3/04/21 Farewell to Ashley Ray and Sydney Goodson
Austin Siegel's K-State Sports Extra is a look at the careers and contributions of our departing seniors. They will certainly be missed, and I wish them all the best.
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2/26/21 Serena Sundell has a Midland Empire Conference championship!
Serena, who's signed to be a Cat beginning this summer, led the Maryville Spoofhounds to their first MEC championship since 1986-87. They defeated Chillocothe 47-34 tonight. (Maryville Forum article)
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2/26/21 Putting in the Work is Paying Off for Frankfort Native Emilee Ebert
Austin Siegel's latest K-State Sports Extra is on Emilee Ebert. She's been a regular starter, and is second in minutes per game. She's #1 in assists, and high on the list for steals and rebounds.
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2/25/21 Honors This Week for Serena Sundell
K-State's talented 2021 signee, Serena Sundell, from Maryville, Missouri and her volleyball team are Academic All-State. Also, the Spoofhounds just won the Midland Empire Conference basketball championship by way of victory over Chillicothe. We're looking to see her soon at Kansas State!
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| 2/19/21 Jaelyn Glenn's a McDonald's All-American Nominee
Here's the announcement tweet. Stay tuned for more!
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2/18/21 Madison Mittie's Senior Night at FHSU
Jeff and Shanna Mittie traveled to Fort Hays State today for Madison's WBB senior night. Technically, she's in graduate school, but is finishing her playing time as a guard for the Tigers. I remember when she was playing for Manhattan High, she happened to be sitting nearby by at a K-State WBB game, and I got to congratulate her for dropping 32 points on a team the night before.
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2/15/21 K-State WBB Breaks Through in Sunflower Showdown
Austin Siegel's K-State Sports Extra is an excellent update on the program's progress after not being able to play for a solid month.
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2/14/21 Okie State Game Time Changed
It was announced today that the tipoff time for Wed., Feb. 17 in Stillwater has been moved up to 3:00 P. No doubt this will help in the Cats' return home, which from OSU is often by bus.
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2/14/21 Laura Macke: Hustle & Heart from the Kansas Kid
K-State WBB tweeted a quick Zoom visit with Laura today. She tells us about beginning to play with her brothers in Baileyville, being a three-sport athlete in high school, and her involvement with Ohlde Elite. Be sure to have a look.
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2/13/21 K-State Extends a 15-0 Start into a 77-66 Win over KU
Our Cats started a new victory streak vs. KU WBB today. (The Streak (PDF) amounts to 36 wins in the last 44 meetings. It includes a 14-2 record in the Jeff Mittie Era. My Media page has the usual collection of links, including the recap and box score. I recommend the postgame interview videos with Jeff Mittie, Emilee Ebert and Ayoka Lee. Here's a very good recap by Nathan Enserro of the Collegian. And... Yokie Lee got her 25th K-State double-double.
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2/05/21 Jaelyn Glenn, 2021 WBB Cat, hit 1,000 points today!
Here's a announcement tweet from Coach Smith at The Barstow School in Raymore, Mo. By the way, Jaelyn became her program's all-time assists leader last month.
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2/01/21 Ayoka Lee's Record Night: K-State Sports Extra
Ayoka Lee and Nijel Pack are the subjects of today's K-State Sports Extra. Yokie scored 37 points vs. Oklahoma last night, along wtih 18 rebounds. Her 37 points are the most ever scored by K-State in a Big 12 game.
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1/29/21 Peyton Williams Finds Balance as Pro Career Begins in Russia
Here's a very interesting K-State Sports Extra on Peyton's pro career, and adjustment to life in Russia.
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1/20/21 I thought we had West Virginia.
The Cats were up by 12 points with one minute to play. The Cats led 38 of 40 minutes. The game was lost on turnovers, as KSU had 29 to WVU's 11. There were 10 turnovers in the final four minutes. Then there was the matter of the foul discrepancy: 23 for KSU vs. 8 for WVU, which no doubt led to Coach Mittie's early return to the locker room. He had two technical fouls in the same dead ball... probably resulting from the uneven foul situation.
Ayoka Lee had 16 points, and Chrissy Carr had 15. Jada Moore had 8, and Sydney Goodson had 7.
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1/16/21 Serena Sundell Comments on 2,000!
Here's an interview link posted by Chris Roush, with video from a podcast from KQ2 in St. Joe. I can't get it to open on my computer. Maybe you'll have better luck! OK... here's a 20-second clip from the interview, that I grabbed from Twitter. OR... I guess you can listen on Spotify... whatever that is.
