GAME 7

KANSAS STATE (5-1, 0-0 Big 12)

AT GEORGIA (3-2, 0-0 SEC)

Friday, December 4, 2015 >> 6:01 p.m. CT >> Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) >> Athens, Ga.

 

 

COACHES

Kansas State: Bruce Weber (Wis.-Milwaukee ’78)

At K-State: 67-39 (4^th year)

Overall: 380-194 (18^th year)

1. Georgia: 2-2

 

Georgia: Mark Fox (E. New Mexico ’91)

At Georgia: 109-91 (7^th year)

Overall: 232-134 (12^th year)

1. K-State: 1-0

 

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

Kansas State (5-1)

G: #3 Kamau Stokes (6-0, 170, Fr.-HS)

G: #14 Justin Edwards (6-4, 200, Sr.-1L)

G/F: #25 Wesley Iwundu (6-7, 210, Jr.-2L)

F: #32 Dean Wade (6-10, 225, Fr.-HS)

F: #41 Stephen Hurt (6-11, 265, Sr.-1L)

 

Georgia (3-2)

G: #4 Charles Mann (6-5, 215, Sr.-3L)

G: #12 Kenny Gaines (6-3, 205, Sr.-3L)

G/F: #25 Kenny Paul Geno (6-6, 210, Jr.-2L)

F: #24 Houston Kessler (6-8, 225, Jr.-2L)

F: #1 Yante Maten (6-8, 240, So.-1L)
INSIDE THE SERIES

Overall: Tied 1-1

1. SEC: K-State leads 160-147 (47-81 in true road games)

In Athens: First meeting

Current Streak: Georgia, 1

Last Meeting: Georgia, 50-46, in Manhattan, Kan., on 12/31/2014

Weber vs. Georgia: Tied 2-2 (0-0 in true road games)

Weber vs. Fox: Fox leads 3-1

 

GAME 7 –QUICK HITTERS

• Kansas State (5-1) faces its first true road test of the year, as the Wildcats travel to Athens, Ga., to play SEC foe Georgia (3-2) on Friday at 6 p.m. CT. The game concludes a 2-game series between the schools as the Bulldogs won the last meeting, 50-46, at Bramlage Coliseum on New Year’s Eve.
• This will be K-State’s first visit to the Peach State since ending a home-and-home series with Georgia State with a 74-61 win on Nov. 29, 1999.
• A native of Garden City, Kan., Georgia head coach Mark Fox is a former assistant coach at K-State under Tom Asbury from 1994-2000. Fox’s wife, Cindy, also spent time in the K-State Athletic Department, serving five years as Assistant AD for Marketing and Senior Woman Administrator.
• K-State will be looking to change its recent road luck, as the Wildcats went 2-13 away from home in 2014-15, including 1-10 in true road games. Among those road setbacks last year was a 65-64 loss at Tennessee in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Dec. 6, 2014. The last road win in non-conference play came at George Washington, 65-62, on Dec. 8, 2012.
• Friday’s game will be just the third meeting between the schools and the first at Stegeman Coliseum. The series is tied 1-all, as the Wildcats won the first meeting, 82-79, in overtime in the 1987 NCAA Tournament before
• the Bulldogs won 50-46 at Bramlage Coliseum in 2014.
• The matchup with Georgia will be the 13th against an SEC opponent since 2008, including the sixth since 2014. K-State is 6-6 in those meetings, which includes a 66-42 win over Missouri earlier this year in the semifinals of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. The Wildcats have matchups with Texas A&M (Dec. 12) and Ole Miss (Jan. 30) left this season.
• K-State has a 51-11 record in the month of December since 2006-07, including a 17-4 mark under Bruce Weber. The Wildcats are 6-3 in true road games in December since 2006, including 1-1 under Weber.
• K-State is off to its best start since 2012-13 when the Wildcats also went 5-1 to open the Bruce Weber era. That is also the last year that the team started 6-1. The squad started 6-1 each year from 2009-10 to 2012-13.
• The key to K-State’s successful start has been its balanced scoring, as five different players have led the team in scoring and six players have at least two double-figure scoring games. It marks the first time the Wildcats have started a season with five different leading scorers since 1998-99.
• K-State has used the same lineup in all 6 games and those starters are responsible for over 75 percent (347/458) of the team’s scoring.

 

–www.kstatesports.com–

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

 

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Royals have acquired backup catcher Tony Cruz from the St. Louis Cardinals for minor league infielder Jose Martinez while designating catcher Francisco Pena for assignment.

