Snyder announced today that Corey Sutton has been granted a full release from his scholarship and is permitted to transfer and be eligible for athletics aid at any of the institutions to which he requested.

“After having further dialogue with Coach Snyder and the Sutton family, we believe that it is in everyone’s best interest to grant Corey his full release,” said Taylor. “We wish Corey the best as he continues his athletic and academic career.”

“I would like to apologize to Corey and his family for my remarks last night which included sensitive and private information,” Snyder added. “I spoke out of line and for that I express a sincere regret for my comments.”

 

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Ten home games at Bramlage Coliseum, a tournament appearance in Las Vegas and the return of the Wichita Wildcat Classic highlight the 2017-18 Kansas State men’s basketball non-conference schedule released on Thursday by athletic department officials.

 

The 115^th season of K-State men’s basketball officially gets underway on Friday, November 10 when the Wildcats host American in the first of four-consecutive regular-season home games at Bramlage Coliseum.

 

“We believe we have built a schedule that offers both a mix of home games as well as some road and neutral challenges to help our team ready for the Big 12 season,” said head coach Bruce Weber. “We are excited about this year’s list of games and opponents, which includes the Las Vegas Invitational with Arizona State, George Washington and Xavier, a game with Tulsa in Wichita, the start of a new series with a game at Vanderbilt, a trip to Washington State and the game with Georgia in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.”

 

K-State previously announced several components of its non-conference schedule, including the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic on Thursday–Friday, November 23-24, the Wichita Wildcat Classic contest with Tulsa at INTRUST Bank Arena on Saturday, December 9 and a home game with Georgia in the fifth annual Big 12-SEC Challenge presented by Sonic on Saturday, January 27, 2018.

 

In all, the Wildcats will play 19 home games in 2017-18, including the nine-game Big 12 schedule with visits from NCAA Tournament teams Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State and West Virginia as well as NIT champion TCU. The Big 12 schedule, along with game times and television information, will be released later.

 

The team will play two exhibitions prior to the start of the regular season in what will be the start of six straight home games for the Wildcats. Dates and opponents for those exhibitions will be released later in the summer.

 

K-State will open the season on Friday, November 10 against Patriot League member American. It will be the first-ever meeting between the schools and the first against a Patriot League foe since 2009. The next week the Wildcats will get a visit from UMKC for the first time since 2014 before hosting a pair of home games with Big West regular-season champion UC Irvine and Northern Arizona, which are both part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.

 

The Kangaroos won 18 games a season ago and made their first-ever postseason appearance, where they advanced to the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational. The Anteaters, which are one of only 22 teams nationally to win at least 21 games each of the last five seasons, have made five consecutive postseason appearances, including the NIT in 2017. It will be the first-ever meetings with both UC Irvine and Northern Arizona.

 

The squad will head west to Las Vegas and the Orleans Arena for the second time to play in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational, alongside Arizona State, George Washington and Xavier on Thursday–Friday, November 23-24. The Wildcats are 3-2 all-time in the Orleans Arena, including a 95-80 win over UNLV in their last visit on December 12, 2009, while they are 0-2 all-time in the event with 2-point losses to Kentucky and Iowa in 2008.

 

Three of the four teams in the Las Vegas Invitational advanced to the postseason in 2016-17, including Xavier to the Elite Eight. The Musketeers will once again be one of the top teams in the nation after winning 24 games a year ago and returning First Team All-BIG EAST performer Trevon Bluiett (18.5 ppg.) and starter J.P. Macura (14.4 ppg.). Led by third-year head coach Bobby Hurley, the Sun Devils bring back a pair of 1,000-point scorers in Tra Holder (16.2 ppg.) and Shannon Evans (15.0 ppg.) from one of the best scoring squads (78.6 ppg.) in school history. The Colonials return Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team member Yuta Watanabe (12.2 ppg., 4.8 rpg, 1.1 bpg.) from a team which won 20 games and advanced to the CBI quarterfinals under first-year head coach Maurice Joseph.

 

K-State will finish off the first month of the season at home against Oral Roberts under first-year head coach Paul Mills, formerly an assistant at Baylor. It will be the sixth meeting between the schools and the first since 2013.

