MANHATTAN – The Kansas State men’s and women’s basketball teams celebrated the start of their respective seasons on Friday night with Madness in Manhattan at Bramlage Coliseum.
Highlighted by a coed 3-point contest and a men’s dunk contest, an estimated crowd of 4,500 enjoyed a number of activities, including elaborate team introductions, a men’s and women’s dance-off and the players performing skits from various television and Netflix shows, including The Office and Stranger Things.
Two-time All-American Jacob Pullen earned a large ovation on his return to Bramlage Coliseum, judging the dunk contest and celebrating the unveiling of his oversized bobblehead
The evening began with the teams paying tribute to the accomplishments of legendary K-State head coach and basketball icon Fred “Tex” Winter, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 96.
The coed 3-point contest was won by the tandem of sophomore Sarah Bates (20) and junior Xavier Sneed (15) with a combined 35 points, while freshman Christianna Carr and senior Kamau Stokes finished second with 27 points and seniors Kayla Goth and Barry Brown, Jr., came in third with 17 points.
Senior Dean Wade won the dunk contest over junior Austin Trice in a field that included Sneed and freshman Shaun Neal-Williams. Wade won the first round by shooting a 3-pointer at the end of the 60-second clock, getting perfect 10s from judges Pullen, women’s assistant coach Chris Carr and NCAA high jump champion Tejaswin Shankar. Wade then won the contest with a simple dunk off the rim over Trice.
The night concluded with a spirited 12-minute scrimmage by the men’s team, as the White squad led by Brown and Sneed defeated the Purple team, 30-25. Brown led the way for the White squad with nine points, while Sneed added 7 points. Wade and sophomore Mike McGuirl led the Purple team with nine and eight points, respectively.
Boasted by numerous Top 15 preseason rankings, the men’s team returns 10 lettermen, including all 185 starts, from a squad that won 25 games and advanced to the Elite Eight. The women’s team returns eight letterwinners from last season’s WNIT run to go with a highly-regarded recruiting class.
Season and single-game tickets are currently on-sale in the K-State Athletic Ticket Office with a variety of ticket packages, including the men’s Big Game, Pick 5 and Holiday mini-plans as well as Wildcat 4 Packs and Bramlage Bundles. Fans can purchase two general admission women’s basketball season tickets for just $50.
The teams will open their respective season in early November with the women’s squad hosting Fort Hays State in the first of two exhibitions on November 1 at 7 p.m., and the men’s squad following in their lone exhibition against Pittsburg State on November 2, also at 7 p.m.