Kansas State Basketball

The Kansas State Wildcats picked an ideal time to earn their first-ever victory over the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Big 12 representative outlasted the SEC team 61-58 in Thursday's thrilling Sweet 16 showdown in Atlanta, clinching an Elite Eight date against the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers in the process. The win ensures there will be a No. 9 (Kansas State) or No. 11 (Loyola-Chicago) seed in the Final Four from the South Regional in the 2018 NCAA men's tournament.

Barry Brown was the hero when he slashed into the lane and broke a tie with a layup in the final 20 seconds, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's potential game-tying three at the buzzer rimmed out on the other end.

The sequence capped a back-and-forth final two minutes that saw Kentucky take the lead on PJ Washington's layup, Kansas State take it back on Brown's free throws and Washington tie it with a free throw of his own.

That there were so many free throws in crunch time was fitting, considering Kentucky shot 37 and Kansas State attempted 22 in a whistle-fest. Levi Stockard III, Makol Mawien and Xavier Sneed all fouled out for Kansas State, although John Calipari's squad still couldn't take full advantage.

Sneed's fifth (which led to Washington's game-tying free throw) appeared particularly important because he led Kansas State with 22 points and nine rebounds on five made threes. Fortunately for the Big 12's Wildcats, Brown picked up the slack with 13 points and the game-winning basket.

As for Kentucky, it was in comeback mode for much of the game and received 18 points, 15 boards and three steals from Washington to go with 15 points, five steals and five assists from Alexander.

However, 15 turnovers, a 25 percent clip from three-point range and 62.2 percent rate on all those free throws cost Kentucky.

Kansas State also provided enough timely offense against the SEC Wildcats' length and athleticism across the floor, bouncing back from the mere 50 points it scored against the 16th-seeded UMBC Retrievers in the second round.

Kansas State is just 77th in the country in Ken Pomeroy's pace-adjusted offensive metrics, although scoring wasn't an issue in the early going when it jumped out to a 13-1 advantage in the opening four minutes.

It had early reinforcements with Dean Wade, who missed the first two NCAA tournament games with a foot injury. He finished with just four points and didn't play the second half, but his initial presence helped space the floor and create driving lanes for the Wildcats.

Those drives led to fouls, and Kentucky had four players with four by game's end, preventing it from getting aggressive down the stretch.

Although it was largely playing comeback until the back-and-forth finish, Kentucky had plenty of momentum with essentially a home crowd behind it in Atlanta when it came back to take the lead after Sneed picked up his fourth foul.

Kevin Knox (13 points and eight rebounds) and Washington combined to spearhead an 11-2 run to take a one-point lead heading into the last four minutes. However, the Wildcats couldn't parlay that push into a victory even with Sneed—who served as the catalyst with his outside shooting throughout—sidelined for the majority of the finish.

Attention for the victors now turns to a showdown with upstart Loyola-Chicago for the right to play in the Final Four.

The Ramblers rely on their strong defense to slow the pace and frustrate opposing offenses, and all three of their NCAA tournament wins have been in the 60s. Sneed and Brown will need to provide timely offense for the Wildcats in Saturday's matchup if they are going to advance to the Final Four.

Kansas State and head basketball coach Bruce Weber agreed to a contract extension Tuesday that will keep him with the program through the 2020-21 season. 

In a release from the school's official athletic website, Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor announced Weber's extension:

"I have had the opportunity to observe our men’s basketball program and visit with Bruce on multiple occasions since I became athletics director. I couldn’t be more pleased with the type of person we have leading our program—Coach Weber is well-regarded throughout college basketball as an outstanding coach and a man who conducts his program with integrity and class. I have been able to interact with his team this offseason, and I see the respect our current and former players who have regularly returned to Manhattan have for him. Off the court, Bruce and his wife, Megan, are very involved in the community, and his players excel in the classroom with a near-perfect graduation rate."

Under terms of Weber's extension, according to the release, he will make $2.35 million during the 2019-20 season and $2.45 million in 2020-21. 

Weber has been with Kansas State since the Wildcats hired him in March 2012. He has led the program to four winning seasons and three NCAA tournament appearances in his first five years. The Wildcats' 27 wins in 2012-13 are the second-most in a single season in school history.

In 19 seasons as a head coach at Kansas State, Illinois and Southern Illinois, Weber has compiled a record of 413-223 and led Illinois to the 2005 national championship game against North Carolina. 

The Kansas State Wildcats are headed to the first round of the NCAA tournament following a 95-88 win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Tuesday night.

Though the No. 11 seed play-in game at University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio, wasn't an aesthetic pleasure because of so many fouls against both sides, the Wildcats were dialed in and hit 66 percent of their shots to set up a date with the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Swingman Wesley Iwundu led the charge for Kansas State with 24 points, seven assists and six rebounds in a complete effort that showcased his pro upside, as The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor noted:

Wesley Iwundu does so many good things for Kansas State. NBA could always use more wings who run pick-&-roll and defend multiple positions.

— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) March 15, 2017

One of Iwundu's finest moments came in the first half, when he took a dribble handoff and elevated high above the rim for a ferocious finish:

Iwundu, how do you do? #FirstFour https://t.co/Fcz7sQScNe

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 15, 2017

All told, Iwundu shot 6-of-9 from the field and 11-of-13 from the free-throw line as he repeatedly slashed to the rim with confidence, per Draft Express' Mike Schmitz:

When Wes Iwundu is aggressive he's a heck of a prospect. 6-7, 7-foot wingspan, can slash, pass and defend. Shooting consistency key.

— Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) March 15, 2017

The Wildcats also got a combined 40 points from Kamau Stokes and D.J. Johnson as they scorched the net in historic fashion, according to Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis:

Best field goal percentage for Kansas State since 1997. That's, like, last century.

— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 15, 2017

Conversely, the Demon Deacons shot 47.2 percent from the field and only hung tough early because 17 of their 36 first-half points came from the charity stripe.

That said, the play of rising NBA draft prospect and stud forward John Collins was a sight to behold.

Collins was a sieve on the defensive end at times, but he totaled 26 points and nine rebounds to help keep his side in it before Kansas State pulled away late:

Wake Forest won't go away #FirstFour https://t.co/ntfFqLFYzf

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 15, 2017

College hoops analyst Doug Gottlieb was among those impressed by Collins' effort:

Hard not to like Collins - not playing well and still getting a lot done #Wake

— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) March 15, 2017

But because the Wildcats withstood Collins' statistical outburst, they earned the right to square off against the Bearcats in Sacramento, California.

That matchup, however, will be daunting.

Cincinnati ranks ninth in the nation in KenPom.com's adjusted defensive efficiency—a mark that's 159 spots higher than Wake Forest's.

In other words, Kansas State will have a tough time replicating Tuesday's efficient showing against Mick Cronin's dogged squad if it isn't firing on all cylinders.

    

Postgame Reaction

Kansas State's Twitter account posted video of coach Bruce Weber congratulating his team:

This Moment Is So Much Bigger... #KStateMBB #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/lIYGms009D

— K-State Men's Basketball (@KStateMBB) March 15, 2017

"We are here to mess up people's brackets," Wildcats guard Carlbe Ervin II said, per the Wichita Eagle's Kellis Robinett.

Collins refrained from addressing whether or not he would declare for the 2017 NBA draft.

"It's not something I'd like to comment on right now," he said, per the Winston-Salem Journal's Bret Strelow.

And while the Demon Deacons are headed home, coach Danny Manning took time to praise his group.

"Still disappointed to not come away with desired outcome, but proud of the effort," he said, per Strelow.

    

Stats courtesy of NCAA.com unless noted otherwise.

Kansas State Wildcats basketball players Marcus Foster and Malek Harris have served their suspensions and returned to the lineup on Feb. 14.

Continue for updates.

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Foster, Harris Play vs. Oklahoma 

Saturday, Feb. 14

The Kansas State Collegian reported that Foster and Harris have both returned to the lineup.

Ken Corbitt of the Topeka Capital-Journal provided a photo of Harris warming up in pregame:

Marcus Foster on the court for pregame shoot around. Foster and Malek Harris expected to play vs. Oklahoma pic.twitter.com/7Qrob6w4QD

— Ken Corbitt (@KenCorbitt) February 14, 2015

Kellis Robinett of The Wichita Eagle reported on Wednesday that both Foster and Harris traveled with the team for the West Virginia game but confirmed neither will play.

Robinett previously reported Foster and Harris returned to practice on Friday, but Bruce Weber still wasn't sure of their status at that point.

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Marcus Foster, Malek Harris Suspended for Violation of Team Rules

Wednesday, Feb. 4

Head coach Bruce Weber announced the news Wednesday evening, via the athletic program's Twitter feed:

#KStateMBB suspends Foster, Harris for violation of team rules. pic.twitter.com/8ToDk0d9GD

— K-State Athletics (@kstatesports) February 5, 2015

KSU has made the NCAA tournament five straight years, including the last two under Weber, but that streak is in major jeopardy. Weber's squad was already likely just outside the bubble at 12-10 overall with losses to Long Beach State and Texas Southern, but losing Foster is a major blow.

The sophomore guard entered Wednesday leading the Wildcats in scoring at 15.5 points per game. He's an excellent, albeit streaky, outside shooter, knocking down 2.4 treys per clip at a 39.5 percent rate. 

CycloneFanatic.com's Chris Williams noted the impact of his loss prior to Wednesday night's game against a Texas Tech squad that is currently 1-8 in the Big 12:

With no Marcus Foster, don’t be surprised if Kansas State loses at Texas Tech tonight. #Big12

— Chris Williams (@ChrisMWilliams) February 5, 2015

Harris is averaging just 2.2 points and 13.6 minutes per game, but the freshman forward did recently have one of his better performances of the season, tallying six points and three rebounds in 29 minutes against West Virginia. 

The Wildcats are 5-4 in a difficult conference thus far, but they have a brutal remaining schedule that includes two games against No. 8 Kansas, two against No. 25 Texas and road contests against No. 15 West Virginia and No. 19 Baylor. 

How much are your dreams worth to you? 

For most people, their pursuit of their childhood dreams are put to bed when the cost becomes too high. For most, they concede chasing a fantasy for the security of a steady job, consistent income and the chance to raise a family. 

Not Dustin Yoder. 

For the Kansas State video coordinator, the cost of health problems, poverty and uncertainly haven't deterred him from chasing his lifelong dream of becoming a basketball coach at the Division I level. 

Small-Town Roots

Most guys that are able to find their place among the college basketball coaching ranks are either former players or were able to climb up the ladder in major markets like Chicago, New York or Texas. 

Again, this isn't the case for Yoder. 

He hails from Bethany, Illinois, a small town in the central part of the state with a population that hovers around 1,300. 

At Okaw Valley High School, Yoder was a jack of all trades, lettering in five sports—basketball, baseball, football, track and golf—in his four years. But his specialty was undoubtedly basketball. 

A shooting specialist off the bench his freshman season, Yoder quickly became the pride of the hardwood in Bethany. When he graduated, he was the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,517 points. 

While in high school, Yoder knew he wanted to be involved in college athletics and was hoping to make it as a player. However Mike Reynolds, Yoder's head coach, knew that coaching was the more likely path for his star player.

"He was always a leader," Reynolds said. "Always had a good head on his shoulders, and I think he knew that someday he wanted to be a coach." 

But despite his success, he was hardly recruited by any four-year colleges in 2006, his senior year. His only offer was from Lake Land College, a junior college 25 miles southeast of Bethany. 

