I had a dream that I took the K-state women’s team coffee for their practice. I’m sure I could do it due to the NIL agreement Brother’s has with the team. In my dream I was trying to figure out how to stack up all the to-go carriers. Two hours later, awake, I got an email from my old friend, Cheri, inviting me to join her as honorary coach. I answered, “Yes!!!!!”
Cheri and another old friend, Mary Beth, both also former school social workers, picked me up at 12:30. Both are huge K-State fans. Cheri is the President of the Salina Catbackers club, having moved there 6 years ago. They had an auction and she got the Honorary Coach tickets and thought Mary Beth and I would enjoy it. Understatement! We were ridiculously excited on the way over.
We were treated like queens starting with parking. We met one of the coaches, Greyson, at the door. He took us down to the floor to our seats behind the bench. The girls were having a pre-practice shoot around. Sarena Sundell and Taryn Sikes were doing a one-on-one at the basket nearest us and they were laughing and having a great time. We watched as male players who had on numbered practice pennies circled up at the other basket. Two of the coaches were instructing them. Mike Nicholson, Chief of staff, came over to explain to us that these guys were volunteers. They wore the numbers of the opponents the girls were going up against and the coaches were telling them the defense the other team would be using. He said the girls were currently back watching game film.
Cheri, Mary Beth and I took silly pictures of us pretending to coach from the bench and went out into the middle of the court and took a picture of us creating K-S-U. We were laughing so hard.
Eventually the team came back out and we got to move closer. They did a warm up drill. Mikayla Parks came over and introduced herself to us. She was not practicing with the team. Mikayla was very warm and friendly. She explained that the girls had an ongoing contest with the drill to get as many baskets as possible in the allotted time, first from the sides, then the free throw line, then the 3 point line. She said their record was over 140. The girls wear talking, counting, and encouraging each other. It was so fun to watch.
Coach Mittie then had the girls run the offensive drill, “Cleveland” again and again against the volunteer guys. He’d call in 5 players then substitute the other fice. We noticed that Ayoka Lee was not suited out and was watching practice. Mikayla explained that she was taking a much needed break saving herself for tougher games ahead. Apparently Ayoka, whose nickname is Yoki, took her off day seriously and must have considered that to include interacting with us. I knew Ayoka to be friendly and gregarious but she was quiet and kept to herself all day.
When they ran the defense, Coach yelled, specifically at Eliza Maupin who he said wasn’t in the right place. It would take some thick skin to play at this level. Eliza handled it just fine.
Mikayla answered our questions about practice and the players. She said most of the players live in athletic housing which is nearby and part of Jardine. She said she and “the twins” (Jaelyn “Jae” and Brylee Glenn) live off campus together. She said Ayoka lives in her own house because “she’s a grown up.” I knew that Ayoka is a grad student who already has a master’s degree and is working as a marriage and family therapist locally.
Mikayla said her parents come to most of her games and that her brother just signed with KU. She joked about the holidays at home now are a house divided.
We also met two assistant coaches, both named Ebony, who were very friendly and welcoming. The blonde Ebony told me she liked my hair.
After practice, I had run to the restroom and when I returned, the girls were in the center of the court in a bunch and they all began yelling at me to “Come on”, clapping, and high fived me when I ran up. They gathered around us and introduced themselves to us. I told Kennedy Taylor she is my favorite to watch because of her enthusiasm and how she talks and encourages the other players on the court.
We took group photos and one with Sarena who chatted with us awhile longer. She said her parents come to every game including away games and that is complicated because her brother just signed with the Seattle Seahawks. She said she has one more year at K-State then hopes to try out for the WNBA but is open to playing overseas also. Mary Beth congratulated Sarena on her record of second in assists. I hadn’t realized as that had gotten buried in Ayoka’s setting the record of high scorer for KState women basketball. At the last home game.
After practice we were invited to join the team for lunch in the Shamrock room on the concourse. On the way up the steps, I told Taryn who was walking next to me that I measured my fitness by how out of breath I was at the top of the stairs. She said she also got out of breath at the top. I complimented her on “dropping all the three pointers” Tuesday night and she thanked me. During the group picture on the floor, I said, “hey! You’re my height!” When I saw the photo after, I see that she was bending down.
