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MANHATTAN — Casey Alexander was introduced as Kansas State's new basketball coach. He shook hands, met donors and outlined his vision for rebuilding the Wildcats. It's now time for him to get to work.
Alexander flew back to Nashville after his introduction event on Monday, March 16, and is expected to return to Manhattan late this week. He's not coaching Belmont in the NIT, as the school declined its bid given its recent changes, so it's full steam ahead for K-State.
Alexander appears to be moving quickly with several items that need to be completed before the transfer portal opens after the NCAA Tournament national championship. Roster-building for the 2026-27 season will soon commence, as Alexander attempts to immediately get K-State on a more stable track.
Here are a few of Alexander's immediate items on his to-do list.
Alexander already indicated that his coaching staff is pretty much in place. He said multiple coaches will move from Belmont to K-State and that it's just a matter of human resources approving the hires.
Among assistant coach possibilities are Kerron Johnson, Luke Smith, Bryce Haase and JJ Butler, while monitoring Brian Ayers, a longtime Belmont assistant who coached under Rick Byrd. Others outside Belmont will be hired, considering his staff at K-State will be larger than the one he had at the mid-major level.
No coaches from Jerome Tang's staff will be retained, but support staff could remain.
Alexander said Monday that he's attempted to reach out to players from the 2025-26 team, but hadn't been able to get a hold of them. It's worth noting that the university is on its spring break.
Not many, if any, players from last season are expected to return to the Wildcats. Alexander indicated that it'd have to be the right situation for both the program and the athlete moving forward.
Players can enter the transfer portal from April 7-21. Alxander will add players during and after those dates.
No K-State player from last season has announced their intentions of entering the portal, but it's coming. Plenty are starting to across the country, including several of Alexander's Belmont players. It's not a guarantee that the likes of Tyler Lundblade and Drew Scharnowski, his two best players from last season, will join him, but they're definitely worth monitoring.
There are others who have already announced their transfer intentions that could make sense in Manhattan. Xavier's All Wright, who played against Alexander last season at Valparaiso, is the son of a former K-State basketball player. There are standouts from Lipscomb and Chattanooga, who Alexander is plenty familiar with, making it known that they're portal-bound, too.
This is the period in which we'll get a better feel of what's to come.
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Casey Alexander's K-State basketball to-do list
Continue reading...
Alexander flew back to Nashville after his introduction event on Monday, March 16, and is expected to return to Manhattan late this week. He's not coaching Belmont in the NIT, as the school declined its bid given its recent changes, so it's full steam ahead for K-State.
Alexander appears to be moving quickly with several items that need to be completed before the transfer portal opens after the NCAA Tournament national championship. Roster-building for the 2026-27 season will soon commence, as Alexander attempts to immediately get K-State on a more stable track.
Here are a few of Alexander's immediate items on his to-do list.
Casey Alexander will hire his Kansas State coaching staff
Alexander already indicated that his coaching staff is pretty much in place. He said multiple coaches will move from Belmont to K-State and that it's just a matter of human resources approving the hires.
Among assistant coach possibilities are Kerron Johnson, Luke Smith, Bryce Haase and JJ Butler, while monitoring Brian Ayers, a longtime Belmont assistant who coached under Rick Byrd. Others outside Belmont will be hired, considering his staff at K-State will be larger than the one he had at the mid-major level.
No coaches from Jerome Tang's staff will be retained, but support staff could remain.
Casey Alexander will meet with last year's Kansas State players
Alexander said Monday that he's attempted to reach out to players from the 2025-26 team, but hadn't been able to get a hold of them. It's worth noting that the university is on its spring break.
Not many, if any, players from last season are expected to return to the Wildcats. Alexander indicated that it'd have to be the right situation for both the program and the athlete moving forward.
Casey Alexander will prep for the transfer portal
Players can enter the transfer portal from April 7-21. Alxander will add players during and after those dates.
No K-State player from last season has announced their intentions of entering the portal, but it's coming. Plenty are starting to across the country, including several of Alexander's Belmont players. It's not a guarantee that the likes of Tyler Lundblade and Drew Scharnowski, his two best players from last season, will join him, but they're definitely worth monitoring.
There are others who have already announced their transfer intentions that could make sense in Manhattan. Xavier's All Wright, who played against Alexander last season at Valparaiso, is the son of a former K-State basketball player. There are standouts from Lipscomb and Chattanooga, who Alexander is plenty familiar with, making it known that they're portal-bound, too.
This is the period in which we'll get a better feel of what's to come.
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Casey Alexander's K-State basketball to-do list
Continue reading...