"The assistant coach at that JUCO was a former coach in my conference that I had a really good relationship with," Yoder said. "To be honest, that was really the only major player for me." 

So Yoder accepted Lake Land's offer and spent two seasons as a point guard there. He struggled to see consistent playing time, though, as he was buried on the depth chart behind Huzie Hambrite, a point guard that had verbally committed to Ball State. 

"I was playing every game, but it was limited minutes," Yoder said. "I came in when our point guards needed a break. I was the one that came in (when) they needed a quick breather." 

Already seeing his dream of making it in college basketball as a player slip away, the final blow was delivered midway through his second season at Lake Land. That was when Yoder tore his right ACL, knocking him out for the rest of the year. 

"I wanted to play Division I or II, that's why I was excited about going to a JUCO to play," Yoder said. "But I knew that by the time I had the injury, I knew I wasn't going to get there." 

That's when Cedric Brown, the head coach at Lake Land, told Yoder that if he wanted to continue pursuing his dream of being involved in high-major basketball, that coaching would be the best route to take. And the best start on that road would be finding a school where he could be a student manager. 

So Yoder made the decision to move on from playing and take Brown's advice. 

Yoder Lands in Champaign

After deciding to try to become a manager, Yoder placed calls to four different universities. 

Kansas and Kentucky never got back to him, and Purdue informed Yoder there were no openings. However, Illinois, which at the time was headed by Bruce Weber, told Yoder to come to Champaign to work their summer camps on a sort of trial basis. 

So he did, and Yoder thought that he had done enough to earn a spot on the staff that summer of 2008. 

"I thought everything was good," Yoder said. "So I enrolled in school." 

A month passed in Yoder's first semester at Illinois before he finally heard word from the coaching staff that he had been accepted to be a manager for the program. 

That kicked off a three-year stint where Yoder went from a newbie his first year to head manager in 2011, his final year. In order to try and learn the job of coaching, he spent nearly every hour of the day when he wasn't in class in the offices.

By his third year, Yoder had grown enough contacts through Weber and his assistants at Illinois that he was confident he'd find a job, either as a graduate assistant or full-fledged assistant coach, somewhere after he graduated.

That was when Yoder was floored with news that still haunts him to this day.

The C-Word

As Yoder began his final semester with the Illini, he started to notice an abnormal growth on his neck that soon grew to the size of a golf ball. 

So he went to a local hospital in Champaign to get the growth checked out. Yoder's memory of this day—which he calls far and away the worst of his life—still sticks in his mind like the lingering pain of a lost relationship or a death of a loved one. 

After getting the growth biopsied and having blood drawn from it, the doctor returned to Yoder to deliver the news. While he couldn't say with absolute certainty, the doctor informed Yoder that he believed he had lymphoma, a cancer in his neck. 

That same day, the doctor called up Yoder's parents and gave him a prognosis, which included intense sessions of chemotherapy. 

Yoder was shocked. In a few months, he was supposed to be graduating from Illinois and moving on with his dream of becoming a college basketball coach. Now it seemed as though for the second time in three years, forces beyond his control were out to prey on him. But now, instead of taking his playing career in the form of a knee injury, they potentially wanted his life. 

Over the next month, Yoder struggled to cope with the news. He still plugged away at his coaching search, but he was skeptical at best. 

"I didn't know who would hire me," Yoder said, "especially considering that I didn't know how long I would be around, not only for practices, but alive." 

The Illinois program took the news hard as well. The news fell during the university's intramural basketball season, while Yoder played on a team with some of his friends outside of basketball. His team was scheduled to play a team composed of the rest of the managerial staff. 

At that game, Weber and the entire coaching staff showed up in support of Yoder. 

"It was a really emotional moment," said Kevin O'Connor, a former manager at Illinois who worked with Yoder. "He was more committed than even I was, and it was just sad." 

While Yoder was dealing with the news, he struggled to find enough peace to even sleep at night. 

"I developed anxiety, and it led to a heart murmur," Yoder said. "I was worried because this was all happening at the end of my manager career, and I'm wondering how this is all going to affect it." 

To this day, Yoder is still on medication to deal with the heart problems he suffered while dealing with the worst news of his life. 

After a month, Yoder was recommended to a neck specialist who would handle Yoder's care from there on out. That specialist ran his own tests on the bulge, and that's when Yoder felt the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders. 

According to Yoder, the specialist informed him after a few days of tests and said, "I don't think you have cancer." 

It wasn't cancer. 

Instead, it was a unique case of enlarged lymph nodes. The specialist prescribed a series of medications to Yoder for the growth, and in a few weeks it went away. In a few weeks, Yoder went from wondering how much time he had left to when his time was going to start. 

With Adversity Came Poverty

With the breath of newfound life, Yoder graduated from Illinois with a degree in kinesiology and, through his connections at Illinois, landed a job as an assistant coach at Parkland College, a junior college in Champaign. Yoder was well on his way to making his dreams come true. 

But his job with Parkland came at a price, specifically his living conditions and income.

Between his coaching stipend, which was a measly $400 per month, and $4,000 each semester for teaching classes on the side, Yoder was making just shy of $13,000 annually. 

That forced Yoder to live in an apartment infested with bugs and rusty appliances, and he went on food stamps, which amounted to $200 per month in groceries. 

Living in poverty wasn't easy for Yoder. For the first time in his life, he thought about giving up his dream and falling back to his Plan B, which was to become a gym teacher and live a normal life. 

"I just had a dream, and I wasn't ready to give it up yet," Yoder said. "But I thought about it. There'd be many nights where I'd sit and wonder how I could have a family and continue this little and support myself through my whole life." 

Yoder spent one year at Parkland, where he went 19-13 in 2011-12 before Weber helped him land a full-time job at Illinois Springfield, a Division II school 80 miles west of Champaign. There, he was slated to make just $8,000 annually plus the cost of graduate school covered. 