The teams announced the trade Wednesday.

Cruz hit .204 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 9 games for the Cardinals. The 29-year-old, who can also play third base, could compete with Drew Butera for the backup catcher job behind Sal Perez.

Butera is eligible for arbitration after arriving in Kansas City in a trade this past season. Cruz also is arbitration eligible.

The 19-year-old Martinez spent most of last season at rookie-level Burlington, hitting .243 with four doubles, a homer and 24 RBIs in 57 games.

Although Kansas State is already almost assured a bowl bid despite the potential of finishing the season 5-7, the Wildcats would rather become bowl eligible with a win Saturday over West Virginia.

Due to the high number of bowl games this year, and a lack of bowl eligible teams, the NCAA did approve a system that would allow 5-7 teams to receive a bowl invites Monday.

The system rely’s on the Academic Progress Rate. Teams with 5-7 records eligible to receive a bowl bid must be in the top five APR ranking, and currently Kansas State sits only behind Nebraska with a 976 APR.

A win Saturday against West Virginia would make Kansas State bowl eligible no matter what with a 6-6 record.

Does the NCAA need to rethink the number of bowl games they allow each year? If you ask Coach Bill Snyder he say’s that it’s only number 158 on his list of things to worry about,”Whatever they do will be fine with me.”

Snyder went on to say that he’s sure there are enough complaints about having to many bowl games but he explained that the possibility of having low record teams make bowl games is what built the K-State program under his direction.

“This program got started by being able to get to bowl games when we probably weren’t a very good football team. It made a difference in the perception, it made a difference in the confidence level of the people who play the game,” said Snyder.

Getting a win Saturday is still at the top of everyone’s list for a number of reasons.

Quarterback Joe Hubener said he wants to be able to send this years seniors out on a “good note.”

“We have a chance to finish the season 6-6 and have a chance to finish with a winning season. That is how we want to finish,” said Hubener.

Kansas State and West Virginia face off at Bill Snyder Family Stadium Saturday in a 3:30 pm kick off.

KANSAS STATE HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION

HALL OF FAME

FIVE SELECTED FOR CLASS OF 2016

 

TOPEKA, Kan. – Five individuals have been selected for induction into the Kansas State High School Activities Hall of Fame Class of 2016. Awards will be presented during second semester, 2016, in conjunction with a KSHSAA-sponsored State function /championship or locally, at the inductee’s request. The time and location of each induction ceremony will be announced at a later date @ www.kshsaa.org.

 

The Class of 2016 Hall of Fame inductees include:

 

JON BINGESSER, BELOIT – FACULTY
Bingesser’s contributions to athletics runs the full spectrum of possibilities – earning 12 varsity letters in both high school and college, serving as an athletic coach in several high school sports, school athletic director, college coach and senior Olympic participant. After coaching stints early in his career at Palco and Solomon, he lead the Sacred Heart Knights to 3 state football titles (1969, 1974, 1979) and assisted with 4 state basketball titles (1975, 77, 80, 81). Additional football accomplishments include 2 league titles at Beloit HS and 3 league titles with the St. John (Beloit) Bluejays. His HS football record over a span of 41 years is 170-70-1 (.708). He coached in 2 Shrine Bowl games and was inducted into the Shrine Bowl Hall of Fame in 2007. Among many other honors are Hall of Fame inductions at Washburn University and Kansas Wesleyan University.

 

JIM KROB, HAYS – FACULTY
Jim Krob’s incredible coaching career includes one year at Burdett HS, 7 years at Jewell HS (winning 2 state track titles), 4 years at Russell HS followed by 12 years at Bethany College (winning 7 consecutive KCAC track titles) and 18 years at Ft. Hays State University (winning 5 consecutive Rocky Mountain Conference track titles). A life long member of the Kansas Coaches Association, he attributes his college success to his years in Kansas high schools. After joining the college ranks he continued to give back to high school athletics, hosting numerous track & field clinics, serving as a track and field official/ starter, speaking at numerous clinics and certifying over 2,000 Rule 10 coaches through the ASEP program. He has received numerous coaching awards and one of many Hall of Fame inductions is the National High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

 

J.C. LOUDERBACK, ARKANSAS CITY – FACULTY
To say that J.C. Louderback coached a little tennis in his day is a huge understatement. Louderback is synonymous with tennis success in the state of Kansas. For 36 years (1957-1993) he coached boys tennis at Arkansas City HS resulting in 20 singles and doubles state champions, 4 Class 5A team titles, & 17 Ark Valley League Championships. During this incredible span of time, players from Ark City HS qualified for the state tennis tournament 34 consecutive years, had 4 years of consecutive doubles champs (1984-87), and qualified the entire team for state action 8 years. He has extensive tennis involvement-President of AC Tennis Assn for 40 years, has directed numerous clinics/camps, USTA/Missouri Valley contributions, etc. He is a 4 time Kansas Tennis Coach of the Year and 2 time National High School Regional Tennis Coach of the Year.

