MANHATTAN, Kan. – Former Kansas State running back Joe Hall has been hired as the Director of Football Student-Athlete Development, head coach Chris Klieman announced Wednesday.

In his role, Hall will create, develop and implement a student-athlete development program that fosters an environment of well-being and achievement. He will serve as the football program’s liaison to various K-State Athletics support areas, including sport psychologist, athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches and student-athlete services, in addition to support services on campus. Hall will also serve as the program’s liaison between the program and both university and community organizations, including community-outreach organizations.

“One of our top priorities in our first year was to hire a specialized individual who can assist our guys with getting acclimated to being a football student-athlete as well as helping them develop into young men who have a positive impact on our community,” Klieman said. “In Joe, not only did we find a dynamic individual who has experience in this area, but he also has lived it as a football student-athlete here at K-State. We are thrilled for him to join our staff and know he will have a tremendous impact on our players.”

Most recently, Hall has worked as a behavior interventionist and counselor at various schools throughout northeast Kansas, including Junction City High School and Topeka West High School. While working in those schools, he helped counsel students from all walks of life, including military backgrounds, low socioeconomic backgrounds and students with behavioral issues.

Hall’s work in schools came after serving three seasons as an assistant coach at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas. While at NMU, Hall began to transition to off-the-field work by guiding a working group of student-athletes with children, serving as a diversity council member and as a community liaison.

A native of Compton, California, Hall lettered two years for the Wildcats after transferring from Palomar Community College. He totaled 864 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 160 carries during his two seasons, including a 613-yard, six-touchdown performance as a junior in 1999. That season featured a stretch of three-straight games with 100 rushing yards, including a career-best 195 yards against Utah State. Hall went on to play parts of four seasons in the NFL.

Hall obtained his bachelor’s degree from Kansas State in 2012, a master’s of science in management from MidAmerica Nazarene in 2015 and a master’s in school counseling from Kansas State in 2017. He is currently working toward his doctorate degree in organizational leadership.

— K-State Athletics —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State added to its backfield depth for the 2019 season on Thursday as former North Carolina running back Jordon Brown signed a financial aid agreement to play for the Wildcats.

Brown, a product of Durham, North Carolina, played the previous three seasons for the Tar Heels, totaling 1,005 yards and eight touchdowns on 239 carries. He was also a threat out of the backfield at UNC, hauling in 46 catches for 342 yards.

Rated the No. 7 all-purpose running back in the Class of 2016 by Rivals, Brown’s best season at North Carolina came as a sophomore in 2017 when he started all 12 games and led the Tar Heels with 613 yards and four touchdowns. He set single-game career highs that season against Old Dominion with 123 yards and two scores, while he had a career-long rush of 56 yards against Miami later that year.

The 2017 season was also his best receiving campaign as he totaled 237 yards on 29 catches, which included three games with at least 50 yards. He had a career-best 57 receiving yards at Georgia Tech on nine catches, while he also had nine grabs for 53 yards in the season opener against California.

Brown totaled 3,408 rushing yards and 57 touchdowns during his final three years in high school, which included 1,705 yards and 26 touchdowns as a senior to help Southern Durham earn a 12-4 record and a runner-up finish in the state playoffs. He also scored the state championship game-winning touchdown as a sophomore on an 80-yard catch-and-run in the final moments of the game.

— K-State Athletics —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State offensive lineman Dalton Risner saw his NFL dream come to fruition with his hometown team on Friday night as the Wiggins, Colorado, native was selected in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.

Risner, the No. 41 pick overall, becomes the highest Wildcat offensive lineman selected in the NFL Draft (Todd Weiner, Seattle, No. 47 in 1998) and the 11th highest overall. Risner, the first K-State offensive lineman selected since Cody Whitehair in 2016 (Chicago), is just the fourth ever Wildcat drafted by the Broncos and the first since linebacker Terry Pierce in 2003.

Additionally, Risner’s pick extended K-State’s Big 12-leading NFL Draft streak to 26 years, a mark that was tied for 12th in the nation entering the 2019 NFL Draft.

