Tapping into Potential

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Forty-eight days after his hiring as Kansas State head men's basketball coach, and after countless Zoom calls and phone calls with agents, and prospective talents and contributors, Casey Alexander on Thursday discussed the 13 signees on the Wildcats' roster, which became official when Alexander earlier in the day announced the addition of junior forward Timotej Malovec, a 6-foot-8, 214-pound forward who played last season at Miami.

"We're going to open a lot of doors for (Malovec) to have a good season," Alexander said. "Lots of versatility that needs to be tapped into."

Tapping into potential appears to be a prevalent theme to Alexander's first roster at the Power 4 level. Alexander, who was hired at K-State on March 13 after producing 303 wins over his 15-year career at Stetson (2011-13), Lipscomb (2013-19) and his alma mater Belmont (2019-2026), has a tradition of coaching high-scoring and efficient teams, and he is big on development, culture and roster retention, which have been pillars to his tried-and-true success.

K-State currently has three seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and three freshmen on roster for the 2026-27 season in Manhattan. While the roster features no All-Americans, Alexander said it was important to find players who "fit how we play and guys we think can be successful for us moving forward."

"There are big differences from one program to the next, and how somebody performed at one place isn't entirely a predictor of how it's going to be someplace else," Alexander said. "We wanted the right kind of guys. We had to do that on a budget, and we're really pleased with how things turned out."

Work began soon after Alexander hired a bulk of his coaching staff, as they prepared for the transfer portal.

"The staff poured a lot of time and effort into being prepared for the portal to open," Alexander said. "Agents are helpful these days because they want to make sure you know who you should be recruiting once the portal opens, and it's all legal and above board. We hit the ground running. I had 10 Zooms the first day the portal opened, about 45 minutes each, and we had three or four guys who committed without even visiting over the first 48 hours the portal was open, so we got a lot of work done."

Alexander's hiring came as K-State saw its wins steadily decline after an appearance in the 2023 Elite Eight. After going 26-10, the Wildcats went 19-15 and 16-17 before going 12-20 this season with a 3-15 record in the Big 12 Conference. It also came at a time when the Big 12 boasted eight NCAA Tournament teams this March, giving the league at least seven NCAA Tournament teams for four consecutive seasons.

Asked exactly how the K-State coaching staff sold the program to potential players, Alexander replied, "The one thing we have going for us 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. So, you're naturally going to play that up — here's what we've done, and here's what we're going to do," Alexander said. "In truth, 95% of what kids want to talk about is offense. Nobody is coming to K-State because of how we close out on the wing. It was a pretty easy sell in that regard."

The big initial roster news was the announcement by sophomore guard Andrej Kostic on April 6 that the native of Belgrade, Serbia, was returning to the Wildcats. Turned out, the 6-foot-6, 210-pounder was the only player from last season's team to return to Manhattan. Kostic, who arrived at K-State as one of the top prospects in Europe prior to last season, averaged 5.2 pounds on 37.7% (40-of-106) shooting from the floor, including 37.5% (30-of-80) shooting from 3-point range as a true freshman. He also added 1.7 rebounds while averaging 13.5 minutes in 23 appearances.

"Everybody had the same opportunity for conversations, and a lot of guys already had their decisions (to transfer) made before I was even introduced," Alexander said. "(Kostic) was open and receptive to conversation. The staff worked really hard to get video prepared to show him specifically how we play big picture but also to show him why we think he'll be really good for us and that a fresh start would allow him to be the player that everyone in Manhattan wants him to be. It's still going to be a process, but he was very receptive to the conversation. He trusted that we'd have his best interests in mind."

Alexander announced his first signee on April 17 — 7-foot-1, 255-pound center TJ Rock, a junior who averaged 6.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.9 blocks while playing 12.8 minutes per game last season at New Mexico. Rock played one season at New Mexico after he began his career with two seasons at Iowa State, where he averaged 0.7 points and 0.7 rebounds in 2.3 minutes per game as a redshirt freshman in 2023-24.

"He's ready," Alexander said. "We watched a ton of video of him. Even through it won't be all development at K-State, he's just a guy that gets better year after year. We're catching him at a great time where we can throw him out there, give him good minutes and a good opportunity to have a lot of success.

"He reclassified up when we went to Iowa State, so he went there and in his first year, which should've been his senior season of high school, and he redshirted, and then just didn't get the opportunity to play. 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 lot of games – but he played meaningful minutes and had a good year. He'll fit in really well."