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1/14/21 2021 Signee Jaelyn Glenn: All-Time Assists Leader
@GlennJaelyn has just tweeted a shout out to her teammates, who she credits for helping her become the assists leader at Barstow High School, in the Kansas City area.
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1/14/21 Oklahoma State Rescheduled to Jan. 25 / Iowa State Rescheduled to Jan. 28
These are both home games. WBB has announced that the postponed OSU game of Jan. 17 will be on Jan. 25 at 4:00 P. Iowa State, originally to be on Jan. 27, is delayed to Jan. 28 at 6:30 P. As of today, there are still four postponed games.
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1/12/21 Serena Sundell Breaks Another Record!
Word from Maryville, Mo. is that 2021 signee Serena has broken 2,000 points for the Spoofhounds. She's the all-time points leader for Maryville (girls and boys), and she still has a minimum of 11 games to play. K-State WBB has had three players with 2,000+ points. All three earned All-America honors, and their jerseys are retired in Bramlage Coliseum.
Re-Entry: Here's a tweeted photo/graphic announcing Serena's 2,000 points. It was posted by her high school, but it looks like something from K-State WBB.
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1/05/21 WBB Activities Pause Extended (3rd time)
More disappointment! The pause now continues through January 17, the home contest vs OSU. (link)
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1/06/21 Serena Sundell Keeps the Hits Coming!
Maryville High School tweeted today the news that K-State's superstar 2021 signee @serena_sundell has become her high school's all-time steals leader. In December, Serena became the Spoofhounds' all-time points leader. In November, Serena notified us that she's known as The Silent Assassin (video). It will be awesome to have her in the Octagon of Doom.
This just in: Minutes after I retweeted Serena's latest milestone, Maryville Girls Basketball @MHSLadyHounds notified me of several other awesome accomplishments.
"She is also the all time leader in made 3-point baskets, 2-point field goal percentage, and deflections. What is next?... career assists and career rebounds. BTW, she has 5 of the top 6 single scoring games, with a school record 52-point game. All of this and humble too."
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1/05/21 WBB Activities Pause Extended
More disappointment! The pause now continues through January 14, the home contest vs TCU. (link)
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1/01/21 Happy New Year!
The Cats have tweeted a greeting to their fans.
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12/28/20 Big 12 Attendance Stats
Brad, @catfan28 on Twitter, likes statistics. He has just tweeted a spreadsheet that shows annual attendance at women's basketball among the Big 12 teams. He reports that every team but Iowa State has gone down in attendance. I have long believed that ISU inflates their attendance numbers in WBB and VB. I know they have good fans, but, for example, look at some of their numbers from COVID-era box scores. They claimed an attendance of 802 when we played there the other day, and 884 vs. Drake. Brad points out that Baylor's record against Big 12 teams is 172-8 from 2001-02 through 2019-20. K-State's attendance was highest in the early 2000s, when we had... guess who... First Team All-Americans Kendra Wecker and Nicole Ohlde, plus Laurie Koehn and Megan Mahoney. K-State WBB has been pretty good in recent years, generally 30-something in Division I. To conclude, I'm pleased that our awesome recruit, Serena Sundell, considers Job 1 to be beating Baylor!
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12/23/20 Rachel Ranke Finding Form at the Right Time for the Wildcats
We're fortunate that Rachel is able to be back on the court. Austin Siegel's K-State Sports Extra reminds us that Rachel was off the court for most of last season. You can tell from this profile that Ranke has a real sense of purpose. While we think of her as a long-range shooter, we learn that she is certainly focused on defense. It's good to have her back!
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12/15/20 K-State is ncaa.com's WBB Team of the Week.
Autumn Johnson posted the fun announcement today of the Cats' selection. She focused on their three wins in one week, and upsetting ranked South Dakota State (leading the entire game), along with strong performances by Ayoka Lee, Chrissy Carr and Rachel Ranke. Very nice!
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12/11/20 Serena Sundell: All-Time Leading Scorer for Maryville H.S.
K-State's extremely talented 2021 signee, Serena Sundell, was recognized as the leading scorer all-time – girls' or boys' – in Maryville history. She broke the mark (1,833 points) just 3 games into her senior season! We're so fortunate to have signed Serena! (Twitter announcement)
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12/11/20 Yokie's Return Powers K-State Past South Dakota State
It was most excellent that the possible return of Ayoka Lee from the injured reserved list became reality. Last year's 12-time Freshman of the Week was back in action. She led all scorers with 18, had 9 rebounds and shot 70% from the field. Austin Siegel wasted no time in producing this K-State Sports Extra.
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12/03/20 Dec. 6 Game Canceled / Central Arkansas Road Game on Dec. 5
The virus apparently struck again, as UT-Arlington has gone to a "pause in activities," so there will be no Sunday, Dec. 6 game in the Octagon. Instead, the Cats will travel to Conway, Arkansas for a visit with Central Arkansas. Click right here for the release from WBB.