A two-time First Team All-American, Risner started 50 of the Wildcats’ 51 games over his four-year career, the first year being at center and the final three at right tackle. The 2018 co-Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year, Risner was just the fourth offensive lineman in Big 12 history to earn first team all-conference honors in three-straight seasons.

As a senior in 2018, Risner started all 12 games at right tackle en route to First Team All-America honors from Pro Football Focus, ESPN, CBS Sports and Sporting News, while he also earned second-team honors from the Walter Camp Foundation, Phil Steele, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Associated Press and the Football Writers Association of America.

Risner’s work in the community has also been well documented, including this week by NFL Network. He was honored for his outstanding work in the community this past season by being named a finalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award, William V. Campbell Trophy, Wuerffel Trophy and Senior CLASS Award.

— K-State Sports —

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — When it comes to college basketball in California, UC Irvine is low on the totem pole.

Now the program that sometimes feels like a little brother to Pac-12 powers like UCLA and USC is the only school from the state still standing in the NCAA Tournament after pulling off a stunner .

The 13th-seeded Anteaters got back-to-back 3-pointers from Evan Leonard on Friday to spark the deciding run in a 70-64 upset of No. 4 seed Kansas State, the first tournament win in school history.

“Well, little brother has been in the weight room, getting better, getting ready for a chance like this,” coach Russell Turner said. “So I’m really happy for these players to be able to work so hard for something everybody can see and then accomplish it. But I’m also really excited for the fans of our program who also seem to have endured feeling like little brothers.

“You know, we need to stick our chests out a little bit right now.”

UC Irvine (31-5) had lost its only previous tournament game, 57-55 to Louisville in 2015. But the Anteaters got a longer stay this time after taking control of the game with a 12-0 run midway through the second half and then holding off the regular season co-champions of the Big 12 to earn their 17th straight victory.

Leonard and Max Hazzard each scored 19 points to send UC Irvine (31-5) into the second round of the South Region for a matchup against Oregon.

“We’ve had three goals all year, and that was to win the regular season championship, the tournament championship and advance in the NCAA Tournament,” Hazzard said. “And that doesn’t just mean one game. We have another game on Sunday, and we’re planning to put ourselves in position to win again, and hopefully we can do that and play into next weekend.”

One year after making a run to the Elite Eight, the fourth-seeded Wildcats (25-9) had a short stay in the tournament as they struggled to decipher the Anteaters’ zone defense and missed star forward Dean Wade, who was sidelined by a foot injury. Kamau Stokes led Kansas State with 18 points.

Despite that, Kansas State led by four points midway through the second half before the two long shots from Leonard turned the tide. Robert Cartwright added another 3-pointer and Leonard made three free throws after being fouled on a 3-pointer to make it 59-51.

The Wildcats cut the deficit to two points, before Hazzard hit a corner 3 with 1:25 to play to make it 66-61 and then struck a pose to the delight of the Anteaters fans who made the trip up from Orange County.

“I just play with a lot of passion and a lot of joy,” Hazzard said. “The stage doesn’t get much bigger than this.”

Cartier Diarra hit a 3 for Kansas State off a tip pass from Xavier Sneed and the Wildcats had a chance to tie or take the lead, but Barry Brown Jr. threw a pass away with 38.8 seconds to play.

“We wanted to do something really special,” Brown said. “We did something special in our regular season, and we wanted to kind of carry that momentum over to this tournament, and just didn’t execute, didn’t hit some shots, didn’t guard the right way we should have.”

The Anteaters then sealed the game at the foul line.

BIG PICTURE

UC Irvine: Despite getting blown out early last season at Kansas State, the Anteaters were confident coming into this game thanks to 30 wins and the long winning streak. They used two big runs to stay close in the first half and forced the Wildcats into 11 straight misses to end the half. Hazzard’s buzzer-beater tied the game at 30 at the break.

Kansas State: Wade’s injury had a big impact on the Wildcats, but they managed the long tournament run last year with him mostly as a spectator because of an injury. What hurt more was an off-night from leading scorer Brown. He played only 5:45 in the first half after committing two quick fouls and didn’t make his first basket until early in the second half. He finished with five points on 2-for-9 shooting.

DRAWING CONTACT

Stokes drew fouls on 3-point shots three times in the game for the Wildcats. He drew two in the first half against Eyassu Worku, drawing the ire of Turner. Stokes then drew another in the second half against Robert Cartwright that had Turner complaining to the official instead. Stokes made seven of the nine free throws on those fouls.

Stokes then committed a foul on a UC Irvine 3-pointer, sending Leonard to the line for three shots late in the first half.

UP NEXT

UC Irvine advances to play Oregon.

— Associated Press —

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Michigan’s start to the NCAA Tournament was more thorough than coach Kim Barnes Arico expected.

Which is saying something for someone who has yet to lose an opener.

Naz Hillmon scored 17 points off the bench, Nicole Munger and Kayla Robbins each added 13 and the eighth-seeded Wolverines shot a season-high 56 percent to run away from No. 9 seed Kansas State 84-54 on Friday.

Michigan’s 17-5 surge over 5:10 in the second quarter provided a 43-28 halftime lead that expanded to as many as 37 late in the fourth. The Wolverines (22-11) owned rebounding 50-19 — including a 33-13 gap defensively — and paint scoring 52-26 while holding the Wildcats (21-12) to 36 percent shooting.

Michigan’s bench also outscored K-State 38-9. Barnes Arico had to get her mind around the Wolverines’ dominance against just about every defense K-State threw at them.

“We were locked into the scout (report),” said Barnes Arico, who is 8-0 in openers on the Division I and II levels. “We know they switch things up defensively and we knew it was something we don’t typically face. We have a couple of days to prepare for it, and I thought our kids did a tremendous job of coming out, moving the basketball, finding the open person and making extra passes.”

Not surprisingly, Hillmon provided the spark that helped earn her selection by media as Big Ten Freshman of the Year. The 6-foot-2 forward was strong on both ends as she made 8 of 10 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds in 21 minutes.

That was key in helping Michigan achieve its second-highest board total this season.

“We don’t want any team to get second-chance points,” Hillmon said, referring to Michigan’s 17-4 advantage in that category. We know how that can affect the game, so we were trying to lock in on offensive and defensive rebounds.”

Munger and Robbins combined to make 11 of 18 shots while Deja Church added 12 points and a team-high seven assists.

Michigan shot well and hit 16 of 26 after halftime on the way to winning its 10th in 12 contests.

“Today, we just stayed focused,” Church said. “Whether we were up 10 (points), 20, we really didn’t think about it. We just looked at the score (as) 0-0 and kept pushing.”

Christianna Carr had 21 points and Rachel Ranke 11 for Kansas State, which committed 17 turnovers leading to 26 Michigan points. The Wildcats’ rebounding total marked a season low.

“They just whooped us on the glass for second and third chances, which was a problem,” Wildcats coach Jeff Mittie said. “Not very competitive on the glass today.”

Michigan will face top-seeded Louisville in Sunday’s second round. The Cardinals routed No. 16 seed Robert Morris 69-34 in the first game.

MILESTONE

Needing 11 points to become Michigan’s 28th player to surpass 1,000 career points, Munger had 12 at the break behind 5-of-10 shooting with two of the Wolverines’ five 3s on 13 attempts. “This has been the most fun year I’ve had playing basketball, and that’s just really exciting,” she said. “We’re really close as a team, that’s what makes it a lot of fun. That’s all that matters.”

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State: The Wildcats’ perimeter game got them with 26-23 in the second and on the verge of reclaiming the lead. The Big 12 school never got closer and struggled to contend with Michigan’s size, especially inside.

Michigan: The Wolverines have done a lot right down the stretch, and it paid off big with a dominant beginning to the NCAA Tournament. They seemed to get better as the game progressed and had many contributors as 10 of 14 players scored at least a point. They also dished out at least 20 assists for the fourth time in six games.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State was rewarded for a successful season on Sunday, as the Wildcats earned their 31st overall bid to the NCAA Tournament, including the fifth in seven seasons under head coach Bruce Weber.

