Casey Alexander Updates After Signing Class Additions

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State head men's basketball coach Casey Alexander met with the media on Thursday afternoon (April 30) to give an update following the retention of rising sophomore Andrej Kostic and the signing of 12 new players for the 2026-27 season.

Links to the audio and a transcript of Alexander's availability are above.

The first-year head coach and his staff welcome 13 players from the 2026-27 season. In addition to returner Kostic, the newcomers include 10 Division I transfers (Isaiah Abraham, Matt Gilhool, Dezdrick Lindsay, Timotej Malovec, Pape N'Diaye, Brandon Rechsteiner, JT Rock, Jaden Schutt, Brock Vice and Montana Wheeler) and a pair of top-100 high school prospects (Jaylen Alexander and Devin Hutcherson).

Kostic saw action in 23 games as a true freshman in 2025-26, averaging 5.2 points on 37.7 percent shooting (40-of-106), including 37.5 percent (30-of-80) from 3-point range, with 1.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 13.7 minutes per game. He scored in double figures three times, including a season-high 12 points vs. No. 19/19 Kansas on Jan. 24.

Press releases on each of the 12 newcomers can be found via the links below.

Tickets for the 2026-27 season will go on sale on Tuesday, June 16 to Ahearn Fund members and Tuesday, June 23 to the general public. Fans can purchase tickets by calling toll free at (800) 221.CATS (2287) and/or online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets.

HEAD COACH CASEY ALEXANDER
On what he was looking for in adding players to the roster…
"First and foremost, just guys that fit how we play and guys that we think could be successful. You know, for us moving forward, they're big differences from one program to the next. And you know, how somebody performed at one place isn't entirely a predictor of how it's going to go somewhere else. And so, we wanted the right people. We wanted the right kind of guys. You know, we had to do that on a budget. And we're really pleased with how things turned out."

On being mindful of finances as he put together a roster…
"I didn't mean to imply that we didn't have the finances to put together. We definitely did, but you're still going to be smart about it. I think we were really cautious to not overspend. The hardest part about the portal when you have to get so many guys is you don't know which order the pieces will start falling into place. And so, you got to be cautious not to spend too much early. You got to make sure you have some balance. Once you can start sliding, player A in this position and player B in that position, then it all becomes a little bit clearer. And so that's really what I meant by the budget, is just making sure there was enough to go around."

On getting Andrej Kostic to return…
"Well, first, I'll say that everybody had the same opportunity for conversations. And you know, a lot of guys already had their decisions made before I was even introduced, much less after I was introduced. But he was open and receptive to conversation. Staff worked really hard to get video prepared to show him, kind of specifically how we play big picture, but also to show him, 'Hey, here's why we think you would be really good for us, give you a fresh start and allow you to be the player that I think everybody in Manhattan wants you to be. And so, it's still going to be a process, but he was very open and receptive to the conversation. I think he trusted that we would have his best interest in mind. And really, I give the people of Manhattan a lot of credit for his decision to stay he feels like he's loved here and feels very much appreciated."

On the value of having connections to the recruits in the past…
"I think familiarity is always best in recruiting. For high school guys that might mean you start locally in state or Kansas City then you branch out regionally to teams that you're familiar with, that's how you would do it there. It's very similar in the portal. It doesn't mean that you can't go grab somebody with no connection, but anytime you have the familiarity with someone because you've played against them or you recruited them previously, you are eliminating a lot of risk in what you're getting. The portal goes fast. It's really hard. No matter how hard you try, everybody's kind of on their best behavior and saying the right things. So, the more background you have on players, and that is where you can really trust that you're getting what you think you're getting. I think that's important. And again, it probably eliminates risk on the front end, and kind of keeps you from having some problems down the road."

On how you attacked the portal at K-State as opposed to Belmont…
"I think across the board, agents are so much more involved than they ever have been. And at this level, there are hardly any conversations where the agent isn't driving those discussions. And it's not the same for everybody, but it's almost the inverse of the way that it used to be, in a sense that the first thing you have to do is, is come to some level of an agreement where the money is in range. Because if it's not, there's no conversation. So, you really handle that part of it first, and then you get into the recruiting part of it and see if it's going to be a match there. So that was a new to me. It was an adjustment. I don't necessarily think it's new. I would say it's also new, you know, across the board that that's just the way that things are going now."

