Slate: Kareem Adbul-Jabbar Addresses K-State Tonight

After both the men and women suffered humiliating hardwood defeats Saturday, maybe it’s good to have some time off to take stock of the problems, address issues, and gather momentum for a finishing kick to the basketball season. For sports blogs, though, it’s hell.

For a second straight day, there is nothing in the way of actual competition to report. As tends to happen, though, other issues previously overlooked tend to surface in downtime. Yesterday, it was unwelcome news from Overland Park.

Men’s Basketball

Reports surfaced Monday afternoon that a car registered to K-State junior Amaad Wainright was involved in a road rage incident that culminated in a passenger in the car shooting a bullet into the back seat of another vehicle on January 17th. There is no word on whether Wainright was directly involved in the incident. K-State says Amaad cooperated fully with the investigation, and that as far as the school knows, the issue is resolved. Law enforcement authorities in Overland Park appear to disagree with that assessment.

The incident occurred the day after K-State’s win against Oklahoma. Wainright did not play in the Wildcats’ next game, against TCU, but has appeared in every other game. While Bruce Weber has been criticized for many things, he has always been known for running a clean program. If he believed Amaad had any culpability for this incident, past history suggests he would not be suiting up for the team. Wainright himself has reached out via social media to reassure people he is a good person. Until proven otherwise, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Women’s Basketball

Jeff Mittie’s squad will look to rebound from its embarrassing 80-45 loss to Iowa State by closing out its homestand against Texas Tech. The K-State women carry an abysmal 1-5 home record into the game. Tech is 7-15, 1-10 in Big 12 play. K-State beat the Lady Raiders 65-53 February 1st in Lubbock. At 12-11, 4-8 in conference, the Wildcats need to notch some victories just to stay above .500 to remain qualified for the WNIT.

All-time great and K-State Hall of Fame inductee Kendra Wecker was in Manhattan this past weekend to participate in National Girls and Women in Sports Day events. She loves Manhattan and has fond memories of her time at K-State. Don’t we all.

Campus Event

Tonight at 7:00, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will address the K-State Community at Bramlage Coliseum. The event was organized by the Black Student Union, along with the partnership of SGA and the athletic department, as part of K-State’s Diversity and Inclusion movement.