 

GAIL NAYLOR, SILVER LAKE – FACULTY
The consistent success Gail Naylor developed over four decades of coaching Speech and Debate is evidenced by the numbers: 60 KSHSAA State Champions in individual and team events in 3A competition; including four consecutive team titles, 68 Champions in NFL competition in the Flint Hills District against schools from 2A to 6A, and 26 years under which she has at least one qualifier to the national competition. Her students also excelled by winning fourteen 3A State Lincoln-Douglas Debate Champions and seven 3-2-1A State Debate Titles. Naylor also directed 29 plays and musicals and mentored nine student teachers in debate and speech coaching. Among her many honors and Hall of Fame recognitions, she was named the Teacher of the Year at Silver Lake four years and nominated for Kansas State Teacher of the Year five times.

 

BRIAN SHAY, PAOLA – STUDENT (Paola High School, 1991-1995)
Brian Shay was a standout two sport student athlete at Paola High School. During his senior year of football, he was a starting running back and linebacker for the 1994 Class 4A State Champion Football Team, scoring 27 touchdowns and setting a school record of 3495 career rushing yards and 324 career tackles. He was named a Class 4A First Team All-State and First Team All Classifications All-State. In wrestling he captured 2 state titles – Class 4A 160 pound title (29-2) his junior year and capped off his high school wrestling career his senior year with a state title and undefeated season (28-0) at 185 pounds. After graduation he played football at Emporia State, setting numerous Division II records. In 1998 he was named the Harlon Hill Trophy Winner (Division II’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy). In 2015 he was inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame

Jeremy Holaday

KSHSAA

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. –  Kansas State will officially move forward and break ground on Phase IIIB of the Bill Snyder Family Stadium Master Plan on Saturday prior the West Virginia football game.

The ceremonial shovel turning, featuring President Kirk Schulz, Athletics Director John Currie, a representative from the Wildcat football program, and other special guests, will be held at 12 p.m. on the northeast side of the stadium.

“We appreciate the support of K-Staters world-wide in the fundraising aspect of this project,” said Currie. “Completing the bowl will not only enhance the World-Class Student-Athlete Experience for our students-athletes but also further impact our goal of providing the Best Fan Experience in the Big 12.  Starting the project now will enable the ‘northeast connector’ to be completed by the 2016 season and with philanthropic commitments closing in on $11 million of our $15 million project goal and a number of promising conversations ongoing, we are confident this is the appropriate fiscally responsible step.”
When finished, Phase IIIB will complete the northeast corner of the stadium as envisioned in the 2010 Master Plan and provide K-State fans with a fully enclosed stadium bowl as well as other spectator and operational enhancements. The projectwill begin after the conclusion of the 2015 football season, and fans can still help participate in support of Phase IIIB.

“I am so very proud of and grateful for the amazing support base that we have to provide the resources to complete this new addition to the Vanier Family Football Complex,” said head coach Bill Snyder. “As I have felt and stated we (Kansas State University) are about people who care about people.  And, a special thank you to the athletics department staff for their hard work in raising the funds to make it happen.”

Led by the sports design firm Populous in conjunction with the construction management team of Mortenson and GE Johnson Construction, the project will connect the east side of the stadium to the new north side to create a 360-degree concourse and fully enclose Bill Snyder Family Stadium. There will be  a new videoboard on the northeast corner that will mirror the new system recently erected on the northwest corner of the stadium.

It will also include a permanent showcase stage for the Pride of Wildcat Land Marching Band, new visiting team locker, training and officials areas, which will move from their current temporary location inside the Vanier Family Football Complex, and open up the mezzanine above the Strength and Performance area providing more usable space for K-State student-athletes. In addition, the Section 1 seating area will also be re-constructed to connect to the new north end zone concourse and Wabash Landing area, adding additional seating to the section.