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11/29/20 New Hype Video
K-State WBB tweeted this 96-second video today. It's practice clips, recent and past game clips, pep talks, etc. I'm in it at 01:30, but who cares?!
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11/27/20 Versatile Pippin Ready to Work After Winding Road to K-State
Today's K-State Sports Extra introduces us to junior guard Makayla Pippin, who averaged one digit from a double-double at Central Arizona last season. The point of this profile is her versatlity. She can drive the basket or shoot a three, and she's played with different coaching styles. It will be fun to see her in action this week.
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11/27/20 Women's Basketball Heads into Season with Optimism
Marshall Sunner of the Collegian has a nice preview of the season, with comments by Jeff Mittie.
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11/24/20 Emma Chapman Opts out of 2020-21 Season
I just saw the sad news in the online Manhattan Mercury that sophomore Emma Chapman has decided not to play in 20-21. I don't know if that means taking a one-year break, or if she has left the team. I don't think this news was mentioned in the online Zoom session for WBB fans on Monday evening, although it took me a few minutes to find the button to turn on sound. I wish her well with whatever the year brings for her.
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11/20/20 Ft. Hays State Canceled / Newman Added
I'm sorry that Maddie Mittie won't be facing Coach Mittie again this season. The virus has struck again, as reported by K-State WBB today. There was no indication of which team is short of players, but we haven't heard of any instances among the Cats. The Newman game can be followed on the MIAA Network.
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11/19/20 Six Things to Know Before K-State Basketball Tips Off
Austin Siegel has a K-State Sports Extra that looks at both programs. If you wanted to condense the six things into one: they want to play some games!
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11/18/20 Only Two Big 12 Schools Ranked Preseason
The preseason AP Poll came out today. Only two schools, Baylor (4) and Iowa State (15) are ranked.
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11/12/20 K-State WBB Media Day
Here are various interviews to enjoy!
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11/12/20 Meet Brylee and Jaelyn Glenn
Our new Wildcat twins from Raymore, MO introduce themselves in this Twitter video. Brylee likes playing fast-paced and aggressively, and both scoring and creating opportunities for teammates. Jaelyn brings positive energy, and can play different positions. To learn more about them, have a look at this profile from 247 Sports, from January 2019!
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11/11/20 Serena Sundell: The Silent Assassin Is Signed
In this Twitter video, Serena Sundell gives her reasons for choosing Kansas State, and what to expect from her. She confirms that she is, in fact, the Silent Assassin. I hope she has an amazing senior year, and I know Cat fans will welcome her to MHK.
By the way... a week later, I'm editing this post to announce that I've researched what a Spoofhound is. I know what spoof means, but I just wanted to know more about the mythical critter that's so famous in Maryville. I grew up across the river from St. Joe, Missouri, reading the News Press, and this online article explains it. I found lots of different versions of spoofhounds in a Google image search. It goes back about 100 years. It was a carnival toy.
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11/11/20 K-State Signs Three in November Signing Period
 Here's K-State WBB's overall announcement after signing Serena Sundell, and Brylee and Jaelyn Glenn. This is very exciting news! There is... and will be... much more on them here. Although Brylee and Jaelyn are from Raymore, MO and Serena's from Maryville, they are acquainted, I think via club basketball.
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11/11/20 Jaelyn Glenn Signs with the Cats!
Here's the announcement tweet, and Buckets by Jaelyn Glenn. I've heard of Raymore, but haven't been there. It's very close to Overland Park, is next to Claire Coggins' hometown of Lee's Summit, and 10 miles from Kindred Wesemann's hometown, Pleasant Hill.
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11/11/20 Brylee Glenn Signs with the Cats
Here's an announcement tweet. And then there's Buckets by Brylee Glenn.
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11/11/20 Serena Sundell's Cool Signing TikTok
Access it via Twitter. I do believe that one jump she takes prior to pivoting to shoot is within NCAA rules.
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11/11/20 Serena Sundell Has Officially Signed with K-State!
I linked to this newspaper profile from Serena's hometown of Maryville, Mo. in April, when she committed. Today, we see this tweet, announcing she's signed. This is awesome news! By the way, her HS volleyball team just became state champs. Click here for another profile from the Maryville Forum. Finally, here's Buckets by Serena Sundell.
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11/06/20 A Shout Out to the WBB Managers!
