Casey Alexander expecting a breakout season from Timotej Malovec

Casey Alexander has a history of identifying under-the-radar talent and turning them into stars throughout his coaching career. The first-year Kansas State men’s basketball coach is hoping Miami transfer Timotej Malovec will be the latest to join a growing list of names to thrive under his watch.

“I expect him to have a really impressive season,” Alexander told John Kurtz recently on the 3MAW podcast on KCSN.

The NIL era has played a large role in the significant increase of international players coming to the United States to play college basketball. Some of the most impactful players in the country have come from overseas in recent years, highlighted by Illinois’ run to the Final Four with a roster comprised of several European players that led to the group being nicknamed the Balkan Five.

Malovec is another example of the international movement, choosing to advance his professional career at the college level at Miami in 2025.

“I finished high school [and] went straight into professional life, so I took [joining Miami] as a new professional club for me, basically,” Malovec told On3’s CaneSport in December 2025. “This is my job.”

Malovec, who played nearly 200 games internationally with seven teams across seven leagues from Slovakia, Greece and Serbia, made an early impact for a Hurricanes squad that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 6-foot-8 wing scored in double figures in four of his first 13 games, while averaging nearly 7 points over approximately 20 minutes per contest in non-conference games. However, his minutes and production faded in ACC play, averaging just 2.5 points in 12 minutes per game over the final 20 contests of the season.

In the December 2025 interview with CaneSports, Malovec acknowledged that part of his struggles were adjusting to the college game and the lack of structure that exists. He told the On3 outlet that the playbooks he had in Europe had significantly more designed plays compared to college basketball.

“I went from structure, structure, structure, where you know where you stand every second, and what your movement is to more of a basketball where everyone moves freely and you just flow off of each other … I was kind of struggling with that,” he told CaneSports. “I couldn’t really find my plays [during the] first few games.

K-State will hope that adjustment is complete, given Alexander has acknowledged in past interviews that he does not call many sets from the bench in games, relying on his players to read and react in his system.

“Timo is much more of a playmaker, ball-handler, kind of really versatile offensive player than what he was able to show this season. But that’s not what Miami wanted him to do,” Alexander told Kurtz on 3MAW. “(Miami) had a great season and I’m not saying anything to discredit them in any way shape or form, but Timo was kind of their designated shooter. They wanted him to be that guy that played that role and he just didn’t get the chance to do everything I think he can do.”

Alexander’s free-flowing offensive system that led the country in effective field goal percentage this past season will provide the 22-year old from Slovakia the opportunity to do just that.

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