Kansas
Where Kansas State basketball’s March Madness résumé stands for 2024 NCAA Tournament
Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang on the NCAA Tournament
Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang contends that the Wildcats still belong in the NCAA Tournament.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There is no question in Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang’s mind that his Wildcats belong in the NCAA Tournament.
He made an impassioned case Thursday night following a lopsided 76-57 loss to Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals for just why the Wildcats should be in the 68-team field when the bracket is revealed Sunday. Their record currently stands at 19-14.
CBS will broadcast its Selection Show at 5 p.m.
While Tang spoke eloquently, touching on all the high points of the Wildcats’ résumé, they remain the longest of longshots to hear their names called according to most bracketology experts.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had the Wildcats at No. 5 on the top teams out as of Saturday evening, and it is unlikely that they will jump Seton Hall, Indiana State, Pittsburgh or Providence in line, much less the last four in of Oklahoma, St. John’s, Virginia and New Mexico. Jerry Palm of CBS had K-State on the bubble, but not among his first four out.
Kansas State basketball rallies, turns back Texas to advance to Big 12 quarterfinals
If the Wildcats don’t get in, the biggest number working against them was their NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) ranking of 70. The only other team among Lunardi and Palm’s last four in and first four out that even dropped into the 60s was Seton Hall at 66, but the Pirates matched K-State’s five Quadrant 1 and 2 victories with a 20-12 overall record.
The fact that K-State was 7-0 in overtime games was not viewed as a positive by the NET, especially since two of them came against lowly North Alabama and Oral Roberts.
“Because we didn’t win by 30 or 40 against Quad 4 teams, that’s being held against us in the numbers and what the NET shows,” Tang said. “I was told a long time ago, just win the game, right?”
Working in the Wildcats’ favor is their five Quad 1 victories against Iowa State, Kansas, Baylor, BYU and Texas, all of which rank higher than 30 in the NET. Of the teams ahead of them in the bracketology bubble, only Providence has more with six, and K-State beat the Friars head-to-head.
Kansas State basketball freshman Dai Dai Ames earns his stripes in big win over Texas
“We have elite Quad 1 wins,” Tang said. “We have no bad losses.”
The Wildcats went into the season with higher expectations. But that was before senior forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin, their top returning player from last year, was dismissed from the team, and Samford transfer guard Ques Glover was sidelined by a knee injury.
K-State does boast three of the Big 12’s top 15 scorers in No. 8 Tylor Perry with 15.5 points per game, Arthur Kaluma in 11th with 14.7 and Cam Carter 12th at 14.7. Kaluma also is fifth in rebounding at 7.1 and David N’Guessan seventh at 6.8.
The Wildcats are still holding out hope that they somehow slip into the tournament tonight, but a more likely scenario is that they must wait until the NIT announces its picks at 8:30 p.m.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
Kansas
Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.
According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.
His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.
Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.
On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
No further information has been released.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
Kansas
Deadly 4-car crash kills 2 people, injures others in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A crash near a busy highway killed two people and injured two others.
Emergency crews responded to the crash at U.S. 71 Highway and Meyer Boulevard around 12:40 p.m. on Monday, March 2.
When crews arrived they determined four cars were involved in the crash.
Police are investigating how the crash happened.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
Kansas
Homegrown Jayhawk stars ready to shine at Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City
LAWRENCE, Kan. (KCTV) – As Kansas women’s basketball prepares to enter the postseason at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, they’ll be led by two Overland Park natives who have been two of the most electrifying players to watch in the country this year.
Junior guard S’Mya Nichols and freshman forward Jaliya Davis have played integral roles in the recent growth of the program. Both cite the desire to help grow the Jayhawks into something special as reasons for committing there.
“Where we wanted to take Kansas women’s basketball, I wanted to be a part of that growing evolution,” Nichols told KCTV5.
“We [my family] were also really big Jayhawk fans. We came to a lot of games,” Davis said about her childhood.
The two were both 5-star recruits in high school, and their commitments marked historic recruiting victories for the KU women’s basketball program.
First came Nichols in the Class of 2023, picking KU over Tennessee and Oklahoma.
“I genuinely wanted to go to Kansas,” she said.
Then Davis became the highest-rated player to ever commit to KU as part of the Class of 2025.
“When you go back to S’Mya Nichols being a local, Kansas City, Overland Park product, a nationally respected player, Jaliya was really the next one that was very important for the Jayhawks to keep home,” said head coach Brandon Schneider.
Now as a junior, Nichols has established herself as one of the most consistent scorers and physical guards in the nation.
But it’s the Shawnee Mission West’s alum’s leadership that defines her legacy in Lawrence.
“The team leader, the quarterback,” Coach Schneider described Nichols. “I think oftentimes the player that everybody looks up to off the court.”
“I mean it means everything. Knowing that I’m important to the team, and that they see me as that as well,” said Nichols with a smile.
Both Nichols and Davis were recruited by the Jayhawks for years, going all the way back to seventh grade.
“Well, we offered her in middle school,’ Coach Schneider said with a laugh about Davis.
“Oh he put in a lot of work,” laughed Davis. “I mean, obviously, seventh grade, that’s a long time.”
It was that dedication from Coach Schneider that led her to choose the Jayhawks over Texas, South Carolina, Baylor, and Oklahoma – where he dad played ball.
“I think it really was the relationship we had and grew. He was always there, every single one of my games,” Davis said about Schneider.
After just one practice as teammates, Nichols voiced a big belief about Davis into existence – and it’s probably going to come true.
“I saw her first practice, and I sent her a text, and I’m like ‘I think you can win Freshman of the Year’, and I still stand by that,”
Davis is averaging 21.0 points per game, and has been named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for eight weeks in a row. That sets a power conference all-time record.
“I think it’s really cool. I mean obviously it’s a team effort, they’re always looking for me,” Davis said about her historic accomplishment.
“Just a phenomenal stretch of basketball for her, and so well deserving,” said Coach Schneider.
Now these two homegrown stars are at the forefront of a late-season push to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Right now, CBS Sports bracketology has them as a ‘First Four Out’ team.
But a few wins in the Big 12 Tournament could certainly help seal their invite to the big dance.
“Obviously we’re not in the position that we were hoping to be in, but I think we can make the most out of it, and get to where we want to be,” Davis said about the opportunity at hand in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
The Overland Park kids are especially fired up about starting the postseason in their own backyard.
“I have a big support system. So I bet my family will take a big chunk of that area during that tournament,” Davis laughed.
“I remember being younger, and the College Basketball Experience is right next door. So I felt like at one moment that was the big stage, when I got to play my little AAU tournaments in there. And then all of a sudden I’m literally in T-Mobile Center on the actual big stage, so it’s pretty cool,” said Nichols.
The Jayhawks are the 11-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, and will face 14-seed UCF in the first round on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
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