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10/29/20 As K-State WBB Elevates Their Game, Expectations Follow
The latest K-State Sports Extra unsurprisingly has an optimistic look at WBB's prospects and goals for 20-21. Rachel Ranke's available again, and Ayoka Lee, #2 on ESPN's Top Freshmen list in April, was tops last season in points and rebounds. Sydney Goodson has transferred in from a troubled Texas Tech program. Coach Mittie recruited her during her high school years. Finally, as documented here, the Cats are #4 in the Big 12's preseason ranking.
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10/26/20 WBB Schedule for 2020-21 Announced
Here it is! The big day (season opener) is November 29, vs. Southern, whatever that is. Oh... then Kentucky is next, on Dec. 3. (We enjoy beating Wildcats.) It looks like we have 15 home games. I hope the germs leave us alone!
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10/22/20 Big 12 Preseason Poll
The Big 12 Preseason Poll is out, and the Cats are #4. (Big 12 release) (K-State release) This is the highest preseason ranking for the Cats in 16 years... since the final season for Nicole Ohlde, Laurie Koehn, Megan Mahoney, Brie Madden and Chelsea Domenico. The Squawks are at the bottom of the chart, by the way.
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10/21/20 Ayoka Lee and Rachel Ranke: Preseason All-Big 12 Recognition
Yokie was one of 10 named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, and Rachel received Honorable Mention. Yokie was a unanimous selection. Here are the releases from the Big 12 Conference and K-State Women's Basketball.
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10/13/20 Serena Sundell Is Playing Her Senior Season of Volleyball
Serena's commitment to K-State WBB for 2021 is well documented here. An article in the Northwest Missourian reports that instead of just focusing on the sport that led her to a Division I scholarship, Serena's playing volleyball, too. I respect her loyalty to both programs. She's not just thinking of herself. And... maybe she can be the next Peyton Williams! (See 9/14/20 below.)
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9/28/20 Mikayla Parks Commitment Update
Two weeks ago, we reported that Mikayla appeared to have committed to be a Cat. This tweet from a radio station in Norman backs up that theory. So does Mikayla's @MikaylaParks12 Twitter account!
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9/21/20 K-State WBB Roster Through 2023-2024
K-State WBB Twitter journalist @catfan28 (no... not J. R. Ewing) has posted an updated chart of current and committed players for the next four seasons. Click in this approximate area. You'll like what you see!
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9/21/20 Eliza Maupin Commits for 2022!
Eliza Maupin, a 6' 3" junior forward from Webster Groves, Mo., has just tweeted her commitment to be a Wildcat. Here's her MaxPreps listing, including some highlights from last season.
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9/14/20 Serena Sundell's Breaking Records in Volleyball
 K-State's 2021 commit, Serena Sundell, from Maryville, Mo., is burning up the volleyball court. She has already broken four school records... all for kills.
Follow Serena @serena_sundell. Follow Maryville Volleyball @spoofhound_VB. This fall, follow Maryville Girls' Basketball @MHSLadyHounds. (Serena was all-state in basketball this past season.) Here's a very complimentary story on Maryville VB vs. Harrisonville, calling Serena "the best athlete on the court."
Cat fans can't wait for her arrival in MHK next year! We have to remember... Serena's from Maryville. Wecker's from Marysville. (Maryville HS tweet)
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9/14/20 It appears we have a commit from Mikayla Parks.
Here's a tweet from @MikaylaParks12. She's referring to fall 2022. Here's a story from the Norman Transcript.
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9/03/20 Which Carr Are You Yelling For?
Chris and Chrissy Carr: Life in the bubble, playoff predictions, and finding your voice are the talking points while daughter and dad play 1-on-1 in Jardine. @chrissycarr4 (&coachcarrKSU (Twitter video)
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8/28/20 K-State Women's Basketball Stands Together
K-State WBB posted a real nice video to Twitter today. It's a statement of unity. Be sure to have a look!
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8/19/20 Jada Moore Brings All-Around Game to Wildcats
Austin Siegel's latest K-State Sports Extra is an in-depth visit with freshman guard Jada Moore, from Regis Jesuit High School in Denver. Jada emphasizes that she's willing to do whatever it takes to win. Also, she loves getting assists. She's rooming with 6' 7" Taylor Lauterbach, and looking forward to getting the ball to Taylor and Yokie. In addition, she focused on shooting in her senior year, and brought up her average. Read all this and more, in this exciting Sports Extra!
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8/03/20 Taylor Lauterbach Ready to Go After Year as a K-State Commit
It's so exciting to think about 6' 6" Taylor Lauterbach and 6' 5" Ayoka Lee dominating near the basket in 2020 - 21! Also, it speaks well for K-State, Jeff Mittie and staff and the '19-'20 Cats that Taylor, who grew up a Wisconsin fan, chose K-State. (She's from Appleton.) It should be noted that Taylor graduated from Appleton West HS with a 4.000. Don't miss Austin Siegel's latest K-State Sports Extra for all the details on Taylor's journey from Appleton to the Little Apple.