While Yoder was slowly but surely climbing up the ladder, the financial problems were still lingering.

An Old Mentor Comes Calling

Around the time Weber helped secure Yoder the assistant job at Illinois Springfield, he was let go by Illinois. Less than a month later, he was hired by Kansas State to replace the departed Frank Martin as the new head coach. 

When Weber arrived, he quickly filled the coaching staff, hiring Chris Lowery, Alvin Brooks III and Chester Frazier, an old player and graduate assistant under him at Illinois, for the assistant jobs. He also hired Brad Korn as his director of basketball operations and Drew Speraw to the video coordinator position. 

But he also inherited two graduate assistants from Frank Martin—Eric Rodriguez and Darren Kent—so it appeared that he would be unable to bring on any former managers or graduate assistants to fill those roles. 

However, as the end of the summer approached, Kent made the decision to leave K-State and join Martin on his staff at South Carolina. That left Weber searching for a graduate assistant. So he called one of his old managers from Illinois, who referred him to Yoder. 

Weber called Yoder and offered him the opening, which after some contemplation, Yoder accepted. 

Some would say that going from an assistant coaching job to a graduate assistant would be a step down. But Yoder saw it differently. 

"I saw it as a high-major coaching opportunity," Yoder said. "Even though I was excited, there was a part of me that felt bad for the Illinois Springfield situation. I had helped sign a player, but all of a sudden I was out." 

The selling point Weber made to Yoder was the ability to extend his coaching tree further than he would at the Division II level. Since Yoder had never officially signed a contract with Illinois Springfield, he was able to easily get out of that commitment and join his old mentor in Manhattan, Kansas. 

That first season, under Weber's tutelage, the Wildcats won the Big 12, their first conference title since 1977. Weber was named Big 12 Coach of the Year, and things were going good all around the Little Apple. 

"That first year was awesome," Yoder said. "I had a lot of fun, I loved the coaching staff." 

However, Yoder still felt the clock ticking down on him. He only had a year left of being a graduate assistant before he would be forced to go job hunting again. 

He was also turning 26 and would be forced go find his own health insurance to cover his medications for his heart murmur, something that would be a huge financial burden on him. 

That offseason, Korn left K-State to take an assistant coaching job at Missouri State, opening up the director of operations job. The rumblings around the office were that Weber was considering moving Speraw up to that job and moving Yoder up to the video coordinator position. 

"It definitely wasn't a for sure thing but that it was in limbo," Yoder said. 

On August 16, 2013, Weber made it official. He promoted Speraw to Korn's old position and moved Yoder up to video coordinator, making Yoder a full-time staff member of a high-major Division I coaching staff. 

"(Yoder) has grown a lot in the profession over the past few years and I felt it was a great opportunity for him to take another step in his career," Weber said in a press release announcing the promotions. 

Yoder's starting salary was $35,000 plus benefits, including health insurance. A far cry from the $8,000 he was scheduled to make just a year prior. 

"All the anxiety that I had getting to that point, it finally came off," Yoder said. "Being able to take home a real paycheck, it was amazing." 

Not only did he get a sizable bump in pay, but an old friend took Yoder's place as a graduate assistant. O'Connor, the former fellow manager from Illinois, got the job offer from Weber thanks largely in part to Yoder's recommendation. 

Yoder received a bump in salary after his first year on the job, and he'll now make $41,000 in the 2014-15 season. 

So, What's Next? 

Although Yoder is now part of a Big 12 coaching staff, he's far from having his dream realized. His ultimate goal is to run a college program someday, but he recognizes that he's a long way off from that. 

But being at K-State has allowed Yoder to attend coaching clinics and further extend his contacts in the coaching world. He's hoping, when the time is right, to join one of his connections whenever they take over at a low- or mid-major school and become a Division I assistant. 

"I love it here at K-State," Yoder said. "I love the family environment, they do it so well here and I'm impressed with how Kansas State operates. But, I do want to move on someday soon to keep pursuing my dream."  

The cost of a dream is oftentimes too much to bear for most. Poverty, health issues and uncertainty have plagued Yoder in his pursuit of his childhood goals. 

But they haven't steered him off course. If anything, the obstacles laid in front of him have only deepened his resolve to make his dreams a reality. 

And through it all, he's learned to live in the now, to appreciate what you have and have faith that the opportunities will come. 

"I didn't accomplish playing at the Division I level, but my dream is to coach, and I'm not going to give up," Yoder said. "Don't spend your days thinking about how you'll get to the next spot. It's more about loving every job like it's the only job you got and making sure that you are taking care of the kids that are there." 

The hardest thing for any athlete to do is to give up the sport they've loved their whole life. Just ask Michael Jordan when he was with the Washington Wizards, Deion Sanders with the Baltimore Ravens or Brett Favre with the New York Jets. 

For Martavious Irving, a former guard for the Kansas State Wildcats, the narrative holds true. He doesn't want to stop playing the game he loves. 

"It's too hard to give up on something you love," Irving said. 

That's why after sitting out a year following his senior season, Irving is back on the hardwood, signed to an agent and trying to earn his way overseas.  

Part One: Irving's K-State Career

From 2009-13, Irving, a product of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was a staple of the K-State roster.

In his four seasons, he made four NCAA tournaments—including an Elite Eight appearance his freshman year—and won a Big 12 title his senior year. His graduating class, which included Rodney McGruder and Jordan Henriquez, is the winningest class in school history with 101 victories. 

McGruder was the star of the class, leaving as the school's seventh-leading scorer and rebounder. Henriquez left as K-State's all-time leading shot-blocker. 

But ask anybody who the face of that class was, who had the most vibrant personality of the three, and they'll tell you that it was Irving. 

