Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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Cats celebrate 100 years of men ' s basketball with al•entury team GREATS RETURN ANY MtFLAME RITUAL, the men ' s basketball team warmed up on the court, but the atmosphere was dif- ferent March 1. On the upper level of BramlageColiseum, fans lined up for autographs from the team, but not the one warming upon the court. They wanted autographs from the All-Century team composed of 13 standouts from K-State ' s basketball history. You look up in the crowd and see all those guys who make up Kansas State basketball, senior forward Matt Siebrandt said. That ' s the tradition and you see it and it made the arena a lot more special. I wanted to play really well, just to show them were trying to turn it around and that we ' re trying to do what they did. The season marked the 100th year of men ' s Wildcat basketball. A lot of the students don ' t realize that we used to be a basketball powerhouse here. Siebrandt said. (The students) want to get it back and we want to get it back and I think that linking (the program) to the past helps you to get there sooner. The team, voted on by fans, comprised 10 players and three coaches, including Ernie Barrett, lack Parr, Bob Boozer, Lon Kruger, Chuckle Williams. Mike Evans, Rolando Blackman, Ed Healy, Steve Henson. and Mitch Richmond. Players had to at least be first-team all-conference select ions during their time as a Wildcat to be on the ballot. Richmond and Henson were unable to attend due to previous engagements. Obviously, it was indeed a real honor, Barrett, 1950-1952 forward, said. I happened to be the oldest selection of the players from K-State ' s past honored by Andi Rice group, having played over half a century ago. On behalf of the 1950-51 team I was very honored to have someone selected to represent that particular team. The coaches selected for the team were JackGardner (147- 81), Tex Winter (262-117) and lack Hartman (295-169), who died Nov. 6,1998. It ' s hard on a new coach to try and build a program up and try and get it back where it once was, Winter said. (lim Wooldridge) certainly hasdone an excellent job in bringing in new players and trying to keep the tradition alive. Of course, the former playersappreciate it and consequently they ' ll be much more supportive of the program. As a part of the tribute, the current team wore violet jerseys, replicates of the ones worn in the late 1970s. We wanted to wear those jer- seys to symbolize that we remember our past and it ' s important to us, Wooldridge said, We always talk about connecting the past and the present and we do that, essentially, because everyone has a sense of pride in Kansas State basketba II and that ' s why we connect the dots as we do. The bottom line is we want to be successful again. Wecan ' t get better unless we have a real sense of pride in who we are representing. All.Cf.NTURY MEMBERS Ernie Barrett, Jack Parr and Bob Boozer talk as they watch the Wildcats play against Missouri, March I. Barrett said he was happy to see the progress the program was making. can honestly say that when (Jim Wooldridge) arrived the cupboard was really bare; Barrett said. ' As a result it ' s going to take some time to get it turned around: — Photo by Lindsey Bauman All-Century Basketball Team 273

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SHARING A LAUGH, Chuckle Williams, Mike Evans and Rolando Blackman stand at half court with plaques that highlighted their plishments at K-State. The members of the All-Century team had a chance to give the current basketball team advice on their game. The team Is obviously struggling right now to And itself and to get rooted; Blackman said. They have to know and understand that they have a strong and very rich tradition that they can build a base f tom. They have to understand that those who came before them and the teams that came before them were very, very good teams and had conditional nence: —Photo by Lindsey Bauman AFTER HIS NAME Is called, All-Century member Rolando Blackman waves to the crowd during the hatfdme festivities to honor the All-Century team. The team included 10 players and three coaches from past K-State teams. Blackman played for the Wildcats from 1978-81. He ranked second on K-State ' s time scoring list with 1,844 points and played 13 seasons in the NBA. The only thing that I thought was missing and felt bad about was that my coach. lark Hartman couldn ' t be there, ' Blackman said. ' That Is the only thing that I thoroughly wished for was that he could be with us in that arena and experience that with us. —Photo by Matt Stamey 272 Sports

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Shattered Ho e Wildcats find disappointment down the stretch CLOSE GA NIES were a trademark for the Wildcats ' season — the proof was in the last three seconds of their final game. With 1.8 seconds on the clock, K-State had a two-point lead over Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 tournament, the ball was inbounded and CU ' s James White banked a three point shot to end the Wildcats ' season, 77-76. You can ' t really blame it on one thing that happened, senior forward Malt Sicbrandt said. A lot of freak things took place. We just didn ' t learn how to win a close one. It was our fault. It would get down to the final five minutes and we could never pull them out. But it did not always happen like that. TheCats started thei r season 11.5 , including a seven-game winning streak going into conference playagainst No. 23 Texas Tech. K-State beat the Red Raiders 68-44 in front of a sold out crowd at Bramlage Coliseum. 1 was thinking that ' OK, we are getting better, Coach Jim Wooldridge said. We had a lot of things that we were doing pretty well and I think we all felt like we were seeingan improved basketball team. We had some guys returning who had had productive years for us and we liked the new play- ers who were coming in. At times we were a good basketball team and then we hit a stalemate and couldn ' t score the ball as easily and we lost some close games. Following the defeat of the Red Raiders. K-State lost two games on the road against Colorado and Kansas. They returned home for a victory over Nebraska. When you get wins it ' s real important to have a certain confidence level, freshman forward Marques Hayden said. At the same time in the back of our minds we knew that we had a lot more to come. The Big 12 is the toughest conference in the country. We were happy for that day that we won, but the next day we knew thai we were going to play against a bigger and tougher opponent. continued on page 276 DIVING FOR A LOOSE BALL, senior forward Matt Siebrandt reaches past Athletes First ' s Tony Heard during the first half of K-State ' s exhibition game Nov. 13.— Photo by Kelly Glasscock GRABBING A REBOUND, Hayden fights for the ball over Iowa State ' s Laren Homan during the first half of the game March 8. —Photo by Kelly Glasscock 274 I Sports KANSAS STATE ' S FRANK RICHARDS is fouled while shooting as Missouri ' s Travon Bryant and Jimmy McKinney defend during the second bailor the Wildcats ' 77-70 loss to the Tigers, March 1 in BramlageColiseum. I think overall the effort was there? freshman Toward Marques Hayden said. its Just the mistakes and the turnovers, that ' s the things that kill any team, and it killed us? —Photo by Kelly Glasscock