Riley Gates of GoPowercat.com announced Taylor's commitment on July 22, 2019. Also, here's a Facebook video with Taylor's comments on choosing K-State.
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7/30/20 Jeff Mittie: My Favorite Game I've Coached at K-State
Here's the latest in a series by Greg Woods of The Manhattan Mercury. He's interviewing each head coach about their most memorable (in a good way) game with the Cats. (link) When Jeff arrived in 2014, his goal was to reach postseason play each year. Until the virus troubles in 2020, he and his teams have done that. His favorite game was vs. George Washinton U. in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
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7/30/20 Brianna Wooldridge Offered a Scholarship by K-State
Brianna @briwooldridge is a 6' 2" forward, from Lincoln Way West HS in Schaumburg, IL. She's a Class of '22 prospect. She also has offers from Marshall, Southern Illinois, Arkansas State, San José State and Cleveland State.
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7/22/20 Peyton Williams Nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year 2020
This is hardly surprising, but very nice! Here's a story by GoPowercat.com. This is the announcement from Women's Basketball.
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7/15/20 Claire Coggins on the Life of Fitz Podcast
GoPowercat.com boss man, Tim Fitzgerald, has long been a close friend with the great Claire Coggins. It was inevitable that he'd ask Claire to join him on his Life of Fitz Podcast. Earlier this year, Fitz started doing telephone interviews with K-State sports icons. Claire... no surprise... was an exceptional interview. (link)
If you're new to K-State WBB, Claire was a star guard for Deb Patterson from 2003 - 2007, was a two-time All-Big 12, played for the Chicago Sky in the WNBA, played in Greece and was an assistant for Jeff Mittie. She married former Texas coach Karen Aston. Now Claire, Karen and daughter Marilyn, 3, have moved to Claire's hometown of Lee's Summit. OK... you have the link. Don't miss this interview. Also, why not review Claire's half-court shot vs. Wyoming on Nov. 17, 2006!
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7/15/20 Reintroducing Jada Thorpe
Here's a nice K-State Sports Extra on Jada Thorpe's recovery from an Achilles tendon injury. It happened before her first season began, and she missed all of last season. It explains the difficult process. Her attitude is great.
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7/12/20 Peyton Williams prepares for pro career
Here are nice features on Peyton, who's headed to Russia to play. (Manhattan Mercury) (Collegian)
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7/08/20 Rachel Ranke Is Cleared to Play!
Rachel tweeted earlier today, "After a long, exhausting, and frustrating road to recovery, I can proudly say that the doctor has OFFICIALLY cleared me for play." I know all Cat fans are happy for her.
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7/06/20 Happy Trails to Peyton Williams!
Peyton just tweeted that she's signed with Sparta&K Vidnoje. Vidnoje is a region in Russia. At this point, we don't know much, except that her new team has been champions of the Euro League Women's team four times.
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6/17/20 Laurie Koehn to K-State Athletics Hall of Fame
Laurie's an excellent choice. She went in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. For several years, she held the NCAA WBB record for career three-point FGs. Her total of 392 has been the Big 12 WBB record for 15 years! (link) K-State says,
Laurie Koehn was one of the greatest sharpshooters in women's NCAA history while at K-State from 2002-05. She is the all-time leader in 3-point field goals made in Big 12 history with 392 (also a NCAA record until 2020), and in attempts at 942, while also holding the Big 12 record for career free-throw percentage at 87.7. Named the ESPN.com Rookie of the Year as a freshman, Koehn helped the Wildcats explode onto the national spotlight with a 26-8 season and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2002. The Cats followed up that season with a school-record 29-5 campaign in 2003 before claiming the program's first-ever Big 12 Championship in 2004. Koehn was named All-Big 12 three times during her career, and was a two-time Academic All-American. Koehn ranks fifth in school history in career points with 1,733, and remains littered in the record book for 3-pointers. Koehn signed a free agent contract with the Washington Mystics for the 2005 season. and went on to enjoy an eight-year professional basketball career both in the WNBA and overseas. Among Koehn's career international playing highlights was a gold medal as a member of Team USA's U18 team in July of 2000 at the FIBA Americas Championship, and a silver medal as a member of Team USA again in 2003 at the Pan American Games. Koehn was inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Here's video of Laurie setting the NCAA record for three-pointers. Also, don't miss this from 2013: Laurie hits 132 of 135 three-pointers in five minutes. (video) Danielle Zanotti has play-by-play.