He became known for his pregame dance routine in the team's tunnel, where he'd dance inside a circle of his teammates before rushing out onto the Bramlage Coliseum floor. 

But Irving was also quietly one of the best players for K-State during his tenure. He had a reputation as one of the squad's best defenders, shot 40 percent from behind the arc his senior season and averaged over 20 minutes per game on a team that won its conference. 

Now as Irving is trying to go play overseas, his agent, Stephen James, says that his experience playing in the Big 12 is the best thing Irving has going for him. 

"His resume speaks for itself," James said. "The fact that he played at a school like K-State is great as well." 

But it was two seasons ago that Irving's playing career in Manhattan came to an end. In his final exit from the floor on senior night, he kissed the Powercat logo at midcourt. He and the Wildcats went on to the Big 12 tournament championship game, where they lost to archrival Kansas, before having their hearts broken in the NCAA tournament. 

There, in front of a hometown crowd in Kansas City, the Wildcats were upset by La Salle, ending the Wildcats' dreams of making another deep tourney run and ending Irving's tenure in the Little Apple. 

To this day, Irving says he hasn't watched film of that upset. 

"I can't, it's too hard," Irving said. 

Irving's career wasn't stat-stuffing, but it was great nonetheless. You don't win that many games without having a winner's mentality. 

Part Two: Knee Problems

While Irving played well his senior season, he played the entire conference season and postseason with severe damage to the ligaments in his knee. 

According to Irving, he says early in the year the ligaments would pop in and out, but prior to a game against South Dakota they popped out and didn't go back in.

He was then told by the K-State athletic trainers that he had one of two options. He could have surgery to fix the problem, ending his season prematurely, or endure the pain and play on. 

"It was a no-brainer," Irving said. "I had to play." 

So he did. But after that loss to La Salle, three days later he had arthroscopic knee surgery. 

After Irving woke up from the anesthesia, he says he felt almost completely healed, as though a miracle had occurred while he was knocked out. 

"That day after the surgery, I walked out of the hospital without really even using my crutches," Irving said. 

The euphoria quickly turned into agony for Irving. When he woke up the next day, he was screaming in pain. Because he lived by himself, there was nobody around to help him. 

"I got up and went to the bathroom to vomit, it was just really bad." 

For the next few weeks, everything was a struggle for Irving. He lived on the third floor of his apartment building and he said going up and down the stairs took 20 minutes each trip because of the pain. 

“The recovery was the worst part of my life, to be honest," Irving said. "I felt like I was never going to get better." 

Irving was on a time crunch though after his senior season ended. He had just a few months to not only get back into shape after surgery, but sign an agent and try to get picked up by an overseas team. 

But every time Irving tried to play that summer, his knees hurt and he couldn't go on. 

“I went home to Florida and played in a local summer league for three games," Irving said. "After those three games I couldn’t walk anymore.”

Irving says that the K-State trainers told him that Irving's recovery process was hindered because he tried to rush back too quickly in his pursuit of an international gig. 

“I was so eager to go out and play, I rushed my recovery process," Irving said. 

So that was it. The summer had passed and Irving, despite having signed with an agent, was still too hurt to go play. For the time being, it seemed like his dreams of playing professional basketball had died. 

Part Three: Irving Returns to K-State

Irving was stuck in Florida with virtually nothing to do. He had no job, and his knees weren't getting better. 

"I tried running on the beaches or doing other stuff, but nothing helped," Irving said. 

K-State head coach Bruce Weber had offered Irving one of their two open graduate assistant spots in the summer, but Irving turned it down as he wanted to keep pursuing his professional dreams. So instead, Weber hired two former student managers—one from K-State and one from Illinois—to fill the vacancies. 

In the fall, Weber called Irving again. This time he, along with athletic director John Currie, had set up a program that would allow Irving to join the team as a graduate assistant at the start of the spring semester.

After flying back to Manhattan and meeting with Currie personally, Irving took the offer without hesitation. He moved back to Kansas State in November and worked under the athletic department's Life Skills director before officially joining the staff in January. 

"The coaching staff really showed me love," Irving said. "It just goes to show how far they'll go to help out their former players." 

Because Irving had joined the staff midway through the season, he was unable to travel with the team. So the coaches gave him an assignment. 

While the team was on the road, Irving's job was to work out the team's two transfer players, Justin Edwards and Brandon Bolden. 

"None of us could travel," Irving said. "So I just worked them out." 

That was the life for Irving. He was a graduate assistant, working players out and well on his way to becoming a coach. But that missed opportunity of not being able to make a legitimate run at a pro career continued to gnaw at him.

Part Four: Rejuvenation 

When February rolled around, Irving's aspirations started to take hold again. He knew he wanted to make another run at playing overseas. 

With unlimited access to the team's training facility, Irving buckled down and started to lose weight. In his senior season, Irving was listed at 200 pounds. According to Irving, that number swelled to as high as 243 when he couldn't work out. 

"I had my mind set up that I was going to pursue this," Irving said. “My legs were feeling good, so I started running on the treadmill a little bit and steadily dropped weight." 

He says that, occasionally, his knees would start to act up again, but overall the pain was subsiding. 

“My knees started to feel better, but every few days they started hurting," Irving said. "But I kept pushing myself knowing that I needed to get back in shape." 

By mid-February, Irving started to work out more on the court, shooting late at night and getting his athleticism back.

Then, Weber started inserting Irving onto the scout team in practice. That's when Irving says he started to get a feel for the game again and that the pain was almost gone. 

“I was moving well, playing the point and distributing the ball, and it became a natural thing," Irving said. 

Since starting his workout regimen, Irving has returned to his playing weight, checking in at 210 pounds in his latest trip to the scale. 

The 2013-14 season for K-State ended with a loss to eventual national runner-up Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA tournament. After that, Irving's mind was made up. 