The Big 12 co-champion, K-State (25-8, 14-4 Big 12) was selected as a No. 4 seed in the South Regional and will travel to San Jose, Calif., to play No. 13 seed and Big West Conference regular-season and tournament champion UC Irvine (30-5, 15-1 Big West) in the first round on Friday, March 22 at SAP Center. The winner will advance to play the winner of the No. 5 seed Wisconsin (23-10, 14-6 Big Ten) and No. 12 seed Oregon (23-12, 10-8 Pac-12) on Sunday, March 24.

K-State was the No. 15 overall seed in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, including third among the four No. 4 seeds (trailing Kansas and Florida State).

The Wildcats will be joined at the venue by No. 4 seed Virginia Tech (24-8), No. 5 Mississippi State (23-10), No. 12 Liberty (28-6) and No. 13 Saint Louis (22-12) of the East Regional. The top seeds in the South Regional are No. 1 seed Virginia (29-3), No. 2 seed Tennessee (29-4), No. 3 seed Purdue (23-9), No. 4 seed K-State (25-8), No. 5 seed Wisconsin (23-10), No. 6 seed Villanova (25-9) and No. 7 seed Cincinnati (28-6).

K-State and UC Irvine will tip off at 1 p.m., CT (11 a.m., PT) with the matchup between No. 5 seed Wisconsin and No. 12 seed Oregon to follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. The game will be broadcast nationally on TBS with Spero Dedes, Len Elmore, Steve Smith and Ros Gold-Onwude.

Public requests for NCAA Tournament tickets are available until 5 p.m., CT on Monday. Please click here to request tickets exclusively within the K-State allotment. Tickets are priced at $66 (upper level) and $100 (lower level).

K-State is making its 38th postseason appearance, which includes 31 in the NCAA Tournament and seven in the Postseason NIT. The Wildcats advance to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in the last 13 seasons, including in three consecutive seasons for the first time since making five straight appearances from 2010 to 2014. The program has now advanced to the postseason 11 times in the last 13 seasons (nine trips to NCAA Tournament and two to the NIT). The 31 overall bids rank 20th nationally, including fourth among Big 12 schools (Kansas [49], Texas [34] and Oklahoma [32]).

In its last NCAA appearance, No. 9 seed K-State advanced to its 12th Elite Eight by knocking off No. 8 seed Creighton (69-59), No. 16 seed UMBC (50-43) and No. 5 seed Kentucky (61-58) before losing to No. 11 seed Loyola Chicago (78-62) in the South Regional Final in Atlanta. Ten current players saw action in one or more of those NCAA Tournament games, including starts in all 3 games by seniors Barry Brown, Jr. and Kamau Stokes and juniors Makol Mawien and Xavier Sneed. K-State has a 10-8 NCAA Tournament mark in its last eight appearances.

The program has posted a 37-34 all-time record in NCAA Tournament play, including 11-5 in the first round. The school will be making its third consecutive appearance (2017-19) in the South Regional and the fourth overall with the other trip coming in 1993 and is 4-3 all-time in the region. K-State will be making its third appearance as a No. 4 seed and the first since the 2013 NCAA Tournament, in which, the Wildcats lost to No. 13 seed La Salle, 63-61, in the West Regional in Kansas City. The other appearance as a No. 4 seed came in the 1988 NCAA Tournament when the school advanced to the Elite Eight by defeating No. 13 La Salle (66-53), No. 5 DePaul (66-58) and No. 1 Purdue (73-70) before falling to No. 6 Kansas (71-58) in Pontiac, Mich. Overall, the school is 3-2 as a No. 4 seed.

In K-State’s 30 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, the Wildcats have advanced to the Sweet 16 a total of 17 times. The program has also reached the Elite Eight 12 times, made four Final Four appearances and played in one National Championship game (1951).