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6/16/20 Not Even Death Threats Can Silence Christianna Carr
The Her Hoop Stats Newsletter has picked up the story of Chrissy's peaceful protests of George Floyd's murder. She's lived in Minneapolis, and has now traveled there to join in a protest. (link)
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6/11/20 Jeff Mittie Interview with Tim Fitzgerald
Here's a great, 65-minute interview in the GoPowercat studio with Fitz. It was originally posted in February 2020, but it's fine, because a lot of it is a look at Coach Mittie's life and career. (link)
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6/10/20 #43 Chrissy Carr: "I found my voice."
Chrissy was interviewed by Topeka TV about her participation in a protest related to the murder of George Floyd. I'm sure everyone in the university is impressed with her commitment to make a difference and to lead, and the fact that her involvement has been in a peaceful and respectful way. (@KStateWBB on Twitter) / Here's @Chrissycarr4's tweet from June 4 for Black Lives Matter that's gotten 7,600 likes, and a request from the NCAA to share her words.
On June 11, the Manhattan Mercury ran a very nice feature on Chrissy on their sports page.
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5/28/20 K-State Wildcats to Host the UK Wildcats in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge
The blue Wildcats are coming to town on a yet-to-be-determined date. The programs have never met. UK went 20-8 last season! This will be good, and our Cats will be ready. (K-State link) (Kentucky link)
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5/28/20 How about some Sydney Goodson highlights?!
See below, in April, for the great news that Sydney will transfer from Texas Tech for her senior season here. These highlights were posted today. Sydney's a 5' 8" shooting guard. Be sure to watch this video. She is really good (and Goodson)!
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5/28/20 Taylor Lauterbach's headed our way!
New K-State WBB Cat Taylor Lauterbach, whose signing was documented below in November, has finished high school with a 4.000. Here's a tweet from her proud dad, Mike.
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5/22/20 Vote for Peyton: Big 12 Athlete of the Year
K-State's own Peyton Williams and Tejaswin Shankar are on the online ballot for Athletes of the Year. (It's separate votes.) Here's your link!
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5/19/20 @catfan28's 2020-2024 K-State WBB Roster Chart
The great catfan28, who doesn't go by his real name on Twitter, has just released a chart showing the roster for the next four seasons, as things stand now. (Twitter link) / We always appreciate his enthusiasm for K-StateWBB, and the stats and other information he provides for us!
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5/16/20 Peyton's Powercat Choice Awards Message to Fellow Athletes
Peyton remotely delivered a brief-but-inspiring message to her fellow athletes, I assume as part of the Powercat Choice Awards. As I just posted on Twitter, someday Peyton, having seen the world as part of her international studies, will be invited back to Kansas State to give a Landon Lecture. (video link)
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5/14/20 Peyton Williams: Powercat Choice Awards Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
This year's Powercat Choice Awards are online, because of the pesky virus. We're sure no one is surprised by the choice of Peyton as K-State's Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2019-20. She finished with a 3.945 GPA has appropriately been recognized for doing everything the right way. (announcement tweet)
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5/11/20 Yokie Lee: Powercat Choice Awards Women's Newcomer of the Year!
Here's a tweet with the announcement of Ayoka Lee's selection as the top women's newcomer. Here's a brief highlights video.
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4/30/20 Sydney Goodson: A Top Ten Grad Transfer for K-State WBB
ESPN released these WBB rankings this morning. Of all grad transfers, Sydney Goodson, who's making the move from Texas Tech, is listed at #10. (link)
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4/27/20 Sydney Goodson Ready for Next Chapter
Here's a K-State Sports Extra that looks at new Cat Sydney Goodson's history in basketball, and her decision to transfer to America's #1 College Town. She's had a season at Arizona State, and two at Texas Tech. She reports that the K-State decision was an easy one.
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4/24/20 Yokie Named to Her Hoop Stats Fab 15 Freshman Team
This team of 15 is made up of the WBB Freshman of the Year from 32 conferences. (Manhattan Mercury) K-State's only other to have this recognition is Hall of Famer Nicole Ohlde. By the way, K-State is the only team in the Big 12 to have a player on this list.
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4/21/20 Makayla Pippin Transfers from Central Arizona College
 K-State WBB announced today the addition for 2020-21 of Makayla Pippin, a guard-forward who averaged 16.8 points per game.
Makayla ended the 2019-20 season as an NJCAA Women's Basketball Third-Team All-American. She was the 15th-ranked junior college player in the nation by Girls Basketball Report in the 2019-20 season. As a member of the high school class of 2018, she was ranked as the eighth-ranked forward in the nation, and 149th-ranked overall prospect by ProspectsNation.com. She was the 19th-ranked forward in the nation by ESPNW Hoopgurlz.