On the upside of being a brand-new coach with essentially a brand-new team…
"That's a little difficult to answer. I could say it this way because this is the fourth program, I guess, that I've taken over. You know, I have regretted in the past trying to get players to stay. I think it prolonged the inevitable that it wasn't going to work out. So again, going back to Andrej (Kostic), I think his openness to it and desire to give it a legitimate chance, and my wanting him to have a chance, that was a good scenario. But for the guys who wanted to be talked into staying, I wasn't interested in that part of it, because I felt like if we have to start over completely the sooner that starts, the better. It wasn't necessarily intentional, but I'm also not scared by how it worked out."

On Montana Wheeler and skill set…
"Yeah, before I say skill set, I mean, I just think he's made of the right stuff. I mean, he's a real competitor. He's a hoops junkie, very astute in basketball knowledge. I have really enjoyed learning that about him. I already knew what kind of player he was because we had played against him, but those things really stood out to me in our conversations. He's a winner. He had a tremendous year as a freshman, where he really was never himself. He played behind Jaquan Johnson, who was one of the best guards in the portal this off season. And so, he was really off the ball a lot, but he still found a way to be to make a great contribution on a really good team."

On Sean Rutgliano's role as general manager…
"I've always thought that Sean is a master communicator, and really great. I mean, he's one of those guys that loves being on the phone, loves building relationships, love connecting. He's really a likable guy, and so I knew from the very beginning that he would be extraordinary in this role representing K-State but also having the wisdom about me as a coach, and what I like and what I look for. Somebody that has that 'feel' and will have complete loyalty to me and the program. And so, it was a huge win for our staff."

On the hiring of veteran coaches John Cooper and Phil Cunningham…
"I've known them both for a while. There's not anybody on staff that I didn't have a connection with. Even going back to the transfer portal question, that's just kind of how I operate when it's possible. And so, I've known Coop and Phil for 25-30 years. Both have head coaching experience. Both have a lot of Power 5 experience. I felt like it was a really good balance that, it wasn't intentional necessarily, but the guys I brought with me from Belmont are younger, great on the floor, more, you know, love that part of the game, really eager, a lot of energy. And it's not that Coop and Phil are washed up, but they're on the other side of things. They've got a lot of wisdom, a lot of experience, you know. So, the balance of those guys with the guys we brought from Belmont is really good. I feel like the staff in general, we covered all bases. We've got guys who've been with me, guys I coached. We've got guys who I've never coached with. We've got younger, we've got older, we've got different strengths within the staff. But I'm really pleased with how it turned out."

On the size and length of the team…
"Well, I mean, it's kind of undeniable that we've got to be good at all the things, we got to have some athletes. We got to be good on offense; we got to be good on defense. We have got to have enough size, but so I wouldn't say, like, 'hey, our mission is to go out and get big.' But at the same time, over my recent career I've kind of always erred on the side of size going from where we were at Belmont and the OVC to the Valley and the physical nature of it was kind of forced upon us, and so I still kind of have that mentality, a little bit like, bigger doesn't have to mean better."

On the characteristics of a Casey Alexander player…
"I mean probably several, actually. But I mean, above all else, I want guys that are about the team. In our conversations, whether on Zoom or in-person, I wanted to make it really clear that I d
didn't want any of these guys coming to K State if they didn't care, if they were concerned about anything more than winning and being a great teammate and playing together as a team like it's just not going to work out well for anybody if that's not their number one agenda. Now, I'm not naive to the fact that you know all these guys are coming, and they want to be superstars, and they want to have great roles and everything else and several of them will but it's not reality that 13 of them will. There's still a place for culture. I think there's still a place for a locker room that cares about each other historically. That's the reason why we've won the games that we've won over a period of time. And it's harder to do when you when you have a lot of new faces, they're just not carryover from year to year with leadership and things like that. But that was, the biggest characteristic I was looking for was that kind of person, that kind of teammate. Naturally, there's some skill level involved that we always evaluate basketball IQ, you know, being able to play in motion on the offensive end. Those things are also really important."

