SLATE: Paradox and Nebraska

Somehow, in the depths of our misery without any sports, we have NEWS today. Amazing, huh?

We’ll start with the oldest item: as reported by Jon Rothstein on Saturday and further illuminated by Kellis Robinett, contract details are all that stand between former Wildcat Shane Southwell returning to stalk the Kansas State sideline. Southwell returns to Manhattan after a one-year sabbatical in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, where he spent last season as an assistant at Robert Morris. How’d he do there? Well, the Colonials won 20 games, the Northeast Conference title, and had a trip to the NCAA Tournament dashed by the plague, so it was a pretty good year.

It’s a good move for Bruce Weber, as his staff sorely lacked a coach who could more closely relate to the players. It’s also a welcome move from a fan perspective, as it puts a suit on the sideline with a connection to a fondly-remembered past. Southwell has been a part of two Big 12 titles; one as a player in 2013, and one as a graduate assistant in 2019.

In other basketball news, K-State announced yesterday that it had signed a three-game deal with Nebraska. That series will start with a game at the Sprint Center on December 19 of this year, assuming life has returned to normal by then. That’ll be followed by a game in Lincoln on December 18, 2021, and a game at Bramlage on December 17, 2022.

Some people might have mixed feelings about this, but it’s a quality non-conference addition to the schedule, and it’s not football.

In today’s Sports Extra, Austin Siegel reports on how the football team is coping with the realities of social distancing at a time when they expected to be in spring practice.

Finally, some great non-sports news. Last week in this very space, we had the unfortunate task of informing you about Professor Andrew Smith, the first K-State connection to COVID-19. He’s not 100% out of the woods yet, but he is back home after being released from the ICU at Via Christi. Robinett is on the job reporting on his recovery.