We went through the buffet line and filled our plates with delicious food. I encouraged Imani Lester to take more and she laughed. The girls all sat together at a long table. I joined Coach Ebony and Elisabeth Brown who I knew from our NIL agreement and Madison Pahls, Director of Women’s Basketball administration at a 4 top table. We chatted about how they’d each worked their way up to their current positions. They all had a lot of experience!
After lunch, we met up again with Greyson and he took us on a tour of the practice facility called the Ice Family Basketball Center. It was so fancy and high scale! The lobby had tall windows and a giant EMAW sign and trophy cases and pictures of past coaches. It had two giant spiral staircases. Greyson explained that the right half of the building was the women’s side and the left side the men’s side.
We went through doors and turned right into the locker room. The first room had the girls names and photos on the wall, comfortable leather coaches and a big tv and a table and chairs. Brylee Glenn was curled up with blankets on one of the couches playing on her phone.
The locker room itself had a big wildcat painted on the floor. The lockers were luxurious wood and fancy lighting. The first thing we noticed were all the shoeboxes lined up in each one. Most of the players had a bunch of worn uniforms and clothes hanging on the outside and were a bit messy. I noticed that Tamira Poindexter’s locker was neat as a pin.
The bathrooms and showers were fairly basic other than the shower heads being super high.
We saw the practice gym with the coaches offices above, windows so they could look down on the courts and a glass lined balcony above. There was a whole room dedicated to snacks that had a person working at it and a dietician office next door. There was a small auditorium for watching game film.
We saw the trainers room with tables for stretching. Beyond that room Greyson explained were the hot tub and cold plunge pools. He said they had a platform to lower the players down and a treadmill at the bottom they could run on. He said that each of the players wore a chip that monitored all of their bodily functions that were tracked closely during games to prevent injuries. We saw the trainer sitting at the computer during the game monitoring the player’s chips.
We saw the weight room, shared by both teams, with state of the art equipment. Each of the machines had an iPad so each player could track their individual work outs. I was impressed by a big cage that had grab bars for stretching any part of your body. I of course tried it out.
We saw the men’s gym, similar to the womens’. Greyson pointed out that a lighted rack of basketballs that could track a number of things including number of baskets made.
We left after the tour for a break. When we returned, we went down to our seats just behind the bench. We had passes that allowed us to go along the floor and into the tunnel to use the restroom. I said hello to my friend Mary Stamey who sat at the scorers table and our friend Brian Smoller who announced for ESPN. Old friend Kurt Moldrup, RCPD Director and head of security also stopped by for a hug and chat.
At 6:00, we went to the tunnel to use the restroom and wait. We sang the National Anthem and the Alma Mater, laughed and still giddy with excitement. At 6:15, Elisabeth summoned us and shushed us and took us to the team locker room (not the practice one, this one was not as fancy and smaller). She showed us where to stand quietly. The girls were sitting lined along each side, those dressed out to play and those not, who were intently listening to Coach Mittie at the white board. I had expected a rousing encouraging pregame speech but that wasn’t what he did. Instead, he was addressing each player one by one, explaining their opponents by number and giving very detailed explanations and directions. It was completely over my head, like he was speaking an entirely different language. He knew exactly how each opponent played offense and defense and told the girls how to play them. I was impressed.
He finished and the girls got in the huddle and said, “Go Cats” and that was it! They all went out one door and we went out another. We waited in the purple lighted hallway next to the tunnel with the girls. They were jovial and relaxed and joked around with each other. I was video taping with my phone next to the camera man (our friend JJ). At one point, Jaelyn looked out and said, “We’re on the Jumbotron.” We could hear the team being announced and the girls ran past us. The coaches were following, yelling “Go Cats!” and making the wildcat hand sign.
We followed, took a pic next to the court with Willie the Wildcat, then took our seats behind the bench. It was fun watching the starting line up being announced from our seats. Honestly, Scott’s and my regular season ticket second row middle seats were better for watching the game other than seeing the girls come off the court and high five their teammates and coaches. The assistant coaches kept standing up with the GOAT in the air every time the other team was prevented from scoring and then we couldn’t see the game. It happened a lot. The girls won by 75 points.
I wouldn’t have traded this experience for anything. Several people jokingly told us what a great job we did coaching due to the point spread. I was a fan before, but now, knowing and being impressed by all that goes on behind the scenes, I am an even bigger fan.
Go Cats!
dianegclark 