MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State’s men’s basketball team will be honored for their 2019 Big 12 regular-season championship during Saturday’s football home opener with Nicholls at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

 

The nine returning members of the team – Cartier Diarra, James Love III, Makol Mawien, Pierson McAtee, Mike McGuirl, Nigel Shadd, Xavier Sneed, Levi Stockard III and Shaun Williams – as well departed seniors Barry Brown, Jr., and Dean Wade – will be recognized during the first quarter, along with head coachBruce Weber and members of the coaching staff.

 

Brown and Wade are planning to travel back to Manhattan to be honored on the field after leading K-State to consecutive 25-win seasons for the first time in school history, which included the school’s 21^st conference championship. The trio led the Wildcats to an 88-51 (.633) during their four-year careers, including a 71-35 (.670) mark and NCAA Tournament appearances in each of the last three seasons. The trio accounted for 4,533 points in their respective careers, which ranks third all-time in Big 12 history and the top mark in school history.

 

Brown has been invited to the Minnesota Timberwolves training camp, which begins October 1. He played seven games with the Timberwolves Summer League Team, averaging 8.0 points on 40 percent shooting (20-of-50) with 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 16.6 minutes per game.

 

Wade signed a two-way contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers in early July, which will allow him to spend up to 45 days with the team during the regular season while playing a majority of the time with their G-League affiliate, the Canton (Ohio) Charge, during the 2019-20 season. Training camp begins October 1.

 

Fellow departed senior Kamau Stokes will be unable to attend Saturday’s game. He recently signed a contract to play for Polpharma Starogard Gdanski in the Polish Basketball League (Polska Liga Koszykówki), which is the highest-tier league in Poland. The team’s schedule is expected to start in early October.

 

K-State posted a 25-9 overall record in 2018-19, which included winning a share of the Big 12 regular-season title with a 14-4 mark and a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the 31^st time in school history. It was just the seventh 25-win season in school history, including the first time in consecutive seasons, while the 14 in league play tied the school record held by the 1958-59 and 2012-13 teams.

 

Season tickets for the 2019-20 season went on sale June 24 with a variety of pricing options available, including the new Flex Season Ticket and the popular Wildcat 4-Pack and Young Alumni packages.

 

–www.k-statesports.com–

 

TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

 

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Senior walk-on guard Pierson McAtee was rewarded for his persistence and hard work on Monday afternoon (August 26) when he was elevated to scholarship status by head coach Bruce Weber.

“The staff and I are very excited to extend this scholarship offer to Pierson,” said Weber. “He has been a true representative of our championship culture both on and off the court with his tremendous intelligence and leadership. An excellent example for his teammates in the classroom, he has been a valuable member of our team these past four years and I look forward to him having an outstanding senior season.”

A 6-foot-6, 200-pound fifth-year senior from Manhattan, Kansas, McAtee earns the Wildcats’ 13th scholarship for the 2019-20 season after starting as a true freshman walk-on in 2015-16. He has played a key role in the development of a program that has gone from 17 wins four years ago to 25 in each of the past two seasons and three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

McAtee has played in 40 games in his K-State career, including 15 as a junior in the Wildcats’ run to the Big 12 regular-season title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19. He has scored 20 points in his career, including a career-best 4 against Eastern Kentucky last season.

“I’m so stoked and ready to get after it with these guys this year,” said McAtee. “This is something that I have been working towards these last four years. Being from Manhattan, I love K-State, this team, this community, this coaching staff and couldn’t be more appreciative of this opportunity in my last year and just ready to do something special with this team.”

An outstanding student off the court who earned his bachelor’s degree in May, McAtee has twice been named Academic All-Big 12 First Team and is a two-time Honors Court recipient from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). He received the Big 12’s highest academic honor – the Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award – earlier this summer. The winner of the team’s Keith Amerson Academic Award each of the past two seasons, he has been named to each of the last seven Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Rolls.

McAtee earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting and finance from K-State in May and is currently working on a Master’s in accounting.

– www.k-statesports.com –

TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Marcus Semien set the tone early, and his Oakland teammates quickly followed.

The shortstop homered, tripled and drove in a career-high seven runs as the Athletics set season highs for runs and hits in a 19-4 thrashing of the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

“The numbers are starting to get off the charts for a leadoff hitter,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “The defense he brings, the production he brings, the power he brings, it’s fun to watch.”

Jurickson Profar, Matt Chapman and Khris Davis also went deep for the A’s, who are locked in a tight race with Cleveland and Tampa Bay for the two American League wild cards. Josh Phegley had a career-high four hits, drove in three runs and scored three times. Three other players had three hits and every starter got at least one as Oakland finished with 22.

“It doesn’t matter how we win, just want to win,” Semien said. “Today was great to get everybody’s bats going, get the confidence up.”