“We couldn’t be more excited to move forward with this project,” said Student Body President Andy Hurtig. “From a student perspective, the drastically improved space for our band and the enhanced seating opportunities for our loyal students in Section 26 will be on-going improvements to our already renowned student section. And, when you include the mutual benefit for all Wildcat fans with improved sound projection from our Sudler Trophy-winning marching band, this next step in our stadium master plan is certainly in line with the long term vision for K-State Football and K-State Athletics’ commitment to providing the Best Fan Experience in the Big 12.”

In keeping with the K-State Pledge for fiscal responsibility, the support of the K-State Nation will have enabled, by the 2016 home football opener onSeptember 17, the completion of three full phases of the Bill Snyder Family Stadium Master Plan totaling $180 million as part of $210 million in overall athletics facility infrastructure improvements over the last several years, all of which have been completely privately generated and include zero state tax, tuition or student fee dollars.

 

– k-statesports.com –

 

 

————
KENNY LANNOU
Associate A.D. for Communications | K-State Athletics

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston appears to have a strained ligament in his left knee, though the team is still awaiting MRI exam results to determine the severity of the injury.

Coach Andy Reid said Monday that Houston would be examined later in the day. He was hurt during the first half of Sunday’s 30-22 victory over Buffalo when he tripped over a teammate.

Houston sustained a similar injury a playoff loss to Indianapolis two years ago.

The All-Pro pass rusher had 22 sacks last season, which earned him a six-year, $101 million contract this past offseason. He has 7 1/2 sacks through 11 games.

Kansas City (6-5) has won five straight heading into Sunday’s game in Oakland.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – Even though the NCAA has cleared five-star prospect Cheick Diallo to begin playing for No. 4 Kansas this week, it hasn’t stopped Jayhawks coach Bill Self ripping its investigation.

During a news conference Monday, Self called the months-long saga an exercise in frustration, and that “I don’t think anything done by the NCAA was done in the kid’s best interest at all.”

The NCAA forced Diallo to miss the first four games this season while examining coursework from a New York prep school. Ultimately, it ruled he had accepted a small amount of improper benefits and docked the 6-foot-9 forward from Mali a fifth game.

With all of that in the past, Diallo finally will take the floor Tuesday night when the Jayhawks (4-1) play Loyola at Allen Fieldhouse.

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State will celebrate its 2015 football team on Friday, December 11, with the annual K-State Football Awards Ceremony beginning at 5:30 p.m., in McCain Auditorium.

The K-State coaching staff will hand out various team awards, including MVP awards for offense, defense and special teams; the most-improved award on offense and defense; the Red Raider Award for the program’s top scout squad player and the Scholar-Athlete Award.

Fans wishing to attend the ceremony can reserve free tickets through the McCain Auditorium box office at 785-532-6428. The ceremony will also be shown live on K-StateHD.TV.

 

– k-statesports.com –

 

 

————
KENNY LANNOU
Associate A.D. for Communications | K-State Athletics

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – For the third-consecutive week, Kansas State senior Morgan Burns was named the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week – the first player in school history to earn three-straight conference weekly honors – following his performance in K-State’s 45-14 win over Kansas, the conference office announced.

 

It was the first time any Big 12 player had won three-straight weekly honors since Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell in 2008. With Burns’ three honors in addition to Jack Cantele’s accolade following the Louisiana Tech game, K-State now has an impressive 19 Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors since 2011 (3.8 per year).

 

Burns was all over the field against the Jayhawks as he got the game underway by tackling the KU punter for a loss and forcing a fumble on a Jayhawk punt attempt, which then led to the game’s first touchdown on the next play. Later in the first quarter, Burns recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown, K-State’s nation-leading 100th non-offensive touchdown since 1999.

 

Two plays after the score, Burns intercepted a second-down pass attempt. He finished the game with three additional tackles and a pass breakup in addition to his fumble return score, forced fumble and interception.

 

K-State hosts the regular-season finale this Saturday against West Virginia in Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The game will kick at 3:30 p.m., and will also be broadcast by FS1. A limited number of visiting team returns are available, and fans can purchase tickets through the K-State Athletics Ticket office online at www.k-statesports.com/tickets, by phone at 1-800-221-CATS or at the main ticket office inside Bramlage Coliseum.

 

– k-statesports.com –

 

 

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RYAN LACKEY
Assistant Director | Athletics Communications