Darren Kent News

Kansas State basketball coach Frank Martin has thrown Darren Kent's name around quite a bit this season.

Frank Martin tried to warn everyone this was coming. The Kansas State coach saw the problem in K-State's first two games.

We said a lot of things about this K-State basketball team before the season, all of which could be true, by the way.

Last season, when opponents drove in the lane, Darren Kent could often be found stepping in to take a charge.

KANSAS CITY , Kan. Eighty minutes does not a season make, but it was enough time for the Kansas State Wildcats to reveal some things about themselves as the men head for Puerto Rico starting Thursday.

MANHATTAN, Kans. -- There was a class observing Kansas State's practice last Tuesday, and so, for the sake of decorum, coach Frank Martin spared junior forward Curtis Kelly of what might have been an epic reaming, instead pulling him aside afterward and informing him in hushed-but-serious tones, that the effort he'd just put forth was unacceptable.

Coach: Frank Martin . Last season's record: 22-12 overall, 9-7 in Big 12 . Postseason: Lost in second round of NIT to San Diego State.

When Nic Wise leaves Arizona next spring, he will already be the answer to a trivia question: Who was the one guy who played for four UA basketball coaches in four seasons, only the third modern-day major college player do so for any team without transferring? It's Wise, the Wildcats' senior point guard.

Kansas State strength and conditioning coach Scott Greenawalt works with former Wildcat basketball players Serge Afeli, upper right, and Tyler Hughes in 2006.

The timing was so right, so rich for Wayne Ellington in April. Now, who knows? With the NBA Draft a day away, Ellington's Final Four Most Outstanding Player award is no longer such a big deal.

Kansas State men's basketball coach Frank Martin was in Hutchinson on Tuesday to talk to boosters.