Later on April 17, Alexander announced the signing of 6-foot-7, 205-pound junior forward Isaiah Abraham, who averaged 4.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 19.9 minutes per game last season at Georgetown. Abraham played in 42 games with 31 starts in his time at UConn (2024-25) and Georgetown (2025-26). In those 42 games, he averaged 4.1 pounds on 39% shooting, including 33% from 3-point range, with 2.4 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per game.

"He had great credentials for him coming out of high school," Alexander said. "He didn't get a ton of time at Connecticut, but he started just about every game at Georgetown this year, although modest numbers. I think he'll be unleashed a little more on the offensive end, and we'll see more productivity from him there. He's an elite defender, and he's going to guard the other team's best player more times than not. He brings that dimension. He has good perimeter size and a lot of versatility in what he can do on the defensive end of the floor. I don't want to minimize how much he can make a better contribution offensively, but we know from day one he's more than an adequate defender."

Alexander needed a sharpshooter, and on April 20 announced the signing of senior guard Jaden Shutt, a 6-foot-5, 200-pounder who most recently came off the bench and averaged 7.7 points per game while sinking 65 3-pointers on 38.5% shooting from beyond the arc last season at Virginia Tech. Shutt arrives at K-State with four years of Division I experience, having played in 78 games with 31 starts in his time at Duke (2022-24) and Virginia Tech (2024-26). He averaged 6.7 points on 37.4% shooting, including 37% shooting (129-of-349) from 3-point range, with 2.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 22.1 minutes per game. He is also an 83.1% free-throw shooter.

Shutt has one more season of eligibility remaining after earning a medical redshirt in 2023-24.

"The best is yet to come for him," Alexander said. "He had two pretty good years at Virginia Tech, and he'll thrive in the offense while having the freedom and some shot volume to be the great shooter he is. When he came out of high school, he was considered maybe the best high school shooter in the country when he went to Duke originally. He didn't get the opportunity there because he was injured a lot. At Virginia Tech, he made good contributions, but I'd expect him to have his best year yet."

Alexander's first high school signee arrived on April 21 with 6-foot-2, 185-pound point guard Jaylen Alexander, the No. 1 point guard in the state of Alabama, who was named 2026 Alabama High School Player of the Year after averaging 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.3 steals per game his senior season at Oxford High School. He originally committed to Belmont prior to Alexander's move to K-State.

Then Alexander delved into the high school ranks again with the signing of Devin Hutcherson, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound forward who averaged 19.6 points and 8.2 rebounds his senior season at Episcopal School in Atlanta and was named 2026 Class 3A-1A Private Player of the Year.

"I'm going to play the best guys, and I don't care what year they are or how much they're getting paid," Alexander said. "That's one thing that's going to be really important in our locker room. Jaylen and Devin are both Power 4 level players. Jaylen was Player of the Year in Alabama for a reason. He has good size and confidence. We got a steal when he signed with us at Belmont originally. He'll compete for playing time, I have no doubt about that.

"Devin is a Power 4 athlete. He's really quick off his feet. Both of those guys had Power 4 offers early and for one reason or another they ended up with us. He'll help us defensively and in transition. He's a really high-caliber athlete. Both will be good player in time, and maybe in short time."

Alexander went big again on April 22 in signing 6-foot-10, 238-pound junior forward Brock Vice, who averaged 2.0 points and 1.8 rebounds while averaging 5.3 minutes per game last season at Murray State.

Then Alexander went west and added Dezdrick Lindsay, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound senior forward, who averaged 5.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists last season at Oregon.

"(Lindsay) will be the best athlete on the team," Alexander said. "What I love about him is he's a really mature kid, tough, blue-collar, really a team guy. When we spent time with him in Manhattan for a couple days, we really admired what he's about and what he'll bring to the table on a daily basis. His athleticism, toughness and physicality on the perimeter makes him the right kind of guy."

Alexander picked up two more big men. Pape N'Diaye is a 7-foot, 230-pound junior forward who averaged 2.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 blocks last season at Xavier. Matt Gilhool, a 6-foot-11, 213-pound forward, arrives after redshirting his freshman season at LSU. Gilhool averaged 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game at William Penn (Penn.) High School en route to First Team All-State honors. He was a consensus 4-star prospect and among the top 20 power forwards nationally coming out of high school.