 

The month of December begins with the first true road trip of the season, as the Wildcats travel to Nashville to face Vanderbilt at Memorial Gym in the first of a two-game series on Sunday, December 3. The Commodores won 19 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in their first season under head coach Bryce Drew and return standoutsMatthew Fisher-Davis (13.9 ppg.) and Jeff Roberson (10.8 ppg.). This will be the 10^th meeting between the schools and the first since the 1994 NIT in New York City. K-State will host Vanderbilt at the Sprint Center in Kansas City in 2018.

 

After a home game against USC Upstate on Tuesday, December 5, the Wildcats will begin a three-game series with American Athletic foe Tulsa in the Wichita Wildcat Classic at INTRUST Bank Arena on Saturday, December 9. Led by head coach Frank Haith, the Golden Hurricane return seven players will starting experience from a team that has advanced to the postseason three times in the last four seasons, including NCAA Tournament appearances in 2014 and 2016.

 

The game will be the Wildcats’ fourth in Wichita in the last seven years, following tilts with West Virginia in 2011, Gonzaga in 2013 and Colorado State in 2015. The team is 2-1 all-time in the Wichita Wildcat Classic, including a 61-56 victory over the Rams in their last matchup in the event on December 19, 2015.

 

Following a home game with SE Missouri State on Saturday, December 16, the team will wrap up a two-game series with Pac-12 foe Washington State at Spokane Arena in Spokane, Wash., on Wednesday, December 20. The Wildcats, which have won three in a row in the series, earned a 70-56 victory over the Cougars at the Sprint Center last season.

 

The non-conference schedule will conclude on Saturday, January 27 with a home game against Georgia in the fifth annual Big 12/SEC Challenge. It will be the third meeting between the schools in the past four seasons with each team winning on the other’s home court, including a 68-66 victory by the Wildcats in Athens on December 4, 2015. Led by former K-State assistant Mark Fox, the Bulldogs return 11 players from a 19-win team that advanced to the NIT. They will be led by First Team All-SEC selection Yante Maten, who averaged 18.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as a junior.

 

The Wildcats will return nine lettermen, including three players – Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade – who started all 35 games for a Wildcat squad that won 21 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Brown and Stokes are the team’s top returning scorers with identical 11.7 points per game averages, while Stokes was the team leader in 3-point field goals (64), assists (4.1 apg.) and minutes (33.3 mpg.) in 2016-17. Brown set a single-season school record for steals with 82, while Wade averaged 9.3 points on nearly 50 percent shooting and is the team’s top returner in both rebounding (4.5 rpg.) and blocked shots (0.7 bpg.).

 

In addition to its returning lettermen, K-State will welcome five newcomers (juniors Makol Mawien and Amaad Wainright and freshmen Mike McGuirl, Nigel Shadd and Levi Stockard III) as well as redshirt freshmen Cartier Diarra and James Love III, who both missed the 2016-17 season due to injury.

 

Season tickets for the 2017-18 season go on sale Wednesday, June 7, with a variety of pricing options available, including the return of the Big Game and Pick 5 Mini-Plans. Current season-ticket holders should receive their renewal information in the mail the week of June 12 and have until Friday, July 14 to arrange payment and retain their seats. Fans can purchase season tickets in a variety of ways, including toll free at (800) 221.CATS (2287), online atwww.kstatesports.com/tickets and in-person at the Athletics Ticket Office located in Bramlage Coliseum.

 

2017-18 Kansas State Non-Conference Schedule

 

Day                             Date                  Opponent                                                       

Friday                        Nov. 10            AMERICAN

Tuesday                    Nov. 14            UMKC

Friday                        Nov. 17            UC IRVINE

Monday                    Nov. 20            NORTHERN ARIZONA

 

Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational (Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nev.)

Participating teams: Arizona State, George Washington, Xavier

Thursday                  Nov. 23            vs. TBA

Friday                        Nov. 24            vs. TBA

 

Wednesday            Nov. 29            ORAL ROBERTS

Sunday                      Dec. 3               @Vanderbilt

Tuesday                    Dec. 5               USC UPSTATE

 

Wichita Wildcat Classic (INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, Kan.)

Saturday                   Dec. 9               vs. Tulsa

 

Saturday                   Dec. 16             SE MISSOURI STATE

Wednesday            Dec. 20             vs. Washington State [Spokane Arena, Spokane, Wash.]

 

Big 12-SEC Challenge

Saturday                   Jan. 27              GEORGIA

 

TOM GILBERT
Associate Director for Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics