On Feb. 9 at 12:20 a.m., a graduate student manager for the Kansas State men’s basketball team was arrested for domestic battery. 

Mark Vital Jr., 29, was arrested at 606 Vattier St., No. 2, early Monday morning. He was charged with one count of domestic battery and released from the Riley County Jail on a $2,000 bond.

A second arrest was also made at the same address, according to the Riley County Police Department arrest report.

Kristen Blake Whiting Daniels, 27, was arrested for domestic battery, along with criminal damage to property. Daniels was released from jail on a $4,000 bond.

K-State released a statement late Monday following the arrest.

 “We are aware of Mark Vital’s arrest on Sunday night. He has been removed from all team responsibilities until the judicial process runs its course.”

Vital is in his first year with the Wildcats coaching staff, and is working towards a master’s in counseling and student development. 

Before K-State, Vital was a three-time All-Big 12 selection and member of Baylor’s 2021 National Championship basketball team. He was also a three-time Big 12 All-Defensive Team selection and a semifinalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award twice, being chosen as a finalist in 2020. In Vital’s senior season with Baylor, he led the Bears to their first Big 12 Championship and to the national championship. He broke the school record for career Big 12 victories with 45 and finished 10th with 144 steals. During the national championship game against top-ranked Gonzaga, Vital accumulated six points and 11 rebounds.

In 2021, he earned a bachelor’s degree in health, kinesiology and leisure studies from Baylor University. He was also shortly signed as a tight end for the Seattle Seahawks’ practice squad before switching over to the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad.

Vital knows head coach Jerome Tang from when their time overlapped at Baylor while Tang was an assistant under Scott Drew.