"We had a connection there with (Gilhool's) high school coach and trainer," Alexander said. "It wasn't a shot in the dark trying to figure out what the guy can do. Our assistant coach, JJ Butler, has seen him play a lot, and we have a lot of practice video from LSU and we had some conversations there. He had some physical setbacks early and had to overcome the first few months and that's why he redshirted. He was a really highly-touted player out of high school with good length, athleticism and can make 3s. He's going to be really good."

In search of a potential floor leader, Alexander signed Brandon Rechsteiner, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior guard, who averaged 7.2 points, 2.3 assists and 1.3 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game last season at Colorado State.

"We recruited him — twice," Alexander said. "I've known him a long time. He's a tough guy and a winner. He's very adequate on both ends of the floor and the kind of guy I really admire. For all the fluff on offense, toughness is what I admire most and is what I expect the most out of our players, and he brings a high level of that for us. He's a very confident kid, and he'll definitely be a coach-on-the-floor type and a confident player who can really give us some good results."

The signing of Montana Wheeler was announced on Tuesday. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound sophomore guard from Bradley was named to the Missouri Valley's All-Bench Team after finishing second on the team with 8.5 points and 96 total assists and third with 35 3-pointers while not starting a game last season.

"He's made of the right stuff," Alexander said. "He's a real competitor, a hoops junkie, very astute in basketball knowledge, and I've really enjoyed learning that about him. I knew what kind of player he was because we'd 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 was really never himself. He played behind one of the best guards in the portal this offseason, so he was really off the ball a lot, but he still found a way to make a great contribution on a really good team."

Hours before his news conference on Thursday, Alexander announced the addition of Timotej Malovec, a 6-foot-8, 214-pound sophomore forward who averaged 4.2 points, 1.3 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game last season at Miami.

"He's going to have a significantly better sophomore season than freshman season," Alexander said. "His role at Miami was their designated shooter and didn't have a lot of opportunity to make his own way. If you look back at any of his European video, he's a guy who even though he's 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds, he's very comfortable with the ball in his hands, he can be a playmaker, he's a very smart player, and he's far more than just a 3-point shooter. The system and movement will benefit him. We're going to open a lot of doors for a good season. Lots of versatility that needs to be tapped into."

Asked about the apparent emphasis of size on this roster, Alexander said, "It's undeniable we have to be good at all the things. We have to have some athletes, be good on offense, be good on defense, and have enough size. I wouldn't say our mission is to go out and get big, but at the same time, over the recent part of my career, I've always erred on the side of size. You go from where we are in Belmont and the physical nature of it was forced upon us. I still have that mentality a little bit that bigger doesn't have to be better, but all things being equal it will be."

What exactly is a "Casey Alexander" player?

"Above all else, I want guys who are about the team," he said. "In our conversations, I wanted to make it really clear that I didn't want any guys coming to K-State if they were concerned about anything more than winning and being a great teammate and playing together as a team. It's just not going to work out for anybody if that's not their No. 1 agenda. I'm not naïve to the fact that all these guys are coming and want to be super stars and have great roles. Several of them will, but it's not reality that 13 of them will.

"There's still a place for culture and 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. It's harder to do when you have a lot of new faces, when there isn't a lot of carryover from year to year with leadership, but that was the biggest characteristic I was looking for, was that kind of teammate. Naturally, there's still level that we always evaluate along with basketball IQ, which are also really important."

Next on the list: Developing a culture.

"We start on June 1, and we have a lot of time to build that," Alexander said. "It'll feel like our team very quickly. They all chose K-State because of the message they heard. We'll reinforce that on a daily basis, and it'll be very important to us, and we'll cover a lot of ground quickly. We have a lot to learn, and there'll be surprises along the way but we're off to a good start in that regard."

Alexander has confidence moving forward.

"We all know it can be done," he said. "The last three coaches have all taken teams to the Elite Eight. Prior to this recent dry run, K-State was in the NCAA Tournament in 10 of 13 seasons. There's plenty of history both recent and in the past, and it's an awesome job and an awesome place. There's absolutely zero reason why we can't win and we can't win quickly, but it's going to take a lot of work. It's a heck of league, and it doesn't happen easily. The challenge is there. I recognize that.

"We're not settling for middle of the pack, but there's a reality that's new for me where you don't have to win every game to go to the NCAA Tournament, so that's intriguing as well."

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Players Mentioned

Andrej Kostic

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