Head coach Bruce Weber becomes fourth different coach to lead K-State to at least five NCAA Tournament appearances, joining Jack Hartman (1970-86), Tex Winter (1954-68) and Frank Martin (2007-12). Overall, Weber advances to his 13th NCAA Tournament, which includes six at Illinois and two at Southern Illinois. He is 41st head coach in NCAA history to take three schools to the tournament, including the 21st active coach. He has a 15-12 record in the NCAA Tournament with four trips to the Sweet 16, two in the Elite Eight and the 2005 Final Four.

K-State earned its fifth 20-win season under Weber and finished as co-champion of the Big 12 with Texas Tech with identical 14-4 marks. The Wildcats have posted 25 wins in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history, while the 14 in Big 12 play tie the 1958-59 and 2012-13 squads for the most in school history. The team is led by All-Big 12 First Team selections Barry Brown, Jr. (14.9 ppg., 4.1 rpg.) and Dean Wade (12.9 ppg., 6.2 rpg.) as well as All-Big 12 Honorable Mention picks Kamau Stokes (10.8 ppg., 3.3 apg.) and Xavier Sneed (10.6 ppg., 5.5 rpg.).

The Big West Conference regular-season and tournament champion, UC Irvine enters Friday’s game with a 30-5 overall record, which has won 16 consecutive games dating back to January 19. The Anteaters boast one of the best defenses in the country, allowing just 63.3 points per game on 38 percent shooting, including 33.2 percent from 3-point range, while grabbing 40.3 rebounds per contest. They are a balanced squad with nine or more players averaging 5 or more points led by Big West Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big West First Team selection Jonathan Galloway (7.0 ppg., 8.0 rpg.), All-Big West Second Team selection Max Hazzard (12.5 ppg., 1.9 rpg.) and All-Big West honorable mention pick Evan Leonard (11.1 ppg., 2.5 rpg.).

UC Irvine is led by head coach Russell Turner, who has a 187-127 (.595) record in 10 seasons at the helm of the Anteaters, which includes six postseason appearances in the last seven seasons.

This will be second meeting between K-State and UC Irvine on the hardwood and in consecutive seasons after the Wildcats earned a 71-49 victory at home on Nov. 17, 2017. Kamau Stokes was one of three Wildcats in double figures with a game-high 14 points, as neither team shot 40 percent from the field.

The winner of Friday’s first-round matchup will face either No. 5 seed Wisconsin (23-10, 14-6 Big Ten) or No. 12 seed Oregon (23-12, 10-8 Pac-12) on Sunday. The Badgers, who placed fourth in the Big Ten, are led three-time First Team All-Big Ten selection Ethan Happ, who leads the squad in scoring (17.5 ppg.), rebounding (10.1 rpg.) and assists (4.6 apg.). All-Big Ten honorable mention pick D’Mitrik Trice averages 11.7 points per game.

Led by former K-State head coach Dana Altman, the Pac-12 Tournament champion Ducks are one of the hottest teams in the country with eight consecutive wins since Feb. 23. Three players are averaging in double figures led by Pac-12 honorable mention selection Louis King (13.1 ppg.), Pac-12 Tournament MVP Payton Prichard (12.7 ppg.) and Paul White (10.6 ppg.). Pac-12 All-Defensive Team member Kenny Wooten has a team-high 62 blocks.

K-State is 2-4 all-time against Wisconsin, including 0-2 in the NCAA Tournament (2008, 2011), and 2-2 all-time against Oregon, including losing a home-and-home series in 2007 and 2008.

The four teams are among the best defensive teams in the country, allowing 59.2 points (K-State), Wisconsin (61.4 ppg.), Oregon (62.9 ppg.) and UC Irvine (63.3 ppg.) to all rank in the Top 20 nationally in scoring defense.

K-State was one of eight Big 12 teams to earn berths to the NCAA Tournament and NIT, including six in the Big Dance, joining No. 3 seed Texas Tech (West), No. 4 seed Kansas (Midwest), No. 6 seed Iowa State (Midwest) and No. 9 seeds Baylor (West) and Oklahoma (South). In addition, TCU is a No. 1 seed and Texas a No. 2 seed in the NIT.
The Big 12 has eight or more combined teams in the two tournaments for the second straight season.