One year removed from competitive basketball, Irving was going to try to go overseas again. 

Part Five: Chasing the Dream, Again

Irving's first step to jump-starting his goal of playing overseas was getting back in touch with his agent, Adam Godes. 

However, Godes had all but moved on from Irving after he sat out a year and recommended that he find new representation. 

“I understood that, I didn’t take it personally," Irving said. "He did everything he could, we just decided to go different directions.”

So Irving needed a new agent. He went to his email inbox and searched through old messages he received shortly after his senior year ended looking for the right person. 

After scouring his inbox and reaching out to a few different prospects, he landed with Stephen James this past spring. What drew Irving to James the most was James' positive, but realistic outlook. 

"He told me that I played in the best league in the country, I actually played minutes and put up numbers, and so the opportunities will come but that nothing is guaranteed," Irving said. 

For James, Irving was a notable addition to a client list that, while not star-studded, includes Jeremie Simmons from Ohio State as well as a few other former college players. 

"He's hungry and he's humble," James said. "He hasn't stuck a price tag on himself and yet he sees the big picture. His priority is to simply get his foot in the door." 

As the summer rolled around, Irving increased his workout regimen and started going through drills in the mornings with K-State assistant coach Chester Frazier—who himself played overseas after an illustrious career under Weber at Illinois, where he was known as one of the country's best defenders—and Will Spradling, a former teammate who is trying to land a job overseas this offseason. 

Irving says having both those guys to push him toward his dreams has been influential during the oftentimes droll offseason. 

"Frazier's able to give insight of certain ways they play over there that are different," Irving said. "He’s always fiery, so he’ll push you harder than you want to be pushed. Then you look to your side and see someone you played with that’s going through the same process you are, it all pushes me in the right direction.”

From Spradling's perspective, it's been a pleasant surprise to see not only his former teammate, but one of his former roommates as well, pursue his dream again. It's also motivated him to stay hungry in his pursuit of a professional career. 

“It’s nice to see him bounce back," Spradling said. "It was hard to see him struggling and not go overseas. But now we can both push each other." 

The two have formed a new bond over their futures, which they realize they have little control over. 

“We don’t have much control, it’s all in our agent’s hands and we just have to hope that they put us in the right position," Spradling said. 

Irving has generated some interest amongst some small-market European teams, according to James. But earlier this month, James says Irving became the target of the Brampton A's, a Canadian team in Ontario that is part of the National Basketball League of Canada. 

There are talks between the A's and James about either having a scout fly to Manhattan to watch Irving work out or fly Irving out to Canada to be interviewed and put through drills there. 

Irving says that if the opportunity arises, he'd prefer to go up to the Great White North. 

“Going there and showing initiative and eagerness will be a good thing," Irving said. 

Should Irving get an offer, he likely won't sign with a team until the fall. So until then, it's a waiting game. He plans to move back to Florida to be with family and work out with some of his old high school teammates after he attends Spradling's wedding on August 2.

But he doesn't forget the countless opportunities that Weber and the entire K-State basketball community afforded him throughout the five years he lived there. 

“I call Manhattan my second home," Irving said. "I’ve been here for five years, and the people I’ve met here are lifelong friends. I get a lot of love here. I still sign autographs and take pictures. I never take that for granted.”

James is confident Irving will land a gig, that it's just a matter of playing that painful waiting game the right way. 

"It's still a little early, but I really do think he'll land a job," James said. "Things are really heating up and I'm happy to have him and I'm excited for the future." 

For Irving, from his days of tearing up the Florida high school circuit at Boyd H. Anderson High School, to becoming a legend in his own right at K-State, it's always been about one thing; the one thing that Irving is refusing to quit on. 

His dream of playing pro basketball.

Quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Alone in his third floor apartment, Kansas State forward Thomas Gipson peers out the window, parlaying the scene of Manhattan, Kansas. 

The summer heat of the heartland is beginning to swelter. All Gipson is wearing is a pair of black Air Jordan basketball shorts and a white rubber wristband with red lettering so faded that you could hardly read it unless you knew what was once inscribed. 

That's how Gipson likes it though. He likes to keep his personal life to himself. Because what he doesn't want you to know is that he's in pain. 

Pain. Everybody deals with it differently. Some of us fold under the pressure. Others rise above it as better men and women. But it always hangs over us as a constant reminder of where we came from. 

For Gipson, the pain has forged a rugged leader who is unabashed by any challenge the world delivers him. 

The Physical Pain

The Big 12 is known as one of the most physical conferences in the country, especially in the trenches. Just ask presumed 2014 NBA lottery pick Joel Embiid, whose back issues hindered him through the latter half of last season. 

Gipson was dealing with pain too. Down the stretch of league play and throughout the postseason, Gipson dealt with a torn labrum—the same injury that all but killed Dwight Howard's one-year stint in Los Angeles—in his shoulder. 

He suffered the injury during a practice and it gradually got worse. Heading into the NCAA tournament, after taking a charge in practice, there were concerns as to whether Gipson, the primary post player on a team that lacked size, would be done for the rest of the year. 

"By the end, it was popping out every four or five days when we practiced," said K-State associate head coach Chris Lowery. 

But as he's always done in life, Gipson persevered. In K-State's loss to eventual runner-up Kentucky, he racked up 10 points and seven rebounds. Not bad for a guy battling Julius Randle in the paint that night. 

Gipson maintains that the shoulder injury wasn't a big deal. 

"I just had to be cautious of certain moves that I did, I just had to think smart in limiting my fouls and everything," Gipson said. 

But he also says that it hurt whenever he extended his arms or felt contact on his shoulder. In basketball, that's practically every possession—offense and defense—for a big man. 

Martavious Irving, a former guard for the Wildcats who spent last season as a graduate assistant, said that Gipson's teammates took notice of how one of their top players was battling. 