Seth Brown singled in the first two at-bats of his big league career, scored twice and drove in a run.

“Being part of an offensive game like that in your first one, it was something special,” Brown said. “It’s something I’m never going to forget.”

Homer Bailey (12-8) threw six innings, allowing three runs and eight hits, to improve to 5-2 since coming over to Oakland in a trade with Kansas City.

Oakland scored five runs in both the second and third, backed by Semien’s big hits.

Royals starter Brad Keller (7-14) lasted just 1 1/3 innings, exiting after Semien’s bases-loaded triple put the A’s up 5-0. After retiring his first four hitters, Keller let six straight reach — including three consecutive walks that forced in two runs prior to Semien’s triple.

“I felt like I made good pitches to the first four batters, but I gave up kind of a weak groundball and a blooper and it just kind of snowballed from there,” Keller said.

Brett Phillips curled his first home run of the season, a two-run shot, inside the right field foul pole in the bottom of the inning.

Semien punctuated the five-run third with a two-out, three-run homer, and the A’s kept right on scoring. Matt Olson ripped a two-run double in the fifth and Profar added a solo shot in the sixth to make it 15-3. Oakland scored in every inning except the first.

Royals outfielder Alex Gordon made his first career appearance on the mound, throwing 1 1/3 innings and giving up three runs on five hits, including a two-run homer by Chapman.

“Everybody was telling me to throw a changeup but every time I threw a changeup, they crushed it. I should’ve just stuck to my fastball or my sinker — whatever it was,” Gordon said. “The first changeup I threw was to Chapman and obviously he hit that, so I was kind of laughing at him as he was rounding the bases. He smiled back and I was just kind of trying to joke around with him.”

Gordon walked off to a standing ovation from Royals fans after his first pitching appearance since his freshman year at Nebraska.

Kansas City infielder Humberto Arteaga pitched the final 1 2/3 innings and allowed just a solo home run to Davis in the ninth.

Bubba Starling had three hits for the Royals.

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber announced changes to his coaching staff on Monday (August 26), which included the promotion ofMike Furlong to director of student-athlete development and the additions of Jordan Henriquez-Roberts, Mason Schoen and Nate Michael as graduate student managers.

 

“We are excited to promote Mike into the role of director of student-athlete development,” said Weber. “He has been a part of our program as both a graduate assistant and as our video coordinator these last four years, so he knows what we expect from our players on and off the court. I know that he will continue to demand the same type of excellence from our players both in the classroom and in the community.”

 

Furlong, who enters his fifth season on the coaching staff, was elevated to director of student-athlete development after a two-year stint (2017-19) as video coordinator. He previously served as a graduate student manager (2015-17) after his playing career (2011-15) at Division II Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan.

 

Furlong has been a part of 88 wins during his time on the coaching staff, including back-to-back 25-win seasons, a Big 12 regular-season title (2018-19) and three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

 

In his position as the director of student-athlete development, Furlong will be responsible for a variety of areas, including basketball-related matters, handling special projects for the coaching staff and assisting with community service projects and the Life Skills program. He will also be involved in student-athlete academic development as well as career planning and goal setting.

 

Furlong earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing management from Hillsdale in June 2015, while he received his Master’s degree in Academic Advising from Kansas State in 2017.

 

Furlong replaces former Wildcat Shane Southwell, who left to be an assistant coach at Robert Morris.

 

“We’re obviously excited for Shane that he is getting the opportunity to be a full-time assistant coach at such a young age,” said Weber. “I have said before that I knew as a player that he was going to be an excellent coach. He has a great feel and IQ for the game of basketball. Once he got the experience working with USA Basketball at the FIBA World Cup, I knew it wouldn’t be long before he would get a chance at a full-time coaching position.”

 

Former Wildcats Henriquez-Roberts (2009-13) and Schoen (2014-18) return to K-State as graduate student managers, along with Michael, who recently concluded his playing career at Division II McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois.

 

“It’s always great when former players want to come back to the program and join the coaching profession,” said Weber. “Jordan and Mason have been a part of some of the most successful teams in K-State history and they know what it takes to be successful in our championship culture. Nate is someone that I have known for a long time with his dad, Tom, having played and worked at Illinois. He enjoyed an impressive playing career at McKendree, finishing among the best in several categories, and brings a solid understanding of the game.”

 

Henriquez-Roberts is a part of the winningest senior class in school history (101-38) and just the second class in school history to advance to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013). He collected more than 500 points (589) and 500 rebounds (562) in his 126-game playing career to go with a school-record 210 blocked shots.

 

A native of Baldwin, New York, Henriquez-Roberts still reigns as the leader in nearly every category for blocked shots, including single season (77 in 2011-12) and career (210) records and the most by a sophomore (43), junior (77) and senior (64) in school history.

