K-State’s Pullen pumped by Wildcats’ summer workouts
By KELLIS ROBINETT
The Kansas City Star
MANHATTAN, Kan. | Playing pickup basketball games with his Kansas State teammates this summer has made Jacob Pullen more confident than ever.
“The sky is the limit for this team,” said Pullen, a senior guard. “We’re going to start the season as a top-five team, and as the season goes on I think we will be the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.”
Pullen has no problem making that claim partly because the Wildcats return all but three players from a group that advanced to the Elite Eight last season. But for the most part his enthusiasm comes from what he’s seen behind closed doors at Bramlage Coliseum during the last month.
Aside from incoming recruit Juevol Myles, who Wildcats coach Frank Martin said is finishing two classes at Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College, the entire roster is on campus. Pullen can’t think of a negative thing to say about that.
He likes the way Curtis Kelly and Jamar Samuels are playing. He thinks sophomores Rodney McGruder and Wally Judge have improved significantly. And he believes the new faces are better than advertised.
“It’s amazing what one summer can do,” Pullen said. “We’ve grown a lot. It’s looking like we have all the pieces we need to run the show.”
Best of all, those pieces are jelling.
“I’m sure we’ll have issues like every team has, but they’re not going to be issues of people disliking each other,” Martin said. “That’s the advantage of having returning players. They have a better understanding of each other and how things work.”
Of the newcomers, junior-college transfer Freddy Asprilla and freshman Will Spradling are turning the most heads.
Samuels compared Asprilla’s body type to former K-State center Luis Colon and his playing style to Kelly.
“Freddy is very impressive,” Samuels said. “I’m loving his game. He’s a good inside player. He’s Luis Colon, but more skilled. He’s got a huge body, and he knows how to use his skills. He’s got great footwork and can score.”
Spradling, from Shawnee Mission South, has been impressive on defense. The first time he went up against Samuels in the open court, teammates say he stole the ball and scored on the other end.
“Defensively, Will is better than I thought he would be at this point,” Pullen said. “It’s still open gym, so you can’t tell a lot, but he’s pretty far along for a freshman.”
NCAA rules restrict Martin from working with his players in the summer, so he can’t say who the best player has been. But he is confident the Wildcats are practicing as if the 2010-11 season has already begun.
He is interested to see who enters fall practices ready to fill the leadership void left by former point guard Denis Clemente.
“Jacob did that last year whenever Denis wasn’t in the game,” Martin said. “But now he’s going to have to spearhead it without Denis at his side. Which one of those freshman guards is going to embrace that and grow like Jacob did two years ago? I want to know how different people are going to accept different roles.”
Pullen is up for the challenge. He’s planning on handling the majority of K-State’s point-guard duties next season and is working on his passing more than shooting.
“It’s just a great chance for me to make plays,” Pullen said. “If my points average goes down, that’s fine as long as I’m getting assists, I’m getting my teammates involved and our team wins. I look forward to leading in that way.”
