Casey Alexander Sees Major Potential in Andrej Kostic at K-State

Andrej Kostic showed some potential during his freshman season last year at K-State, specifically on the offensive end of the court. He averaged 5.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in a limited role, but he showed more of his scoring punch late in the year, as he reached double-digits three times in his final 10 games. Kostic's ability to stretch the floor from the 3-point line seems like a perfect fit in Casey Alexander's offense, and K-State fans are optimistic he is going to take another step next year.

During an appearance on the 3Maw podcast with John Kurtz, Alexander talked about helping Kostic take his game to another level, and believes that everybody working together could help that happen.

A little bit to be determined, but I think it is a lot higher than what we saw last year," Alexander said when asked about Kostic's potential moving forward. "I would be really disappointed if we can't pull some of that out of him. I hope he is at K-State for a long time. It is very difficult for first-year guys to walk right in and set the world on fire. It is not uncommon for freshman at all to lose their confidence and struggle."

Kostic's offensive game should be a perfect fit for Alexander's offense

With every player leaving K-State, it would have made total sense for Kostic to do the same thing. However, he was comfortable in Manhattan, and his game should be a perfect fit for the offense that Alexander is trying to run. Last year, Kostic was 40-of-106 from the field, while going 30-of-80 from the 3-point line. In his last seven games, he shot 44% fom deep, and that bodes well as Alexander's teams at Belmont always shot a ton of 3-pointers.

Belmont was always among the leaders in their conference and even the country when it came to 3-pointers attempted. This past season, they were 53rd in the country as they attempted 27.6 3-pointers per game. When they drove the ball and got in the paint, they were looking to create overreactions by help defenders, and to kick the ball out for shooters. The Bruins were 308th in the country when it came to attempted shots inside the 3-point line.

The way the Wildcats have attacked the transfer portal this offseason under Alexander is a big indication that they are going to continue to play this way. Bringing in guys like Brandon Rechsteiner, Timo Malovec and Jaden Schutt all do the majority of their scoring from the 3-point line, and should help a ton of spacing for other guyards to get downhill and attack.

Kostic enters the season figuring to be one of the leaders for the Wildcats, and if he is able to take that next step that Alexander believes he can, he could be in store for a really good second year in Manhattan.

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