I am in full support of Bruce Weber as Kansas State’s men’s basketball coach. Don’t @ me.
There, I said it. I’m fully aware that this story might have comment after comment ripping Weber and me, but quite frankly, I don’t care. Things haven’t always been smooth waters for Weber here at K-State, but the waters are starting to calm.
I’ll admit it; I haven’t always been a Weber fan. I’ve criticized him just like every other fan has, but I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong.
Recruitment
One of the biggest knocks on Weber when he came to K-State was that he couldn’t recruit. Weber’s first recruit was current senior forward D.J. Johnson. By the time Johnson had signed, it was late in the summer when most teams already had their rosters ready to go. I think most teams would love to have Johnson on their team, and all that credit goes to Weber for finding a diamond in the rough.
Senior guard Wesley Iwundu and current Creighton junior guard Marcus Foster headlined his next recruiting class. Foster obviously isn’t with the team anymore, but the dude could ball.
Now, we don’t know the details of why Foster was let go, and maybe some day we will, but you can’t say Weber doesn’t know who can play and who can’t. As for Iwundu, what more needs to be said? Ever since his freshman season, he’s been filling up the stat sheet and providing quality minutes for the Wildcats.
Weber’s 2015 class might be his best. It includes sophomore guards Kamau Stokes and Barry Brown and forward Dean Wade, to name a few. It’s not very often you find three reliable starters in one class. I think Wildcat fans will be pretty excited to have those three working together for the next three years.
And most recently, let’s not forget freshman guard Xavier Sneed. We haven’t gotten a huge sample size of Sneed’s talent, but from what we can tell so far, Sneed could be pretty special and has the potential to go down as one of the best Wildcats ever.
The game
One of the things I’ve been most impressed with this year is Weber’s preparation and coaching during games. There is a definite improvement from the last few years in terms of having his team prepared and ready to play. I mean seriously, when’s the last time a K-State coach has put together two solid games against KU in one season?
I, for one, can’t remember a time when the Wildcats have lost to the Jayhawks twice in a year but only by a total of five points. Yes, winning one or both of those games would’ve been nice, but K-State was in position to win both games. Isn’t that all you can ask for?
The KU games aren’t the only ones that have come down to the wire. Besides the Tennessee game, the Wildcats have been in position to win just about every game. The team is currently 16-8, but could very well be sitting at 22-2. I wonder if many people would still be angry with Weber then?
I know all the Weber haters have knocks against him, and rightfully so. I understand it, but not every coach is going to be perfect. All coaches, even the best of them, have something to bring them down a bit.
Weber also didn’t do himself any favors winning a share of the Big 12 Championship in his first year. Right off the bat, he set the bar about as high as it can get. Only things could go down from there. Missing out on the big dance isn’t the norm here at K-State, and Weber has failed at that the past few years.
He has been getting a lot of heat lately for K-State’s play. Whether it’s the slow starts or the ugly finishes, all of the blame has been thrown on Weber. But at what point does it stop? Sure, some of that blame can go on him, but saying it’s all on him is completely unfair.
Some of you will have a different view of this situation than me. I understand where you are coming from and I respect your opinion.
All I’m saying is that Weber, in my mind, has done a good enough job to be K-State’s head coach. Even if you don’t support him, I do.