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4/21/20 Peyton Williams: Big 12 WBB Scholar-Athlete of the Year, 2019-20
This is wonderful, but certainly no surprise! Peyton, for the second time, has been named WBB Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Big 12. (K-State WBB release) (Big 12 release)
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4/17/20 Peyton Williams Not Selected in the WNBA Draft
We're sorry to report that Peyton's name wasn't called. It appears she'll be a free agent for a while. Good luck, Peyton! (link)
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4/17/20 Rachel Ranke's season-ending injury and her path to recovery
Greg Woods of the Manhattan Mercury has posted an in-depth story of Rachel Ranke and her unusual injury (involving an extra bone). By the numbers, she should come just within the games-played limit for a medical redshirt, and should be back in action in the fall, which is good news for Cat fans! (link)
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4/17/20 Season Highlights!
Here's a six-minute Season Highlights video from K-State WBB!
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4/17/20 Six Things to Know Before the WNBA Draft for Peyton Williams
I think our fans are all confident that Peyton will be drafted later today. This K-State Sports Extra focuses on her prospects.
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4/14/20 Peyton Williams Video Interview & Singing
Peyton visits with Jenny Fischer of NCAA Digital on her experiences as a two-sport athlete, and the at-home experience. Then she plays her guitar for the online audience. (link)
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4/06/20 Coach Sadie Thramer Misses the Cats
Me, too! When I left the Coliseum after the glorious 83 - 63 victory over the KU Poultry on March 8, I fully expected the Cats would host in the WNIT. I'm real sad for all our K-State athletes. I believe they'll have a very solid 2020-21 season. (Sadie's tweet and team photo)
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4/06/20 Sydney Goodson to Play Her Senior Season as a Cat
 Sydney tweeted her intention today to play her final season at K-State. She's a 5' 8" guard, coming from Texas Tech, and is from Argyle, Texas. She first played at Arizona State.
In 2018-19, she was First Team Academic All-Big 12. In 2019-20, Sydney averaged 30 minutes per game, and played in every game. She average 9 points per game, and had a 41% FG average.
Here's a link to her Texas Tech roster page. / This just in... D. Scott Fritchen of GoPowercat.com has a nice feature on Sydney's transfer.
Re-entry on April 15: Have a look at a one-minute video, with some FAQs about Sydney, in her own words.
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4/01/20 ESPN Ranks Ayoka Lee the #2 Freshman in 2020
You saw it here eventually! Yokie's #2 on the list for 2020 freshmen. After all, she's the Big 12 Freshman of the Year! (link) By the way, Yokie recorded more points, rebounds and blocks per game than the #1 selection.
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4/01/20 Peyton Williams: Senior CLASS Award All-America Second Team
Peyton was recognized this week for the prestigious national Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. (link)
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3/29/20 Serena Sundell Commits to K-State Women's Basketball
After visiting at least a dozen universities, @Serena_Sundell, a 6' 0" junior guard from Maryville, Mo., has committed to be a Cat! This is tremendous! She also took visits to, at least: UMKC, Butler, Drake, Cleveland State, Missouri State, Indiana State, Colorado State, St. Louis, North Dakota State, Providence, South Dakota State, Creighton and her hometown NW Missouri State.
Serena comes from a family of athletes. Her dad, Bob, a basketball and track star for NW Missouri State, was inducted into their Hall of Fame last year. Mom Korena was a track and basketball star at Missouri S&T in Rolla. Older brother Jalen plays football for North Dakota State, and played for Coach Klieman.
Here's an online report and interview with Serena from Dec. 24, 2019 by the St. Joe News-Press. The occasion was Serena's 52-point game a few days earlier. She hit 84% on field goals, and her points output was the 13th best in Missouri girl's BB history. In her first game of her junior season, she became the all-time points leader in school history.
Serena was named the Class 3 Player of the Year on March 26. Her high school coach, Quentin Albrecht, said of her,
"If you like basketball, what you'll really like about Serena is she'll dazzle you with the ball in her hand, but watch her on offense when she doesn't have the ball in her hand. Watch how she plays defense, and watch how she goes for boards. She's a complete player."
Serena's hometown paper, The Maryville Forum, posted an excellent profile and update on Serena on April 2.
Congrats and thanks to Coach Mittie and staff for this exciting addition to K-State WBB! Here's Serena's commitment tweet.
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3/27/20 Jeff Mittie: Driven by Unknowns During Recruiting Season Like No Other
Our new Sports Extra guru, Austin Siegel, talks about recruiting during a travel ban, among other complications, in this interview.
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3/20/20 Peyton Williams: Fire and passion is something I had to learn...
