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Rookies Johnson and Thomas will get plenty of experience running the team to give Spradling opportunities at the two-guard spot. A first team All-Met selection by the Washington Post, Johnson averaged 17.9 points and 2.3 rebounds as a senior at Riverdale Baptist School in Upper Marlboro, Md. The area Player of the Year and first team all-area selection, he collected 12 games of 20 or more points, including four 30-point contests. He averaged an area-best 29.5 points and 8.4 assists as a junior at Broad Run High School Ashburn, Va., which included a 55point outburst. A strong free throw shooter, he connected on 81.8 percent (108-of-132) from the charity stripe.
One of 40 high school seniors named to the PARADE All-America team, Foster will see significant time at the shooting guard spot, along with Spradling. He scored 2,388 points in his four-year prep career at Hirschi High School in Wichita Falls, Texas and averaged a double-double in each of his last two seasons. He averaged 27.1 points on 58.6 percent shooting, including 39.7 percent from 3-point range, with 11.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks per game as a senior. He led the team in nearly every statistical category, scoring 20 or more points 22 times and 30 or more points on 12 occasions to go with 22 double-doubles.
Frontcourt Much like the backcourt, the frontcourt has plenty of talent and experience, which includes the return of seniors Shane Southwell, Omari Lawrence and Ryan Schultz, juniors Nino Williams and Thomas Gipson, sophomore D.J. Johnson and freshman Wesley Iwundu and Jack Karapetyan. The versatile Southwell was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention team after earning the same honors in the postseason a year ago. He averaged 8.4 points on 45.2 percent shooting, including 43.6 from 3point range, to go with 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 25.9 minutes per game as a junior. He ranked among the team’s Top 5 in a number of categories, including first in 3-point field goal percentage, second in assists, defensive rebounds and blocked shots and third in scoring, 3-point field goals and steals.
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Preseason Depth Chart
PG SG SF SF PF
Will Spradling Nigel Johnson Marcus Foster *Jevon Thomas
Sr.-3L Fr.-HS Fr.-HS Fr.-HS
34 GP/33 GS, 7.4 ppg., 2.6 rpg., 2.4 apg. Washington Post All-Met, 17.9 ppg., 2.3 rpg. Parade All-American, 27.1 ppg., 11.3 rpg. MOP of National Prep School Invitational
Marcus Foster Will Spradling Shawn Meyer **Justin Edwards
Fr.-HS Sr.-3L So.-1L Jr.-TR
Parade All-American, 27.1 ppg., 11.3 rpg. 34 GP/33 GS, 7.4 ppg., 2.6 rpg., 2.4 apg. Walk-on who played in 4 games last year Maine transfer who must sit out 2013-14
Shane Southwell Omari Lawrence Wesley Iwundu Ryan Schultz
Sr.-3L Sr.-2L Fr.-HS Sr.-1L
33 GP/26 GS, 8.4 ppg., 3.8 rpg., 2.5 apg. 31 GP/0 GS, 2.1 ppg., 1.4 rpg. Texas Top 30 prospect, 18 ppg., 13 rpg., 5 apg. Walk-on who played in 13 games last year
Nino Williams Wesley Iwundu Jack Karapetyan Brian Rohleder
Jr.-2L Fr.-HS Fr.-HS So.-RS
34 GP/11 GS, 4.2 ppg., 3.3 rpg., 46.2 FG% Texas Top 30 prospect, 18 ppg., 13 rpg., 5 apg. Late signee among top West Coast players Walk-on who redshirted 2012-13
Thomas Gipson D.J. Johnson **Brandon Bolden
Jr.-2L So.-1L So.-TR
35 GP/14 GS, 7.9 ppg., 5.0 rpg., 51.7 FG% 30 GP/0 GS, 2.3 ppg., 2.5 rpg., 56.0 FG% Georgetown transfer who must sit out 2013-14
Bold indicates projected starters. Statistics are from 2012-13 at K-State, junior college or high school. *Thomas won’t be eligible until the start of second semester in mid-December | **Not eligible in 2013-14
