Click the jump for K-State sports news and notes.
The Beasley Matter
Still not much new on Michael Beasley. Apparently, he has checked into a rehab hospital in Houston..and that's about all we know.
Kevin Haskin at the TCJ has a column about Beasley's rehab. Basically, Haskin isn't convinced that more time at K-State would have helped Beasley an argument that Kevin Kietzman made on Between the Lines yesterday. Both sides have good points. I tend to side with Keitzman on this one. A 19-year-old probably isn't ready to live on his own in a city like Miami with millions of dollars in the bank and demands being made left and right. While I realize there's a culture of entitlement in college, too, look at what an extra few years in college did for Mario Chalmers. I know we're not supposed to say good things about Chalmers because he's a KU player, but he was the starting PG from day one in Miami, and doesn't have Dwyane Wade complaining about his maturity. Another year or two with Frank Martin as a father figure might have instilled a little more discipline and maturity in Beasley.
Curtis Kitchen of 810 WHB also chimes in with a blog post on Beasley's situation I urge you to read this one, because Kitchen gets to the heart of the matter. We can argue all day about whether the NBA's one-year rule is wrong or right, if it helps kids or if it doesn't, but we can't forget we have a kid battling depression here. That's the important issue right now. From all of us at BOTC, we're pulling for you, Michael.
Football
Austin Meek has a news story documenting Daniel Thomas' public debut in a Wildcat uniform which is exciting even if he was only taking handoffs at half speed. The story also notes that Prizell Brown is practicing at defensive end rather than tight end, the offensive and defensive lines have been shuffled due to injuries, and that Aubrey Quarles and Billy McClelland were missing in action.
Speaking of Thomas, Kitchen also has some news and notes from around the Big 12 Love this quote...
A source said the Wildcats are so enthralled with Thomas’ abilities that they are working on a play that would have Thomas line up at center, snap the ball to himself in shotgun formation, look for himself on a go route and hit himself in stride between two defenders. He’s that good.
With less than two weeks until the season starts, Bill Snyder has yet to name a starting QB, and apparently Grant Gregory is closing in on prohibitive favorite Carson Coffman. I don't doubt that may be true, but I'm not dismissing the possibility that this is one of Snyder's head games. In less pleasant quarterback news, backup Joseph Kassanavoid was arrested on battery charges. You all know the refrain to this one: The matter will be handled internally.
Kevin Haskin has a column featuring new offensive line coach Charlie Dickey. It must be a real beating to be an offensive linemen. Not only the physical punishment, but the fact that you get no glory for what you do and people don't consider you "skilled."
Volleyball
K-State's volleyball team enters the season ranked No. 22. A difficult early schedule awaits the Cats when they travel to Omaha to face ranked Big 10 opponents in Minnesota and Michigan in the AVCA Showcase. Despite being one of only four Big 12 teams ranked in the preseason top 25, the Cats were picked by Big 12 coaches to finish sixth in the league after losing five seniors, including four starters, from last season's squad. Let's hope the national pollsters are more accurate.
The Fourum
...is not quite back yet. Sorry for the tease. The K-State Collegian is back, but there's no Fourum just yet. Soon, however, we shall be delivered from this oasis and shall have our fill of completely pointless yet undeniably hilarious sound bites back.