Slate: A Press Conference Surprise

Fair warning, we’re heavy on links to the AD today.

Football

Yesterday was Press Conference Day at Vanier, but it was not Chris Klieman who opened the Zoom call. Rather, Associate Head Coach/Passing Game Coordinator/Cornerbacks coach Van Malone took charge of yesterday’s press conference after Klieman was unable to attend due to a “prior engagement”. And in the end, we got a bit of a different perspective from Malone, who as aspirations of leading his own program in the future. Malone talked about the beatdown of KU, the K-State guys in the NFL who had great weekends, and the extra emphasis the Wildcats continue to put on special teams.

There are a lot of AJ Parker truthers out there, and Parker is definitely a solid DB (get better soon, buddy, we need you!), but another Wildcat CB puts him to shame based on analytics. Justin Gardner is the third-highest graded outside corner in the country according the Pro Football Focus, only behind dudes from Clemson and LSU.

Here at Bring on the Cats, late yesterday, Drew dropped in with film breakdown of how Courtney Messingham used KU’s own film study to burn them with a angle route that didn’t angle. And be sure to be on the watch later today for this week’s regular Bring on the PodCats where we discuss the upcoming WVU game (and a bunch of other randomness), as well as a another “historical” preview of the upcoming game from Derek Moeller-Smith.

And we don’t usually dive over to enemy territory, but in the wake of yet another brutal loss, KU football fans are throwing around the words “embarrassed” and “pathetic”, especially as it relates to the coaching and athletics department staff. Yikes.

Basketball

K-State Sports announced yesterday that members of the K-State men’s and women’s basketball coaching staffs are representing the school as part of the formation of the Big 12 Black Assistant Coaches Alliance (BACA). The Big 12 BACA has been formed as a response to the ongoing social unrest in the USA, with the intent of the alliance to work with together with each member institution to assist with educating, unifying, serving and supporting all Big 12 student-athletes and coaches.

Soccer

K-State heads to Ames for their final road trip of the 2020 season, facing the Cyclones on Friday at 6pm. The Cyclones are one of three Big 12 teams the Wildcats have beaten since the program’s formation, and a win this Friday would even the series with Iowa State as well as snap a 14-match Big 12 road losing streak. You can watch this game, as with most K-State soccer games, on ESPN+, or you can listen to the radio broadcast on 101.5 KROCK in the Manhattan area or online at K-StateSports.com.

Volleyball

Two VolleyCats picked up Big 12 Conference awards this week after they helped lead their squad to a series sweep of Oklahoma this past weekend. Senior setter Shelby Martin was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, while freshman outside hitter Aliyah Carter was tabbed Big 12 Rookie of the Week. This is the first such award for either player (though Carter was seriously snubbed after her showing against Texas), and the third and fourth weekly awards for K-State this season.