 

As a senior in 2012-13, Henriquez-Roberts helped the Wildcats to a 27-win season and their first conference championship in 36 seasons in Weber’s first season as head coach. He averaged 5.0 points on 50.7 percent shooting to go with 5.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.

 

Upon his graduation from K-State, Henriquez-Roberts played professional in the G-League (Rio Grande Valley and Westchester) as well as internationally in pro leagues in Finland, Germany, Japan, Argentina, Panama, Uruguay, Vietnam and Mexico. Most recently, he played for Rayos de Hermosillo in the Mexican pro league CIBACOPA in 2018, averaging 14.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 blocks per game.

 

The only senior on the 2017-18 Wildcat squad that advanced to the Elite Eight, Schoen returns to his alma mater after spending the past season (2018-19) as a graduate assistant at Clemson. He helped the Tigers post a 20-14 overall record, including a 9-9 mark in the rugged Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and advance to the second round of the Postseason NIT.

 

A native of Overland Park, Kansas, Schoen played a significant leadership role as a four-year walk-on, guiding the Wildcats to consecutive 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances as a junior and senior, including serving as co-captain during the run to the Elite Eight. An eight-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, he was twice named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team (2017, 2018).

 

Schoen earned two bachelor’s degrees as an undergraduate at K-State, including a finance degree in May 2017 and a marketing degree in May 2018 while also taking classes towards an MBA.

 

Michael just concluded a five-year playing career (2014-19) at McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois, where he finished 22^nd on the Bearcats’ all-time scoring list with 1,528 points. One of the school’s best all-around shooters, he drained 226 three-pointers in his career, which ranks sixth on the program’s career chart, while he connected on 86.2 percent (344-of-399) from the free throw line, which ranks fifth all-time at the school.

 

As a junior in 2017-18, Michael poured in a school-record 51 points in the school’s regular-season finale at Quincy University on February 24, 2018 to break the 62-year-old school mark of 47 by Rich Herrin. As a fifth-year senior in 2018-19, he led the Bearcats in multiple categories, including scoring (13.8 ppg.), 3-point field goals (66), free throw percentage (91.3), to go along with averages of 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 31.3 minutes per game. He also set the single season mark for free throw percentage at 91.3 percent (84-of-92).

 

Michael earned Master’s degree in Psychology (2018) and an MBA (2019) while at McKendree.

 

A native of St. Joseph, Illinois, Michael finished as the career leader in 3-point field goals (192) at St. Joseph-Ogden High School with 1,244 points. He was a first team All-State selection as a senior in 2013-14, averaging 18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game.

 

Michael’s father, Tom, who is currently the director of athletics at Eastern Illinois, played basketball at Illinois (1991-94) before spending 12 years (2001-14) in various roles at his alma mater.

 

–www.kstatesports.com–

 

TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

 

 

CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramírez swung and felt something crack.

It was a bone in his right hand. It may as well have been Cleveland’s postseason hopes.

Ryan O’Hearn led off the 10th inning with his second homer of the game, sending the Kansas City Royals to a wild 9-8 win Sunday over the Indians, whose playoff chances were severely rocked by losing Ramírez to a broken right hand.

Down 8-4, the Indians fought back and tied it in the ninth against Ian Kennedy (1-2) on Francisco Lindor’s solo homer and Franmil Reyes’ stunning three-run shot with two outs.

But Nick Goody (3-1) got too much of the plate with a four-seam fastball and O’Hearn drove it over the right field wall as the Royals salvaged a back-and-forth series finale to snap a four-game losing streak.

Losing the game was secondary to the Indians, who will be without Ramírez as they try to catch Minnesota in the AL Central or win a wild card. The two-time All-Star will undergo surgery Monday in New York to repair a hamate bone he fractured Saturday night.

The Indians, who have dealt with major injuries all season, won’t know how long Ramírez will be out until after the procedure. But they know he won’t be at third base or batting fifth for the next few weeks — and perhaps the remainder of the season.

“We’ve got to deal with it,” said starter Shane Bieber, who settled in after a few rough innings. “It’s a big blow. We’re not really faced with a choice, it’s just next man up.”

Jorge López worked the 10th for his first major league save.

Ramírez, who awakened from a puzzling, early-season offensive slump in time to propel the Indians back into postseason contention, feared the worst when he was forced to leave Saturday’s game in the first inning.

“You still try to stay optimistic and see if they can tell you better news,” he said through a translator. “But I knew something was bad when it happened.”

Trailing by four and down to their final strike, the Indians tied it against Kennedy.

Lindor homered with one out before Kennedy walked Carlos Santana with two outs and gave up a single to Yasiel Puig.

