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We’ll dispense with the normal categories today because we’ve only got a few things for you.
First up, it was announced yesterday that former Kansas State all-star forward, and Topeka native, Peyton Williams has earned a training camp roster spot with the defending WNBA champions, the Seattle Storm. Williams has spent the last year playing in Europe as a member of Moscow’s Sparta&K Vidnoje pro team where she averaged over eight points and nearly five rebounds during the Russian PBL regular season, before exploding for a team high average 19.5 points and nine rebounds during a four-game Euroleague run against the top women’s teams across Europe.
Sticking with basketball, Kellis Robinett has a feature on incoming transfer Ismael Massoud, who is coming to K-State eager to show off his unique offensive skill-set after spending most of last season needing to play out of his natural position (he’s a stretch-4 that was stuck playing the 5 most of the season). Coach Weber and his staff went hard after shooters in the transfer portal, and Massoud should be able to stretch the defense in much the same way that Dean Wade was able to during his career with the Wildcats.
On the links, the women’s golf team was unable to improve their spot on the final day, carding a 9-over 873 to finish in 6th place overall at the Big 12 Championships. That’s not actually bad news, however, as the tie for 6th is the highest finish for the Wildcats since 2009 when they placed fourth. Also, their mate at 6th was No. 45 TCU, and they bested No. 37 Iowa State, who finished alone in 8th (btw, KU finished last). Heather Fortushniak went even on the last day to hold on to a tied 15th-place finish to lead the Cats, and her birdie on her final hole pulled the team back into the tie for 6th. Now the Cats will wait to see if any of their individuals will receive a bid to the NCAA championships, with the announcement to come on April 28th (live on Golf Channel if you are really curious).
Despite not owning a perfect record, Jordan Wicks is still validating his MLB Draft hype so far in the 2021 season. Scouts are still in love with the lefty, who has a frustrating change-up and is consistently in the low-90s with his fastball, as Wicks has managed to remain poised during his bit of a rough stretch and bounced back in a big way against Oklahoma last Friday. If the hype holds true, Wicks is set to become the first K-Stater to be drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft, which would not only be huge for Wicks, but huge for what Pete Hughes is trying to build in Manhattan.
We didn’t have as strong a showing as previously, but K-State still managed a respectable 31st place finish in the 2021 EDSBS Charity Bowl, with K-State fans donating $6,729 to New American Pathways during the event period. We finished behind Texas (10th) and Iowa State (21st), but edged out Tech (32nd), and waaay ahead of 80th-place KU. And, as our writer AMS pointed out yesterday, K-State fans donated 94% as much as ALL of the Ivy League combined, so that’s awesome. Good work, Wildcat fans!