Courtesy of Kansas State Athletics
MANHATTAN, Kan. – On the strength of its run to the Elite Eight, the Kansas State men’s basketball team finished with a No. 9 ranking in the final USA Today Coaches poll released on Tuesday (April 4) afternoon.
K-State (26-10, 11-7 Big 12) was among four Big 12 schools to finish in the Coaches Top 25, joining No. 7 Texas, No. 11 Kansas and No. 19 Baylor, while three others (TCU, West Virginia and Iowa State) received votes. National champion UConn was No. 1, followed by national runner-up San Diego State at No. 2, Miami at No. 3, Alabama at No. 4 and Florida Atlantic at No. 5. Incoming Big 12 member Houston finished at No. 6.
It marks the sixth time that K-State has appeared in the final USA Today Coaches poll since 2010, including the highest since finishing seventh in 2010. The Wildcats also appeared in the final Coaches poll for the first time since placing 19th in 2018-19. It is the school’s second-highest ranking (following 2010) since the coaches began doing a post NCAA Tournament poll in 1994.
K-State concluded the 2022-23 campaign with a 26-10 overall record, including a tie for third place in the Big 12 standings with an 11-7 mark, and the school’s 32nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 18th time after wins over Montana State and Kentucky in the first two rounds then made it to the Elite Eight for the 13th time after their victory over Michigan State on March 23.
The 26 wins are the third-most in school history, trailing the school-record 29 in 2009-10 and the 27 in 2012-13, and just the eighth 25-win season and the first since 2018-19.
Head coach Jerome Tang was named Big 12 Coach of the Year by the league coaches and The Associated Press, while he was selected as the Naismith Men’s College Coach of the Year on April 2. Senior Markquis Nowell capped his K-State career by becoming the first Wildcat to ever win the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s top point guard, while he was named the NCAA East Regional’s Most Outstanding Player after his memorable performance in the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 23.5 points, 13.5 assists and 4.0 steals during his 4-game NCAA Tournament run, including 25 points and 15.5 assists in the games against Michigan State and Florida Atlantic.
Nowell finished No. 4 in total points (94) in the NCAA Tournament behind UConn’s Adama Sanogo (118) and Jordan Hawkins (98) and Gonzaga’s Drew Timme (97), while his 54 assists are the third-most in the tournament’s history and the most since Michigan’s Rumeal Robinson had 56 in 1989.
Nowell dished out a tournament and school-record 19 assists in the win over the Spartans. He finished his college career with just the second 30-point, 10-assist game in school history, as he led the way with game-highs in points (30), assists (12) and steals (5) in playing all 40 minutes against the Owls. He is the first player with at least 25 points and 10 assists in a game in the Elite Eight or later since Marquette’s Dwyane Wade had a triple-double (29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists) against Kentucky in 2003.
Nowell was joined on several All-America teams by teammate Keyontae Johnson. The duo, who finished fourth among power conference players at 35 points per game, became the first Wildcat tandem to each earn All-America honors from the AP in the same season when they were selected to organization’s Third Team. Johnson, who was also selected to the NCAA East Regional All-Tournament, was the unanimous Big 12’s Newcomer of the Year, while both were named to the All-Big 12 First Team by the league coaches and the AP.
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