In addition, all three Division I programs in the state of Kansas (Kansas, Kansas State and Wichita State) all advanced to the NCAA Tournament or NIT for sixth time in eight seasons.

— K-State Athletics —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Marial Shayok had watched shot after shot hit everything but net Friday night, and Iowa State’s leading scorer and veteran leader could very well have grown hesitant and frustrated.

Instead, he hit the two biggest shots of the game.

Shayok rattled in a tying 3-pointer down the stretch, swished another from right in front of his own bench, then added a couple of free throws in the closing seconds to help the fifth-seeded Cyclones beat No. 15 Kansas State 63-59 in the Big 12 semifinals.

“I had all the confidence in the world,” Shayok said, “despite missing a bunch of shots in the second half. I just kept my confidence. This team has my back and the coaches have my back.”

Shayok finished with 21 points, Nick Weiler-Babb added 12 and Iowa State (22-11) advanced to play No. 17 Kansas on Saturday night. The Cyclones are 4-0 when playing for the title.

“We had lots of chances,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “Shayok with the big 3 when we were all struggling making shots — he stepped up and made that big 3 that turned the game.”

Cartier Diarra had 15 points to lead five players in double figures for the Wildcats (25-8), who shared the regular-season title with Texas Tech. The Red Raiders were bounced from the tournament by 10th-seeded West Virginia in the quarterfinals Friday night.

The Wildcats once again played without All-Big 12 forward Dean Wade, who sat on the bench with a walking boot on his right foot. It remains unclear whether he’ll be ready for the NCAA Tournament.

“We know that it’s win-or-go home. You have to play together at all times,” Diarra said. “I think that’s the biggest thing moving forward, just keeping that mindset, and focusing on who we’re going to be playing against and not looking ahead.”

Kansas State got off to a hot start, unlike its quarterfinal win over TCU, but the Cyclones and their massive contingent of fans slowly turned the tide late in the first half.

It began when Sneed missed a layup for the Wildcats and Tyrese Haliburton scored a third-chance basket at the other end for Iowa State. Kansas State went on to miss 12 straight field-goal attempts while the high-flying Cyclones went on a 21-4 charge to end the half.

Momentum promptly switched in the locker room.

The Wildcats, who had the Big 12’s best defense this season, buckled down to start the second half, and they put together an 11-0 run that made it 38-all with 15 minutes to go.

“Their teams are so tough. They’re resilient. They have championship DNA,” Cyclones coach Steve Prohm said. “We talked at halftime how those guys were going to respond.”

They kept the run going, too, when Diarra was whacked on the way to the basket and needed to get treatment on the sideline after his free throws. Sneed finally knocked down a 3-pointer, Makol Mawien added a bucket in the paint, and Barry Brown’s fast-break layup forced Iowa State to call timeout.

The Cyclones still trailed 55-52 when Shayok’s first 3 bounced off the rim, then off the glass and dropped through. Then, after Diarra missed a 3 at the other end, Shayok hit his go-ahead 3.

Brown’s driving layup got Kansas State to 59-57 with 20.3 seconds left, but Weiler-Babb answered with a pair of free throws. Shayok answered two by Kansas State’s Xavier Sneed with two more of his own, and a team that struggled late in the season began celebrating a trip to the finals.

“We got back to competing in practice, just working hard and going at each other,” said the Cyclones’ Michael Jacobson. “I mean, to be honest, sometimes you have to hit rock-bottom and start building back up, and I think that’s what has happened to us.”

BIG PICTURE

Iowa State won despite committing 17 turnovers and struggling from the field for most of the second half. The Cyclones also won without much help from sharpshooter Talen Horton-Tucker, who had six points on 3-for-10 shooting.

Kansas State could use Wade if it expects to do damage in the NCAA Tournament. He’s the go-to guy when times get tough, and the 6-foot-10 forward probably couldn’t have helped stop the Cyclones’ big run at the end of the first half.

UP NEXT

Iowa State will play the third-seeded Jayhawks for the title.

— Assoacited Press —