On the learning curve with the portal and the differences from Belmont to K-State…
"I think the staff put a lot of time and effort into being prepared for the portal to open. Agents are helpful these days because they want to make sure you know who you should be recruiting once that portal opens. So, it's pretty easy to have lists ready and have some preliminary discussions. That's all legal and above board, so we hit the ground running. I think I had 10 zooms the first day the portal open about 45 minutes each. We had three or four guys that committed without even visiting over the first 24-48 hours the portal was open, so we got a lot of work done as far as the restrictions. I don't think it would matter how much money you have, you still got to put the roster together. And when you're talking about 10 or 11 guys out of the portal, as I mentioned earlier, it's just impossible to have all the variables in place, like you have to just start slotting some people into positions before you can really move on to the next guy. I mean, you got a wide range. For example, we know we need a point guard. Well, that guy might be a strong coach on the floor, leader, winner, competitor, like that. Those might be his characteristics compared to Player B, who's more of quickness break the defense down, but not a leader. Maybe he's younger, maybe is less experienced, that sort of thing. Like which go, what's one of those two guys you're going to get, and then when you get one, then that might shift how you look at another position, or the other guy that's going to play that position. So, it's just a lot of juggling back and forth."

On the pitch to recruits…
"I mean, the one thing we have going for us right now is we haven't lost any games. We were hired at K-State for a reason, and we've had success. And a lot of our success has been on the offensive end. And so, you're naturally going to play that up. Here's what we've done, here's what we're going to do again. I don't ever want to minimize the defensive end. It's just not reality that we're going to be any good at all if we can't play on both ends. But the truth, I mean, 95 percent of what kids want to talk about is offense. Like nobody is coming to K-State because of how we close out on the wing or how we guard the ball in full court pressure. It's the same reason why every time they go in the gym for a skills training workout with their trainer, it is 100% offense. So that's where we emphasize and that's been our strength. And so, it was a pretty easy sell in that regard."

On feeling excitement or pressure when taking over a program…
"Yeah, excitement. I mean, it's because we all know that it can be done there. I mean, the last three coaches have all taken teams to the Elite Eight. Prior to this recent dry run in the last two or three years, I think the NCAA Tournament, 10 out of 13 seasons. You know, plenty of history, both recent and longevity of history. And so, it's an awesome job. It's an awesome place. There's absolutely zero reason why we can't win and we can't win quickly, but it's also going to take a lot of work. I mean, it's a heck of a league and it doesn't happen easily. And there's a lot of good players, great coaches in this league, great places to play. So, the challenge is there, and I recognize that, and we're not settling for middle of the pack, but there's also a reality that's new for me, where you don't have to win every game to have a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament. And so that's intriguing as well."

On being at 13 players…
"If we add, it would be more of a walk-on kind of situation. Somebody that you know brings some practice value and can kind of help us with some depth and things like that. I don't anticipate adding anybody that I would feel like is a rotational player and going to be really important to that part of the process. However, let me say never say never. We have two more slots. We're not beating the bushes right now to try to find the next player."

On Brandon Rechsteiner…
"We recruited him twice. Actually, I've known him for a long time. He's just a tough guy and winner. I think he's very adequate on both ends of the floor but the kind of guy that I really admire.
I mean for all the fluff about offense and so forth, I mean, toughness is what I admire most, and that's what I expect the most out of our players. And he brings a high level of that for us. He's very confident kid. He'll definitely be a coach-on-the-floor type, but a confident player that can also really give us some good results."

On Jaden Schutt…
"I think the best is yet to come for him. He had two pretty good years at Virginia Tech, but I think he will thrive in the offense. I think having the freedom and kind of some shot volume to be a great shooter that he is. When he came out of high school, he was considered maybe the best high school shooter in the country. He went to Duke originally, and he didn't get the opportunity there. He was injured a lot, and then at Virginia Tech again, he made good contributions, but I would expect him to have his best year yet."

On being a wrestling fan with Brandon's father Big Papa Pump…
"Well, I'm very familiar with Big Papa Pump and that whole group. So, yeah, pretty, pretty, pretty good stuff. They (Brandon and his family) came here straight from WrestleMania."

On building culture without bringing over players from Belmont…
"Well, the good news now is we basically start June 1, and we got a lot of time to build that. And I think that's also where familiarity of staff and like-mindedness can foster a lot of that pretty quickly, and it'll develop. I think it'll feel like our team very quickly because everybody doesn't fit nicely and neatly inside some little box, but they all chose K-State because of the message they heard. And so just reinforcing that on a daily basis will be really important to us, and we'll cover a lot of ground quickly. We got a lot to learn. There's going to be surprises all along the way, but I think we're off to a really good start in that regard."

