K-State Slate: 4.24.15 - Retooling the defense

Never let it be said that we don't interrogate an issue from all sides. This time, Curtis Kitchen looks at the other half of the Bruce Weber conundrum: Why do you like Bruce Weber?

Our part in the Marcus Foster saga is probably over as he is now at Creighton, but that school had little insight to offer, as Jon Morse reports in this piece.

The defense has lost a number of key players to graduation and will need to rebuild and readjust accordingly. As part of this retooling effort, Elijah Lee, who played surprisingly well (breaking the school record for sacks by a freshman). He featured mostly in third-down situations last season, but will be moving to outside linebacker (Kellis Robinett, Wichita Eagle). Ken Corbitt (Topeka Capital-Journal) has more on the same story.

Sam Sizelove also expects to contribute, though Bill Snyder acknowledges that Sizelove may have hit a plateau in his progress. (Emilio Rivera, K-State Collegian)

The annual spring game is this weekend! Here's a by the numbers view of Sporting Park (Tate Steinlage, Collegian), and a Q&A with Tim Fitzgerald of Powercat Illustrated (Steinlage).

The BatCats are hitting the road today to take on Baylor in a three-game series. The team hopes to halt its current losing streak. Shane Conlon and Steve Serratore are each on a hot streak, which will help the team win its Big 12 series opener for the fourth consecutive time this season. First pitch is scheduled for 3 PM today, and right-hander Colton Kalmus will take the mound for the Wildcats.

With a win, head coach Brad Hill will become the 29th active head coach at a four-year school to reach 800 wins.

The tennis team has a great sense of timing. They upset Iowa State at the Big 12 Championships, and also ended a five-match losing streak against conference opponents.

Iowa State took the doubles point to go 2-0, but the Wildcats stormed back, with singles wins at numbers one, three, four and five. Sophomore Iva Bago won her 17th match at the event, a personal-best for her, while also ending a two-match skid.

The team takes on Big 12 regular season champion Baylor in the quarterfinals.

Claire Gottschalk is a fourth-grade student at Briarwood Elementary in Olathe. She displayed some outside-the-box thinking for a class poetry project, writing a letter to Bill Snyder to ask about his favorite poem instead. Naturally, she got a letter with his trademark slanted purple writing in return, along with a copy of Snyder's favorite poem, "Grandpa," by Bob Quigley. If you are not sniffling just a little after reading the poem...