Lawrence, along with Williams, could become the ‘X-Factor’ that Southwell was a year ago after playing in 31 games as a junior and averaging 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 8.5 minutes per game. He scored in double figures twice, including a 12-point, 6-rebound outing in a win over Texas (1/30/13). Williams saw time in all but one game as a sophomore, averaging 4.2 points on 46.2 percent shooting with 3.3 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game. He posted double-figure scoring in five games, including three in Big 12 play. He came up big in the home win over Oklahoma State, scoring 17 points on 7-of-11 field goals in 21 minutes. Iwundu has the ability to play multiple spots for the Wildcats after an outstanding prep career at Westfield High School in Houston, Texas. One of the Top 30 players in the Lone Star State, he averaged 18 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks in helping the Mustangs to a 31-7 record as a senior. Karapetyan played one season at Catheral Prep in Los Angeles, Calif., and was considered one of the top prospects on the West Coast. Schultz and Rohleder, both walk-ons, will provide depth in the front court. Schultz saw time in 13 games as junior after transferring from Hutchinson Community College, while Rohleder was redshirted a season ago after playing as a freshman. Gipson and Johnson was spent significant time at the power forward spot. Gipson, who lost nearly 25 pounds in the off-season to weigh at 265 pounds, averaged 7.9 points on 51.7 percent shooting as a sophomore to go with 5.0 rebounds in 18.7 minutes per game. He ranked among the team’s Top 5 in a number of categories, including first in field goal percentage and offensive rebounds, second in total rebounds and third in double-figure scoring, field goals, free throws made and attempted and defensive rebounds. Johnson played in 30 games as a freshman a year ago, averaging 2.3 points on 56 percent shooting with 2.5 rebounds per game. He came through in a big way in the win over Texas at the Big 12 Championship with eight points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes.
Schedule Kansas State will face a challenge schedule in 2013-14, as the Wildcats could play as many as 21 games against teams that advanced to the postseason a year ago, including 12 that earned invitations to the NCAA Tournament. In addition to year three of the 18-game round-robin Big 12 schedule, the squad will face non-conference tests with home matchups with Oral Roberts (Nov. 13), Long Beach State (Nov. 17), Ole Miss (Dec. 5) and George Washington (Dec. 31) as well as the Puerto Rico Tip-Off (Nov. 21-24), Gonzaga in the Wichita Wildcat Classic (Dec. 21) and Tulane at the Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival (Dec. 28) at the Barclays Center. K-State opens its 111th season of basketball when the Wildcats host Pittsburg State in their lone exhibition game on Nov. 1 with the official opener a week later on Nov. 8 when the squad hosts Northern Colorado for the first time since 1937. Following its trip to Puerto Rico, the team opens the month of December with four consecutive home games before its contest with Gonzaga in Wichita. The Wildcats play NCAA Tournament participant Ole Miss four days later on Dec. 5 in the inaugural Big 12-SEC Challenge. After trips to Wichita and Brooklyn, the squad wraps up non-conference play Dec. 31 with a home game George Washington. The Big 12 will again be one of the nation’s top conferences with seven teams advancing to the postseason a year ago, including five in the NCAA Tournament. The league slate starts on Saturday, Jan. 4 with a home game vs. cofavorite Oklahoma State and includes visits by NCAA Tournament participants Iowa State, Kansas and Oklahoma as well as NIT champion Baylor. For the seventh consecutive season, the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship will be played at Kansas City’s Sprint Center.
K-State posted the second-highest attendance mark in school history in 2012-13.
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PREVIEW STAFF PLAYERS OPPONENTS REVIEW RECORDS HISTORY UNIVERSITY
Thomas signed as a freshman mid-year enrollee in February, but must sit out the first semester due to the terms of his initial eligibility waiver by the NCAA. Considered among the top point guard prospects in the country, he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2013 National Prep School Invitational after averaging 17 points and eight assists in his one season at St. John’s Northwest Military Academy.
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