On the incoming freshmen and playing right away…
"I'm gonna play the best guys. I don't care what year they are, how much they're getting paid. You know, that's one thing that I think that is going to be really important. You know, in our locker rooms, Jaylen (Alexander) and Devin (Hutcherson) are both Power 5 level players, in my opinion, and a little bit for different reasons. Jaylen had a great year. He was the Player of the Year in Alabama for a reason. They only give one of those awards out. He's got good size, he's a competitor. We really felt like we got a steal when he signed for us at Belmont originally. And the reality is if he hadn't signed with us in November then there's no way we would have gotten him in the spring. So, he will compete for playing time. I have no doubt about that. Devin is a Power 5 athlete, like he's really quick off his feet. Both of those guys had some Power 5 offers, and for one reason or another, they ended up with us. In his transition, Devin will help us defensively. He'll help us in transition. He's just a really high caliber athlete. His adjustment might take a little longer than Jaylen because with the ball in his hands he has a little bit more control about how things go for him. I think both will be good players in time and maybe in the short term."

On JT Rock and being a better contributor this time around…
"Yeah, he's ready. I mean, he had a good year. We watched a ton of video with him. And again, I think he's going to be your classic big man. He's just the guy that gets better year after year after year, and we're catching him at a great time where we can throw him out there and give him good minutes and good opportunity, and he'll have a lot of success. He reclassified up (in high school) when he went to Iowa State. So, he goes there in his first year, and what should have been his senior season of high school, and redshirted, and just didn't get the opportunity. It's pretty tough in this league when you're that young and physically need a lot of growth. But he's really developed his body, and he showed last year at New Mexico. He didn't start a ton of games. We played a lot of meaningful minutes, and he had a good year, he'll fit in really well."

On Matt Gilhool…
"Yeah, we did have a connection there. JJ Butler on staff is really tight with his high school coach and trainer. And so, it was not a shot in the dark, like trying to figure out what the guy can do. JJ, had seen him play a lot. We actually had a lot of video from LSU. I'm friends with (former LSU head coach) Matt McMahon, so we had some conversations there. And so, when the video was practice. Video, obviously not, not game. He has some physical setbacks early. He had some issues that he had to overcome the first few months, and that's why he chose to redshirt. But he was a really highly-regarded player out of high school. Good length, good athleticism, can make threes. I think he's going to be really good."

On building the non-conference schedule…
"Wes Long, our chief of staff, is largely responsible for all of that work. He and I are working closely together on that, but he's really spending a lot of time trying to make sure that we get the kind of balance and competitiveness that we want there. You're right about the Creighton game at home, at Seton Hall and the three games in the Players Era, which I believe is Thanksgiving Week. So, the rest of the schedule, we would definitely like to continue the game in Kansas City if we can find the right opponent for that and then the rest of it, probably another neutral in there, maybe another high major, a home and home series, and then the normal dose of buy games that will play in Bramlage. You know, it hasn't been the priority at all, but with the roster set and some time now we can dig a little deeper into that. It's hard to do scheduling. Nobody wants to do scheduling when you don't even know what your roster looks like or anybody else's roster looks like."

On the opportunity to recruit high school players with the focus on the transfer portal…
"Yeah. There are a lot of Power 5s out there that are doing little to no high school recruiting, so that leaves a lot of really good players out there that are searching. It's kind of a double-edged sword. I think it's easier to get high quality players, and quite honestly, if they're not five-star high dollar guys, they're a lot cheaper than guys out of the portal. So, there's a couple of good reasons for that, but the development piece, if you have the retention you want, the development piece is really important. There's the hard part, and that's the double-edged sword. It is rare that guys are patient, so your old school freshman that would come in and kind of wait his turn just doesn't happen anymore. The ability to leave when he doesn't get the playing time that he thought he was going to get or he might have to wait until a second year, even his third year, to be a starter, those kinds of things. It's just it's harder and rarer that those guys are going to stick around. But that's of what the charge is. Let's get them. Let's do a good job developing them. Let's make sure they know they're valued and let's see if we can keep more than our share."

On the value of a general manager in building a roster for future years…
"A lot of his role, regardless of what time of year it is, is just the relationship-building piece with the agents and making sure that we're maintaining those relationships for the next go around. I mean, he will be heavy in recruiting. He'll be one of our six guys that can recruit off campus. He won't have a lot of on the floor responsibilities, but let's say, 'All right, we go play Seton Hall and whatever date it is, December, whatever it is. And you know, he can spend those two days meeting with players, going to watch guys, meeting with agents, meeting with coaches. It's the easier for him to do it than one of us that has game preparation and so forth. So, he'll do a lot of that. He and Bryce Haas, our analytics guy, will spend a ton of time crunching numbers and valuations and kind of diligently going about, like, how did this portal cycle go? Like, who are the players? Where were their rankings, and over the course of the year, a better understanding of which guys panned out, which guys didn't, why didn't they pan out? You know that that will all help us and serve us well as we move into the next cycle. Those kinds of things is what he'll do the most."