Kennedy’s wild pitch moved the runners up and Reyes, whose homer leading off the eighth pulled Cleveland to 8-4, brought them home with a 423-foot shot to left, rewarding Indians fans who hung around after the team fell behind 8-3.

“It was crazy,” Reyes said. “Honestly, it was one of the best moments in my life, not my career. It was great.”

Kansas City’s five-run eighth was triggered by shortstop Lindor’s error and highlighted by Jorge Soler’s two-run homer — a 437-foot drive.

Kevin Plawecki hit a two-run homer for Cleveland, which dropped 3½ games behind the first-place Twins. The Indians still hold a wild-card spot in a tight race with Tampa Bay and Oakland for the two AL berths.

Danger Under 12 FC soccer defeated the Kaberline-Lions 6-2 in Topeka on Saturday. The match was played at the Sunflower Soccer Association fields.

Tryouts are still open for Danger FC, a new soccer program for youth in the Geary County community.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — San Francisco quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was impressive in his return to Arrowhead Stadium, and Chiefs counterpart Patrick Mahomes may have been even better, as the 49ers beat Kansas City 27-17 in their third preseason game Saturday night.

Garoppolo was 14 of 20 for 188 yards while playing the entire first half in a much better showing than his preseason debut against Denver last week. Garoppolo led the 49ers deep into Kansas City territory four times, throwing a nice TD pass to Matt Breida and getting two field goals from Robbie Gould.

It was an encouraging night for Garoppolo on another front: He was able to put to rest any lingering memories from last season, when he tore up his knee during a Week 3 game in Kansas City.

Mahomes finished 8 of 10 for 126 yards, highlighted by a 62-yard catch-and-run to Damien Williams in which the Chiefs’ injury-prone running back raced right by the woebegone linebacker covering him.

Mahomes was so sharp in what was likely his final tuneup before the regular season that the league MVP even completed his first incompletion — it was just caught out of bounds. His only other misfire was a drop by backup tight end Blake Bell before coach Andy Reid gave Mahomes a visor to wear.

Garoppolo kept his helmet on, leading a two-minute drill that gave the 49ers a go-ahead field goal.

The 49ers clung to that 13-10 halftime advantage until Chiefs backup quarterback Kyle Shurmur led a 13-play, 97-yard drive that took up most of the third quarter. Byron Pringle capped it with a short TD run as the second-year pro tries to make the Chiefs as an extra wide receiver.

The 49ers answered with a 12-play drive. Nick Mullens, who is battling C.J. Beathard for their backup quarterback job, led the way and Jeff Wilson Jr. finished it with a TD run.

Wilson put the game away with another touchdown run with 3:41 to go.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Franmil Reyes hit a three-run homer to help Cleveland beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Saturday night in a game in which the Indians lost third baseman Jose Ramirez to a right wrist injury.

Reyes’ 30th homer of the season highlighted a four-run third inning against the Royals’ Glenn Sparkman (3-9). Reyes has three homers since being acquired from San Diego on July 31.

With the win, Cleveland moved ahead of Tampa Bay into one of the two AL wild-card spots.

Ramirez, a two-time All-Star, left the game in the first inning after fouling off a pitch. He immediately bent over in pain before walking off the field with a trainer. A team spokesman said he exited with “right wrist discomfort.”

Mike Clevinger (9-2) struck out eight and allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings, remaining unbeaten in his career against Kansas City and improving to 4-0 at home this season. The right-hander is 9-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 14 appearances against the Royals.

Brad Hand worked a scoreless ninth for his 31st save. It was his second conversion in two nights following three straight blown saves.

Mike Freeman, who replaced Ramirez, had two hits and drove in Oscar Mercado to open the scoring in front of the second sellout of the season at Progressive Field.

The Royals pulled within 4-1 in the fourth when Meibrys Viloria doubled home Cheslor Cuthbert. A fielder’s choice by Jorge Soler scored Humberto Arteaga in the seventh.

Cuthbert doubled in the sixth to end a 0-for-40 slump. His previous hit was a two-run homer on August 8 at Detroit.

Sparkman allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings, extending his winless streak to seven starts. The right-hander has faced Cleveland four times this season, going 0-3 with a 9.15 ERA.

In the third, umpire Ed Hickox was struck squarely on the top of his mask by a wild pitch thrown by Sparkman, but remained behind the plate.

The Junction City Junior Baseball Association has announced that tryouts for Competitive Travel League baseball will be Saturday and Sunday.

The Saturday schedule includes tryouts for 8 and under, 9 and under, 10 and under plus11 and under youth.

The schedule on Sunday includes tryouts for 12 and under, 13 and under plus 14 and under youth.

The activity begins at 9 a.m. both days at North Park.

For those unable to attend the tryout at their designated date and time players may attend the other date offered.  For more information go to jcjrbaseball@gmail.com.