Casey Alexander Going Fit, Not Flash in the Transfer Portal

Casey Alexander has been off and running after being announced as the head coach on March 16, as Andrej Kostic is the only player from last season who will be back at K-State next year. With the transfer portal, gone are the days of building a team throughout multiple seasons and developing players. Now, if a player doesn't get on the court as fast he would like, then it is likely he will enter the transfer portal and go somewhere else.

That makes it extremely tough on coaches, as they are always having to start almost from scratch in the off-season. Schools like UConn and Michigan have done a fantastic job of managing the transfer portal and NIL era, while other blue bloods such as North Carolina and Kentucky haven't had quite the success in recent years. Coaches have to find the balance of players in the transfer portal who have the talent to play, but also are going to be a good fit for the team.

So far during his time in Manhattan, Alexander has shown that he is looking for the right fit, rather than the most talented player in the portal.

Welcome change for K-State fans as that wasn't the case the last two seasons under Jerome Tang

The last two seasons of the Jerome Tang era, K-State brought in two of the most hyped guys in their respective portal class in Coleman Hawkins and P.J. Haggerty. Both of those guys had a ton of interest from schools when they entered the portal, and they each received a very good NIL deal at K-State. However, bringing in those guys didn't equate to winning, as the Wildcats finished under .500 in each of those years.

Many schools across the country have taken similar gambles in the transfer portal, as those aforementioned Kentucky Wildcats had the most expensive team last year, but failed to make it out of the Round of 32. Those swings and misses by Tang were ultimately a huge factor in him being let go in the middle of the season, and what ultimately led Alexander to be the guy in Manhattan.

Alexander's teams play a specific way, and these guys fit his system

He has brought in 10 guys this offseason from the transfer portal, and each of those guys fits the type of basketball that Alexander has played throughout his coaching career. His teams are known for doing a great job of creating space, and having multiple players on the floor who are capable of scoring.

While the Wildcats don't look to have a guy who can score the ball quite like Haggerty did last season, they have a ton of guys who are capable of putting the ball in the basket. Alexander's offense is based on guards getting into the paint and then getting defenses to overreact and kick the ball out on the perimeter for big advantage 3-point shots.

The portal opened just over three weeks after Alexander became the coach, and the job he and his staff have done in such a short time should have K-State fans very excited moving forward. The Wildcats figure to be a much more difficult scout, as opponents won't be able to hone in on just one or two players like they were able to do this past season.

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