Kansas State women’s basketball comes off its arguably most successful season under head coach Jeff Mittie — and there’s little reason to believe the Wildcats will regress this year.
Last year, the Wildcats ranked as high as No. 2 in the AP Top 25 and eventually hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Now, K-State returns ample minutes on the floor between sixth-year All-American Ayoka Lee along with senior starters Serena Sundell, Jaelyn Glenn and Brylee Glenn. The latter three have all started together since they were freshmen at K-State.
Through just a few practices, Mittie has already noticed the team’s experience paying dividends.
“I was looking back at some drill work, and I’m like, ‘We’re so much further ahead at the simple things.’” he said. “Our habits are better, our practice pace is better. We’re able to do things a little differently with only a couple of newcomers. I like this group.”
“I always feel that if your team is able to coach the drills, hold each other to a high standard, do those things without the coaches, then you can get something special,” he added.
It’s not just Manhattan that’s catching on to the momentum K-State has going into the upcoming season. The Wildcats rank No. 14 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25.
“This is a good opportunity for us because we feel like we’ll start higher than we have in the past because of the success we had a year ago,” Mittie said. “Does that guarantee you success this year? No, of course, not. But starting higher, there’s certainly more respect out there … There are expectations for our program, and that’s a good thing.”
While continuity is the name of the game for the Wildcats this year, they will be without former fifth-year guard Gabby Gregory.
“Gabby’s awesome, we miss that fire and that competitiveness every day,” Mittie said. “That confidence, swagger, however you want to label it. It was a lot of fun to coach.”
However, Gregory’s impact remains — partly in the form of a plush goat that helped K-State become one of the best defensive teams in the country last year.
“Her legacy continues with Gap Goat,” Mittie says with an ear-to-ear grin. “Like any great player and great competitor, she’s rubbed off. They have gotten more confidence, more swagger because of Gabby passing that baton.”
On the court, Gregory will pass the baton off to Temira Poindexter — the All-American transfer from Tulsa who finished as the seventh leading scorer in Division I last year.
Poindexter’s prowess as a bucket-getter is the headliner and she offers a similar comparison to Gregory, slotting in as the Wildcats’ forward.
“Poindexter does some things very similar to Gabby, she has that kind of swagger,” Mittie said. “And then I think defensively, Poindexter is going to be a more aggressive perimeter defender than Gabby. That’s where Poindexter can really make a difference for us.”
Poindexter will also look to help the Wildcats in their offensive efficiency — an area that Mittie wants to address this year to reach the team’s goals.
“Offensively, we need to shoot the ball better,” Mittie said. “Our group has worked extremely hard. Part of that is not just shooting the ball. It’s about passing efficiently and shot selection. Those are critical to shooting the ball well.”
Ultimately, now is the time to cash in for the Wildcats. Even with the team’s momentum in recruiting — it might not have another opportunity like this year.
“In today’s world of a lot of transfers, right, we may not see another roster like this,” Mittie said. “Where we retain 90% of our roster. That’s hard to do in today’s world of college athletics.”
