Football
It was Darren Sproles’ night on Tuesday, as the former All-American and Heisman finalist was officially enshrined in the NFF College Football Hall of Fame in an induction ceremony Tuesday night. Sproles joins former K-State greats Gary Spani and Mark Simoneau in the Hall of Fame, as well as head coach Bill Snyder, who was on-hand for the event to celebrate with Darren.
Klieman announced yesterday he is headed to Kansas Wesleyan. Colby Klieman, that is, the son of K-State head coach Chris Klieman announced we has committed to play defensive back at KWU. He follows in his fathers footsteps, as the elder Klieman was also a defensive back for a purple and gold team in college.
Basketball
We’ve got two games on tap for later today.
First up, the MittieCats are in Omaha this evening to face off against the Omaha Mavericks on their home court of Baxter Arena at 5pm CST. The game is the second in a three-game road swing that began last Friday with the loss to No. 1/1 South Carolina. Kansas State will be looking to snap an 11-game road losing streak that dates back to a loss in Ames on December 18th, 2020. The last time these two teams met, the Wildcats picked up a 66-59 victory in Manhattan a week before that road losing streak started. The game will be streamed via Mavs All-Access (subscription required), and can also be heard on portions of the K-State Sports Network (and streaming online at kstatesports.com).
Then tonight we’ve got the big game in Bramlage, with the WeberCats hosting the Golden Eagles of Marquette at 8pm CST in the Big 12/Big East Battle. It’s a Color Rush Game, and fans are encouraged to wear lavender attire to match the Wildcats uniforms. Last time these two teams met, Marquette came away with a 73-65 victory in Bramlage on Dec. 7th, 2019, but both teams are markedly different than the two that met on the court that evening, especially the team from Milwaukee. That said, they aren’t unfamiliar, with Shaka Smart taking over from Steve Wojciechowski, who was fired at the end of last season.
Yesterday’s Sports Extra brought back the memory of one of the earliest “K-State rules”, and a reminder that the Wildcats getting the raw end of the deal goes back a long ways. Known better across college basketball as “The Winston Rule”, a judgement call that waived off a tip-in basket in the waning seconds of K-State’s 1977 NCAA Tournament game against Marquette caused such outrage across the sport that not long after the Tournament ended, the rule that allowed the waived basket was removed. But that doesn’t mean former K-State center Darryl Winston has forgotten the shot that didn’t count, that could have forced overtime the Sweet 16 match-up.
Volleyball
K-State sophomore Aliyah Carter continues to rack up awards, and was named to the 2021 AVCA Midwest All-Region First Team as announced Tuesday by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. This is the second straight season the star outside hitter has been honored by the AVCA, as she was the 2020 AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year and was on the 2020 All-Region First Team. She finished the 2021 season ranking second in the Big 12 and 44th in the country in kills per set, leading the Wildcats with a 4.03 kills per set and 431 kills overall on the season.