“He’s tough," Irving said. "I played through injury, and it tests your mental toughness. For Gipson, it showed how tough he was, how much he wanted to compete and win.”

K-State took notice early in 2013-14 how valuable Gipson was by learning how debilitating it was to not have him in the lineup. At the start of the year, Gipson saw limited action after dealing with a concussion. The Wildcats were upset at home by Northern Colorado, then beaten a few weeks later by Charlotte and Georgetown in Puerto Rico. 

When he came back full strength, the Wildcats stormed through the months of December and January, racking up 10 straight wins and earning wins over Texas and Kansas at the start of February.

Since then, Gipson has proven that he's the Wildcats' leader. He'll miss, at least partially, most of the team's workouts this summer. He underwent surgery to repair the torn labrum after the season, and is still limited to non-contact drills until August. 

What Gipson has learned through dealing with injury though is that perseverance won't go unnoticed by his teammates or the coaching staff. 

The Emotional Pain

Gipson isn't one to complain about the rules. But if there was one he'd probably like to change, it's the fact that the NCAA doesn't allow players to wear rubber wristbands—similar to the Livestrong bands—out on the court during games. 

That white wristband with faded red lettering Gipson was wearing in his apartment? The only reason he's taken it off in the last four years was for games. Besides that, he never goes anywhere without it. 

The wristband is from the memorial service of Deion Jackson-Houston, a point guard from Duncanville High School in Texas, less than 10 miles from where Gipson went to school in Cedar Hill. Inscribed on the band, although it's barely legible at this point, are the words "Keep praying and playing. DJ5 Memorial Foundation." 

"I need to get a new one now," Gipson says, after looking at the faded letters. 

According to the Dallas Morning News, Jackson-Houston died shortly after his 17th birthday on July 3, 2010, after his car was struck by a train. Gipson and Jackson-Houston were close friends growing up, with both being elite basketball recruits from the same area of Texas. 

As for games, Gipson is never far away from his band. He'll give it to one of the graduate assistants—who sit directly behind head coach Bruce Weber on the bench—to hold on to. 

In the locker room before games, you'll often find him praying and tapping his wrist where the band rests, reminding himself who he plays for. 

Irving, whose locker was located next to Gipson's during his playing career, took special notice of Gipson's pregame routine. 

"He warms up with is, he kisses it before the game then he has somebody hold it," Irving said. "He thinks about it before every game.”

Jackson-Houston's passing wasn't the only tragedy to beset Gipson though. On Easter Sunday in 2012, shortly after his freshman season, death struck again. 

This time, it was a woman that Gipson considered his sister. 

Jade Middleton, who was attending North Texas, was killed after her van hydroplaned during an intense storm, causing her to crash into a bridge embankment. According to a report in the Waxahachie Daily Light, the Justice of the Peace in the precinct where Middleton was killed said that the accident was freak in nature. 

“She was wearing her seatbelt and doing everything right,” Jackie Miller, the Justice of the Peace, said in the report. “Such a horrific thing, and to think it happened on Easter makes it even more tragic.”

Middleton was the daughter of a longtime girlfriend of Thomas Gipson Jr., Gipson's father. The two were born in January 1993 and became close during their adolescent years. 

"We were born in the same month, so we just called each other twins," Gipson said. "I grew up with her." 

Gipson says he doesn't like to weigh on either Middleton's or Jackson-Houston's passing much day-to-day. But on the court, it's a different story. 

"I just try to make them live through me out there," said Gipson. "I know they want me to be successful and I want to be successful for them." 

Death hasn't been the only pain that Gipson's experienced though. The pain of being overlooked—particularly by Texas, where his father played his college ball—resonates with him as well. 

When Gipson was being recruited out of high school, he was seen as the type of player who could be great at the mid-major level, but only a serviceable role player at high major schools. Still, he received offers from the likes of Baylor and SMU. 

But not the Longhorns. 

According to Gipson, it was a Texas assistant who told him that the Longhorns didn't want him because he was just 6'7", too small to play for the premier school in the Lone Star State. 

Gipson takes that to heart.

"I especially have something against Texas, because they didn't want me. They said I was too undersized and everything, so I always take that personally when I play against them," Gipson said. 

When K-State visited Austin in 2013-14, the Wildcats found themselves trailing late. During a timeout, Gispon—who finished the game with 24 points and five boards—came to the bench yelling, "We ain't losing this game!" 

With less than a minute to play, Texas big man Cameron Ridley fouled out of the game. A few seconds later, K-State forward Shane Southwell buried a shot to tie the game at 64. It seemed as though the Wildcats would go into overtime with all the momentum in their favor. 

Then, Gipson felt the pain again. 

"It hurt a lot when especially since it was on me. It hurt a lot," he said. 

With 1.9 seconds left in regulation, Texas point guard Isaiah Taylor inbounded the ball to star forward Jonathan Holmes in the corner. Holmes squared up and got off a last-second three-pointer over Gipson's outstretched arms. 

Gipson turned around and watched the ball fall through the net, sending the Longhorns to a 67-64 win and squashing Gipson's hopes of showing up the coaches who passed on him in their own building. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTxiFpuJqWw

"I was just a second late, and that's all it takes is being a second late," Gipson said. "And we lost." 

Gipson and the Wildcats got their retribution later in the year, throttling Texas in Bramlage Coliseum 74-57. Gipson had just three points but ate up the glass that afternoon, pulling down 11 rebounds. 

The house has always seemed to have it in for Gipson. Between the deaths of two of his closest friends to being denied the chance to follow in his father's footsteps, he's had more than his fair share of hardship. But it's how he's played the cards he's been dealt that has defined Gipson. 

Dealing With It All

The first time you lay eyes on Gipson, you'll notice his chiseled arms. You'll also notice that he seems to have a scowl on his face at all times. 

