MANHATTAN — Heading into a season with plenty of uncertainty, there’s one voter out there who is confident that Kansas State basketball is capable of emerging as one of the best teams in the nation.
The Wildcats received 13 points in the Monday, Oct. 13, release of the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll, good enough for an unofficial No. 31 ranking.
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But here’s the catch. All 13 points came from one voter, meaning no one else among the panel of 61 voters had Kansas State in their top 25.
That’s where Connor Earegood comes in. He’s the Michigan State beat reporter for The Detroit News, and he’s so confident in the Wildcats that he voted for the Wildcats to be the 13th-best team in the nation heading into the 2025-26 season.
And it was no accident.
“I believe in the talent I see on that roster,” Earegood said. “Obviously, it’s preseason, right? It’s hard to go off of anything other than what you see on paper, which includes two top 15 scorers, especially with (PJ) Haggerty as an All-American.”
Dec 7, 2024; Queens, New York, USA; Kansas State Wildcats head coach Jerome Tang applauds during a timeout in the first half against the St. John’s Red Storm at Carnesecca Arena. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
When covering Michigan State last season, Earegood saw three of Kansas State’s three newcomers play the Spartans, including Haggerty (Memphis), Marcus Johnson (Bowling Green) and Abdi Bashir Jr. (Monmouth). Each player caught Earegood’s eye during the season and was impressed that Jerome Tang attracted the trio to Manhattan.
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He sees Haggerty as one who can score on demand. Johnson scored 23 points for Bowling Green in a game against the Spartans that was tied at halftime. He thought Bashir belonged on a Power 4 court when facing Michigan State, who then went on to lead the nation in 3’s and didn’t appear to be a defensive liability.
“In terms of sheer talent that I can see on the roster, Kansas State got pretty high marks from me,” Earegood said.
Earegood said he spent a lot of time putting together a poll he believes he was asked to submit before practices began. He began by identifying who gained the most in the portal and whose rosters showed the most improvement. He also places a lot of stock in returnees because they are familiar with the culture of each program.
Earegood’s poll had defending champion Florida as his No. 1 team, with Houston ranked the highest in the Big 12 at No. 3. He has the Wildcats ranked behind other Big 12 programs, including Texas Tech (No. 5), BYU (No. 8), and Arizona (No. 12). He placed conference foes Iowa State (No. 18) and Kansas (No. 22) behind the Wildcats.
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The official poll has Purdue ranked first heading into the season, followed by Houston at No. 2. The Jayhawks are ranked 19th.
Earegood confirmed that he didn’t mistakenly switch Kansas State and Kansas.
“I’m not super high on Kansas,” Earegood said. “I think they have some pretty big questions to answer without (Hunter) Dickinson and without some of those guys. But it’s Bill Self, and if anyone can do it, it’s gonna be him.”
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball ranked No. 13 in one voter’s preseason AP Poll
