There’s always this unfortunate reality about team sports.
One day, you’re standing on the court celebrating a Sweet 16 appearance for the first time in 23 years. Yesterday's struggles are the past, and you feel like nothing can bring you off that high. But then, just as you celebrate that accomplishment, the season ends because, like life, sports don’t always have a fairy tale ending.
On Saturday night, Kansas State’s NCAA Tournament run ended before any of them wanted it to, as the Wildcats fell to No. 1-seed USC in the Sweet 16, 67-61.
“We didn’t want this to end for a lot of reasons,” head coach Jeff Mittie said. “You get to this point, you’re disappointed in the outcome. You wanted to have one more film session, one more practice, one more walk-through.
“And when it ends, it ends like that.”
One day, K-State’s run to the later rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be as sweet as the round where it ended. The tears that filled the locker room will become fond memories that define a group of players who built a product that made a community proud. It’s always hard in the beginning, but it never stays hard.
In the meantime, K-State will have to try and say goodbye to a senior class that has defined expectations for the future of women’s basketball in Manhattan. Three seniors – guards Jaelyn Glenn and Serena Sundell and center Ayoka Lee – have built a standard that will be hard to replace, and it’s not hard to break down this group's impact.
Look at the school’s record book; those names will become commonplace. Sundell finished her college career as the program’s leader in assists, and Lee holds the program record in career points. Glenn’s name is also throughout the record books, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Even transfer Temira Poindexter made history with eight three-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game, and she was only here for one season.
“You can tell just how well they have represented Kansas State and just how fond their memories are of representing Kansas State. That means a lot,” Mittie said. “It means a lot to our coaching staff, it means a lot to our fans. I think it means a lot to our Kansas State community, Manhattan.”
This group was obviously special on the floor, but it was even more special off it. In an era defined by player movement, they chose to stay together in the Flint Hills. They wanted to build something special in Manhattan.
And they did that. K-State women’s basketball is better because of these seniors, even if it wasn’t always perfect.
“Whatever I asked 'em to do, whatever I needed them to do … they were glad to do it,” said Mittie. “Whether it be community outreach, whether it be talking to their teammates about something, whatever. They're rare. They're rare people.”
There are a few players rarer than Lee. After a career defined by injuries, no one would’ve blamed her for skipping an additional year of eligibility and pursuing other opportunities after last season. When she had injuries to both feet during the season, Mittie, who has been with Lee in celebration, doctor’s offices, and rehab tables, wouldn’t have blamed her for shutting it down.
But Lee chose to return. She wanted one more opportunity to wear a K-State jersey and to lead this program to a historical moment.
As her career ended on Saturday, she struggled through tears to reflect on what her career has meant for her. And, for the last public time before Lee’s No. 50 hangs in the rafters of Bramlage Coliseum, Mittie embraced her through those tears.
“To have a coach that has just continued to believe in me through everything I've been through and to have teammates like Serena who have just been game-changers from the minute they stepped on campus,” she said. “Not everyone gets to have a college career like that, so extremely grateful.”
While Mittie knows replacing this group of seniors will be challenging, he also knows he has no choice. Whether he prepared for this moment, there would always be a life after Lee, Sundell, and Glenn.
From a statistical standpoint, that means replacing roughly 65 percent of their scoring, or 51.9 points per game. If every other player on their roster comes back, Taryn Sides and Zyanna Walker will be their returning leading scorers at 9.5 and 8.1 points per game.
The good news is that those players have valuable experience under their belts. Walker was a starter on this year’s team and stepped up down the stretch against USC, finishing with nine points. Sides struggled against the Trojans but was among the nation’s top bench scorers for most of the season.
“They’ve got a lot of experience under their belts already. We saw girls like Zyanna Walker step up tonight in really big moments,” Sundell said. “We’ll just pass the torch to them. I think it’ll be an easy transition.”
Of course, experience alone doesn’t guarantee a player taking that next step. Experience in the NCAA Tournament can be valuable, but only if you know how to use it. The good news is that Mittie is confident Sides and Walker have that experience.
“If you use it to get better, then it’s a really good experience and it’s worthwhile,” Mittie said. “What I will say about those two [Sides and Walker] is they put the time in the gym.
“Out of all of our players, Walker and Sides are in the gym more often than anybody. If I go up to the office at 9 o’clock on a Sunday night to grab something and I hear the music, I’m going to bet one of those two are in the gym. This experience will be valuable for them if they use it the right way, and I’m confident they will.”
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