But that's who he is. That's how he deals with pain, by muscling through it all with an arduous, one-step-at-a-time approach. 

The trials that Gipson has gone through are often from where he draws his strength. He plays with a ferocious intensity on the court, refusing to let anybody punk him. 

Just ask Portland Trail Blazers forward Thomas Robinson. At 6'10", Robinson was one of the biggest and baddest forces in college basketball when he played for the Kansas Jayhawks in 2011-12, Gipson's freshman season. 

During a game between the Jayhawks and Wildcats in Manhattan that season, Gipson stepped in front of Robinson on defense and took a charge—something that Gipson has since turned into a specialty of his. 

After taking the charge, Robinson got up and forcefully and purposefully stepped over Gipson—a la Allen Iverson stepping over Tyronn Lue after that vicious crossover that landed Lue on the floor. 

Gipson got up and the two shared words before being separated. He wasn't about to be shown up. 

"I didn't know what was wrong with him," Gipson said. "I told him 'don't ever do that again.'" 

When he's out on the floor, he's out there to prove to everybody that he's the toughest guy on the floor. That he's the best guy on the floor. And he doesn't care if his matchup is 6'11" and has 45 pounds on him. 

"Regardless of who's out there on the floor, he's out there to prove that he's the best big man," Irving said. "With him being undersized, he takes that personally. He wants his presence to be felt."

Ask Gipson though, he won't even tell you he's undersized. He'll just tell you that he's smarter than his opponents. 

"I've learned to outsmart people," Gipson said. "You have to outthink people. Just stay with a low center of gravity where it would be hard for people to move me, just play smarter than everybody else."

Going into his junior season, the K-State coaches convinced Gipson that the best way to outwork people would be to get in shape, and that meant losing weight. 

"When we first got here, we thought he was just a big bully," Lowery said. "We talked about how he had to develop his skill, get in the best shape he's ever been in and just try to learn the game of basketball."

So between his second and third year in college, Gipson shed down from over 280 pounds to 265, most if not all of it being body fat. 

That weight loss made Gipson lighter on his feet, giving him an edge over some of the taller guys in the conference. 

"I want to use their length as an advantage of mine playing under the basket because I can get them to pump fake when I use post-up moves," Gipson said. 

Back to Gipson's specialty—taking charges. At the postseason awards banquet for K-State this year, he was awarded the team's Bob Boozer Courage Award for taking the most charges out of anybody on the team. He was on the receiving end of 13 in 2013-14. 

That's one way Gipson makes up for his lack of size. Another way is tremendous footwork. 

"People don't realize how good of feet he really has until you actually talk about it," Lowery said. 

Time and time again, it seems that Gipson finds ways to put the ball in the basket or pull down a rebound over a taller defender. That's because he knows how to work angles and maneuver his body to exactly the right position. 

That's tough to do at times in the Big 12, when guys like Ridley and Robinson and Joel Embiid are constantly being thrown at you. He's always taken on the challenges in stride. 

"Whether it's injuries or being undersized, he'll always fight through it," Irving said. 

Becoming a Leader

After that disappointing 2-3 start to the 2013-14 season, the Wildcats returned from Puerto Rico and held a short workout after a day's worth of travel back to Manhattan. After that practice, the team huddled up to address the team's growing issues. 

It was Gipson whose voice was heard that night, telling his team that they needed to buy into the system and trust in one another. 

"He helped us right the ship when we were struggling," Lowery said. 

Entering his senior campaign, Gipson is the unquestioned leader of the Wildcats, who are poised to make another run at a Big 12 title after winning one in 2012-13. 

His teammates and coaches realized last season that when rubber hits the road, Gipson would be the one to stand up and lead the team through hardship. That's probably because he's brought himself through hardship so often already. 

Gipson isn't infallible in his leadership. His coarse, unequivocal tone sometimes rubs people the wrong way, especially when it's yelled in the heat of an intense practice or game. But Gipson is also self-aware enough to know that his words might have been misconstrued and never lets the problem fester. 

"There's times where people might be offended by what he says, but off the court he'll apologize and tell you what he meant," Irving said. 

While Gipson is certainly known for his intensity, he's compassionate too. After K-State's upset win over Kansas last season, he was interviewed by ESPN's Holly Rowe atop the scorer's table amidst a mob of students. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1wnG7FlxtU

After the interview ended, Gipson told Rowe he had to go. Off-camera, his last words to her were, "Do you need help?" 

The smile, accompanied by the helping hand that Gipson donned in that moment, is almost a rarity. The coaching staff wants to see more of it in his last season. 

"He needs to smile more," Lowery said. 

But that doesn't mean the staff wants Gipson to lose his edge either. 

"We want him to play with a chip on his shoulder, we want him to play like people slight him," Lowery said. "We have to find ways to motivate him, and him being an undersized big, that's enough motivation." 

Gipson's goal for his post-collegiate career is to make the NBA someday. He realizes that he likely won't be drafted and will have to take either the NBA D-League or overseas route. But that doesn't discourage him. 

"I want to go to the NBA, I mean everybody wants to go to the NBA that plays college basketball," Gipson said. "It's a blessing if it would happen, but it's a blessing if it doesn't happen. Most people don't go to the NBA just out of college, most people go overseas or people go through the D-League. However long it takes me, I'll be fine with it." 

That's the kind of determination Gipson has developed over the years. He knows, someday, he'll make it to the league.  

If Gipson is anything, he's resilient. He was told he wouldn't be good enough to play in the Big 12. Twice, he lost two of his closest friends to tragic accidents. He persevered through a coaching staff change, plus the ups and downs that any basketball team can bring. The list goes on and on. 

Yet somehow, someway, he's proven that he belongs. That's he's tough enough to not just carry on, but to lead others. 

Now he just wants another crack at it. 

"I can't wait until practice starts because I'm ready to play." 

*All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted