2008 Kansas State Basketball Predictions & Season Preview
Written October 9, 2008 by Jack Jones
This Kansas State basketball team has improved quite a bit in recent seasons, but without stars Michael Beasley and Bill Walker it’s going to be tough for us to see them winning too many games this year. Last year was a dream first season for head coach Frank Martin, who in his first year went 21-12 and 10-6 in the Big 12. That was a good for a third place finish in the league, who went on to beat USC before losing to Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament. Now this year is going to be a challenge to see what Martin can do with the young squad. The odds on Kansas State to win the Big 12 Championship are currently at 20-1.
Ron Anderson will be the only frontcourt player on this team with any experience, and he doesn’t have a lot of it. As a freshman he appeared in 30 games but averaged only 12 minutes and 3.3 points. He seemed to get better as the year progressed though, but he’s going to have to be even better with so much inexperience around him down low. Luis Colon is 6′10″ and 275 pounds so he’ll bang it around with the big boys, but he was very limited last year. Darren Kent is also 6′10″ but likes to play on the perimeter. If he wants to stay there then he’s going to have to shoot better than the 28.6% he shot from deep range a year ago. Jamar Samuels sat out last year as a redshirt and used the time to get bigger and stronger. Jordan Henriquez is an incoming freshman who has range and is good at moving up and down the floor. Dominique Sutton should start at small forward and looked decent in the time he was able to play as a freshman.
Jacob Pullen can play either the point or off-guard spot, but will most likely start at the one. He has the most experience of anyone on the team and nearly averaged 10 points a game as a freshman. Denis Clemente is a junior college transfer who should push for a starting spot while another junior college transfer in Buchi Awaji will provide the team with a little depth.
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Final Analysis - 10th in our Big 12 Basketball Predictions
This team has a lot of ifs to answer if they want to prove they can still compete in the Big 12 conference. If Pullen can be more consistent, if Sutton can play more than 19 games, and if the junior college transfers can provide an immediate impact. Those are too many question marks for us. What we do know is that their outside shooting is streaky at best, and their inside game is a concern. All of this adds up to the Wildcats finishing near the bottom of the conference. The BetUS odds makers have listed Kansas State as 100-to-1 to win the national title.
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