Casey Alexander Still Believes There is a Path to Build a Program in Today's College Basketball

Casey Alexander knows that today's college basketball is extremely different than what it used to be. It is so much harder to build a program, as guys are entering the transfer portal and looking for the next place. Alexander has coached at Stetson, Lipscomb, and Belmont. These are three schools where it is imperative to build a program and keep guys there for three or four seasons.

Despite the difficulty of building a program, Alexander is confident he can do just that at K-State. During an appearance on the 3Maw podcast with John Kurtz, the new K-State coach said that managing what you can control will go a long way toward building a program.

"If you want to use that word, then it is what can you control?" Alexander said. "The only thing that we can do is to provide the absolute best experience that we can for everybody on the roster. To be completely honest, through the process which includes recruiting, the season and then the retention piece of that. Create a situation where they want to say."

Money is a big challenge to keeping guys at a school

One of the biggest issues out there in building a program is that guys aren't willing, like they used to be, to stay at a school and wait their time. Between the promise of playing time and the potential to make more money, guys are entering the transfer portal at an extremely high rate. While there may be situations that trump everything else, Alexander believes being upfront and honest can still be a big part.

"There is still the inevitable price tag for everybody," Alexander said. "It might trump everything in the end, but that is still the only way to do it. I think you can offset being true to the team and staying focused on what matters most, which are the things that you can control."

Alexander faces challenge with only one returning player

While Alexander says it is hard to build a program when many newcomers join a team, that is exactly the situation K-State will be in next season. Andrej Kostic is the only player returning from last season's team, with 10 players coming via the portal. With so many coming in from different situations, it will be tough for Alexander in his first year to build a program.

However, his message in the interview should have K-State fans excited. In today's college sports, coaches are getting caught by players on false promises. A coach will tell a player what they want to hear, rather than what they need to hear. Alexander's biggest message from that interview was that he is looking to build a program based on honesty and trust. That is rare today in college basketball, but if he is able to follow through, he could put K-State back in contention for spots in the NCAA Tournament.

Add us as a preferred source on Google