Kansas
Kansas State aims to return to NCAA Tournament after just missing out in Jerome Tang's second season
Kansas State (19-15, 8-10 Big 12)
The Wildcats took a step back after Jerome Tang led them on an unexpected Elite Eight run in his debut season, missing the NCAA Tournament last year as one of the last teams on the bubble. They wound up losing to Iowa in the first round of the NIT, and Tang immediately began to rebuild his roster around a handful of high-end transfers.
The biggest was Coleman Hawkins, who transferred from Illinois and reportedly got a seven-figures name, image and likeness deal. Michigan’s Dug McDaniel should replace the departed Tylor Perry at the point, while Achor Achor (Samford) and Max Jones (Cal State Fullerton) were mid-major scoring machines last season.
The Wildcast struggled mightily in the paint last season, and they hope two still-raw transfers can help. Seven-footer Ugonna Onyenso came from Kentucky and 6-11 center Baye Fall — a former McDonald’s All-American — arrived from Arkansas.
Players to watch
David N’Guessan (senior, 6-9, 7.8 ppg) returned for a fifth season and provides some experience and versatility for a team that will rely so heavily on transfers and need to come together quickly.
Hawkins (senior, 6-10, 12.1 ppg at Illinois) spent four seasons with the Illini, helping them win the Big Ten tourney last year and make a run to the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament, losing to eventual champion UConn.
McDaniel (junior, 5-10, 16.3 ppg at Michigan) is an ideal fit for Kansas State’s offense. He can score in bunches, twice going for 33 in a game last season, but also distribute the ball, piling up eight assists in two different games.
Departures and arrivals
Arthur Kaluma took his 14.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game to Texas, leaving a big void in the Kansas State lineup. Veteran guard Cam Carter (LSU), Dai Dai Ames (Virginia), Jerrell Colbert (SMU) and RJ Jones (TCU) also moved on.
Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang addresses the media during the NCAA college Big 12 men’s basketball media day, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. Credit: AP/Charlie Riedel
Top games
Kansas State will be part of the Paradise Jam along with playing LSU, St. John’s, Drake and Wichita State in what is a relatively weak nonconference schedule. The Wildcats will hope to pile up wins before jumping into Big 12 play, where the league’s loaded nature this year should help in building their strength of schedule.
Facts and figures
Achor Achor was the Southern Conference tourney MVP last season, leading Samford to the title and the first round of the NCAA Tournament. He had 23 points and eight rebounds in the Bulldogs’ loss to Kansas. … Jones has played some his best games against power-conference opponents, dropping 30 points on Nebraska last season. … Kansas State plays its first four games at home and does not play a true road game until the Red Storm on Dec. 7.
Kansas
Salvador Perez attended the Ecaudor-Curaçao match at Arrowhead. So did other royals — from the Netherlands
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City Royals captain Salvador Perez, along with teammates Starling Marte and Carter Jensen, attended Saturday evening’s World Cup match at Arrowhead Stadium.
So did some other royals!
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands began Saturday by cheering the Dutch past Sweden in Houston.
The monarchs ended the day by watching Curacao make some history against Ecuador in Kansas City.
The small island nation of Curacao is a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and that makes King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima the heads of state. So, after a quick flight north Saturday, the royal couple dutifully swapped out their bright orange scarves of Het Oranje Legioen they wore to their earlier match with bright blue ones for The Blue Wave.
Curacao, the smallest World Cup team in population and size, made its tournament debut last Sunday in a 7-1 loss to Germany. But it bounced back from that defeat to earn a 0-0 draw with La Tri and earn its first-ever point in the tournament.
“It is an extra-special World Cup because we have both the Netherlands and Curacao,” Willem-Alexander told RTL-TV. “So we have twice as many teams to cheer for. A great opportunity to cheer on both the Blues and the Oranges. All in all, it will be a special World Cup for me with two teams, and I naturally hope they go extremely far.”
The Netherlands moved one step closer to the World Cup knockout round after a 5-1 win over Sweden.
Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo scored two goals apiece to help coach Ronald Koeman’s team bounce back from a disappointing draw in its opener and move atop Group F. The Netherlands concludes group play against Tunisia on Thursday in Kansas City.
Curacao is still alive, too, after Eloy Room made 15 saves — one off the World Cup record — to earn a draw with Ecuador. It concludes Group E play on Thursday against the Ivory Coast in Philadelphia at the same time Ecuador is playing Germany in New York.
It is quite rare for sitting monarchs to come through the area. Queen Ann of Romania attended the dedication of the Liberty Memorial, which is where Kansas City is holding its World Cup FanFest, in the 1920s, while King Gustav XVI of Sweden made a stop in the small Kansas town of Lindsborg when he was passing through the Midwest in the 1970s.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Kansas
1 man dies after being shot June 9 in Kansas City, Missouri; police working to identify person of interest
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department is working to identify a person(s) of interest in a June 9 shooting that led to the death of one victim.
Police were called around 6 a.m. on June 9 to the area of Independence and Monroe avenues in Kansas City, Missouri.
Responding officers found an unresponsive man behind a residence in that area. He was transported to the hospital for life-threatening injuries, per KCPD.
Police were notified Friday night that the shooting victim died.
KCPD said Saturday “detectives have made headway identifying subject(s) of interest.”
Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to call KCPD Homicide detectives directly at 816-234-5043 or the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline at 816-474-8477.
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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
Kansas
1 man killed, 5 others wounded in mass shooting Friday night near East 19th and Vine streets in KCMO
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One person was shot to death and five others were wounded by gunfire Friday night in the 18th and Vine Historic District in Kansas City, Missouri.
Police said officers were in the area of East 18th Street and Paseo about 10:30 p.m. when they heard gunshots.
The officers moved to East 19th Street between the Paseo and Vine Street to check for shooting victims, according to a police department news release.
They found one man who had been shot and was unresponsive, along with two women who had been shot.
The man was declared dead at the scene.
One of the women suffered serious gunshot wounds and the other woman suffered non life-threatening wounds, according to the police department news release.
Officers at the shooting scene were notified three more shooting victims from the same area had been taken to a hospital by a private vehicle.
An adult male and female were reported in stable condition late Friday, while a second adult male suffered critical gunshot wounds, according to police.
Police said their preliminary investigation revealed the victims were standing on 19th Street between Vine and Paseo when people began shooting in several directions.
All the shooting victims were hit by gunfire in that area, according to police.
No word on what led to the mass shooting and at least one murder.
This is a developing story and will be updated when new information is available.
—
If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
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