On the balance of the roster by class…
"That's just kind of how it how it worked out. I wanted to avoid a heavy, heavy dose of seniors where we had to turn around next year and do it all over again. I've talked a lot, as you guys know, about development and retention so I didn't want to flip it all over again next year because that would be counterproductive to the best long-term plans for us. So, we do have some pretty good balance. As you guys are all aware, the 5-for-5 scenario that the NCAA is discussing, a couple of those seniors would have another year and that's a dynamic that all of us coaches are kind of like, well, what are we going to do? We're going to save spots. Are we going to go and find freshmen when we might not want to try to retain some of these guys who are getting an extra year of eligibility. That's an interesting scenario that we're working through."

On scheduling non-Power 5 teams…
I just think there has to be a balance. I think the formula that is present now is the right formula if you're looking at metrics and trying to find your way into the NCAA Tournament. Like, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to play those teams that are really good, but they're between 100-200 (in the NET) like there's just not a real bang for your buck there. And that's what most of us are trying to avoid. So, I get the argument, and that's why at Belmont, when we were typically in that range 75 to 150 it was just almost impossible to get to get these kinds of games. And so, I think we'll continue to avoid those to some degree, but not exclusively. I think a competitive schedule is important, but I also think there's got to be some balance. We're at this level. You're going to want to make sure that you give your fans plenty of home games. The games that I've mentioned (Creighton at home, Seton Hall on the road and the Players Era Tournament) that's five Power 5 opponents in non-conference play. How many more do we need in order to have some kind of balance?"

On Isaiah Abraham…
"Great credentials for him. Coming out of high school, he didn't get a ton of time at Connecticut, but started just about every game, if not every game, at Georgetown this year. Although modest numbers, I think he'll be unleashed a little bit on the offensive end, and we'll see more productivity from him here. But he's going to be an elite defender that he's going to guard the other team's best player more times than not. I think he brings that dimension. He's got good, good perimeter size, but in a lot of versatility and what he can do on the defensive end of the floor. So, I don't want to minimize how much I think he can make a better contribution offensively, but he definitely more than adequate defender."

On Timotej Malovec taking another step after playing one year in college…
"I think both those guys (Kostic and Malovec) are going to have significantly better sophomore seasons than they did freshman seasons. Timo is a guy that, I mean, his role at Miami was their designated shooter and didn't really have a lot of opportunity to make his own way. If you can look back at any of his European video, I mean, he's a guy that, even though he's six, eight to 215 to 220, he's very comfortable with the ball in his hands. He can be a playmaker. He's a very smart player. He's far more than just a 3-point shooter. So, I do think the system and the movement and so forth will benefit him. I think Andrej (Kostic) will be the same way. Just I really feel like we're going to open a lot of doors for those guys. They'll have good seasons, lot of versatility there with those guys that needs to be tapped into."

On Dezdrick Lindsay…
"I mean, similar to Isaiah, like he'll be the best athlete on the team. What I love about him though is he's a really mature kid. A tough blue collar, really a team guy, like we spent time with him in Manhattan for a couple of days. I mean just really admire kind of what he's about and what he'll bring to the table on a daily basis. But, athleticism, toughness, physicality on the perimeter. I mean, he is the right kind of guy."

On the process of moving to Manhattan…
"We officially move at the end of the month. I'm building a lot of credit at the Candlewood Suites, as is the rest of the staff. I don't think anybody has officially moved you know, it's just, but we got a few that'll be there in May, and then my family will actually move at the end of May. Okay, so lots of work at the Candlewood. Since you've been here, lots of work. I think we counted something like there's nine wives and 20 something kids who are moving to Manhattan. They've never been there before. So, I think, the public loses sight of some of those kinds of things. We still have families and kids and they still have school; we still have houses to sell. So, it's the basketball part, is the easy part, in some ways, because it's what we can control. You know, the other things are a little bit tougher when you throw it all in there together. But we're excited to get everybody there and really make it home."

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Players Mentioned

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