Here's a real nice profile on Peyton, compliments of KSNT's Sully Engels. It's a combination of comments by Peyton and video highlights. She is the ultimate student-athlete, and for my vote, retire her jersey! (Twitter video)
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3/18/20 Ayoka Lee Had a Freshman Season for the Ages
You see above the title of a feature on Yokie in a newspaper article in her home area in Minnesota. She averaged a double-double, is First Team All-Big 12 and Freshman of the Year, but you knew that!
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3/18/20 Jeff Mittie: Audio Interview with KD Country 94
Here's a 20-minute interview. Coach Mittie reviews how the early end to postseason basketball came about, then comments on the possibility of seniors getting an extra season. Check it out!
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3/16/20 Peyton visits with WIBW about her season cut short
Here's a brief interview with Peyton Williams, by Mitchel Summers. The message is to appreciate and make the most of every opportunity. I think a strong case could be made for retiring Peyton's jersey. She did everything the right way.
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3/16/20 PowerChat with Jeff Mittie
Somehow I never got these links in when they came out six weeks ago. It's Jeff Mittie visiting with GoPowercat.com's boss man, Tim Fitzgerald. Part 1 Part 2
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3/10/20 Taylor Lauterbach: First Team All-Conference, Honorable Mention All-State
 The Wisconsin Basketball Coaches' Association have announced that K-State's signee, 6' 6" Taylor Lauterbach, is Honorable Mention All-State, after her impressive career at Appleton West High School. Imagine the dynamic duo of Taylor and Ayoka Lee next season!
Appleton West has announced that Taylor is First Team All-Conference. I recognized her on the Bramlage court after the KU game, and got to welcome her to K-State.
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3/09/20 Peyton Williams: 1st Team All-Big 12, Ayoka Lee: Freshman of the Year and Angela Harris: Honorable Mention All-Big 12
It was a big day for the Cats! We have three All-Big 12 honorees. Here's the news from K-State WBB.
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3/09/20 Peyton Williams: Academic All-America Second Team
Here's the not-surprising news on one of Peyton's achievements announced today!
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3/09/20 Ayoka Lee: Big 12 Freshman of the Week, 12th Time This Season!
Here's the word from K-State Sports and the Big 12 Conference.
The Big 12 reported,
"Ayoka Lee claimed a record 12th Freshman of the Week accolade. The final weekly awards of the 2019-20 season were selected by a five-person media panel.
Lee averaged 15.0 points on a .524 field goal percentage and a .889 free throw percentage, while pulling in 13.0 rebounds and blocking 3.0 shots in wins over Oklahoma State and Kansas. At OSU, the freshman secured the school record for double-doubles in a season with her 18th, as she notched 13 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in 36 minutes. In the regular season finale against Kansas, Lee boosted her double-double record to 19, as she tallied 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line, and pulling in 14 rebounds."
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3/08/20 The Cats extend the streak vs. the Bluebirds
It was a glorious day in America's #1 college town, as we celebrated K-State WBB's latest victory, 83-63, over KU. K-State's #1 fan, Robert Lipson, a.k.a. Robert the Wildman, sat by me, and I got to hold his We Own This State sign.
The Streak (KSU WBB vs. KU WBB) continues, and is now at 35 Ws in the last 42 games. Coach Mittie (while at KSU) holds a 13-1 record vs. the Poultry. You can download a PDF of The Streak by right-clicking right here!
Thanks and congrats to the Cats (and certainly our seniors, Jasauen, Peyton and Angela). The Cats ended Big 12 play at #4 in the conference (tied with ISU at 10-8).
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2/24/20 Ayoka Lee: Big 12 Freshman of the Week, 11th Time This Season!
Here's the word from K-State Sports and the Big 12 Conference.
The Big 12 reported,
"Lee averaged 20.0 points on a .731 field goal percentage (19-of-26), 13.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks in contests against TCU and Texas last week. She tallied a pair of double-doubles to improve her current streak of double-doubles to five, tying the school record for consecutive double-doubles. She also established a freshman school record with 282 rebounds. Against TCU, Lee registered her fastest double-double of the season, reaching the mark with 6:56 remaining in the second quarter. Lee would finish the game with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting, 17 rebounds and six blocks. At Texas, Lee led the Wildcats with 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting (75.0%), pulled in 10 rebounds and blocked three shots in 39 minutes of action."
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2/21/20 Ayoka Lee is becoming one of the best players in the Big 12
Brian Smoller tweeted this in-depth profile by Greg Woods of the Manhattan Mercury. This is a must-read look at Yokie's background and personality, along with glowing comments from current and former coaches and teammates. My compliments to Greg Woods, the author!
Yokie with Brenna Smoller
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