MANHATTAN — Casey Alexander has been named the new basketball coach at Kansas State University. He shook hands with donors, met with donors and outlined his vision for rebuilding the Wildcats. Now it was time for him to get to work.
Alexander flew back to Nashville following the introductory event on Monday, March 16, and is expected to return to Manhattan later this week. He’s not coaching Belmont in the NIT because the school declined a bid in light of recent changes, so Kansas State is moving full steam ahead.
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Alexander appears to be moving quickly and needs to get a few things done before the transfer portal opens after the NCAA Tournament National Championship. Roster construction for the 2026-27 season is about to begin, and Alexander is trying to get K-State on a more stable track right away.
Here are some immediate items on Alexander’s to-do list.
Casey Alexander to hire Kansas State coaching staff
Alexander has said his coaching staff is basically in place. He said multiple coaches will transfer from Belmont to Kansas State and it’s just a matter of human resources approving the hires.
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Assistant coaching candidates include Kellen Johnson, Luke Smith, Bryce Haas and J.J. Butler, while overseeing Brian Ayers, a longtime Belmont assistant who coached under Rick Bird. Considering his staff at K-State will be larger than his staff at the midlevel level, others outside of Belmont will also be hired.
No coaches will be retained from Jerome Tang’s team, but the support staff could.
Casey Alexander to meet with last year’s K-State players
Alexander said Monday that he tried to contact players on the 2025-26 team but was unable to reach them. It’s worth noting that the university is on spring break.
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Players from last season are not expected to return to the Wildcats. Alexander said it has to be the right situation for both the program and the athletes.
Casey Alexander will prepare for transfer portal
Players can enter the transfer portal between April 7 and 21. Alexander will add players during and after these dates.
No KSU players have announced their intention to enter the portal last season, but it’s coming. A large number of people started showing up across the country, including several Alexander Belmont players. While there’s no guarantee that the likes of Tyler Lundblad and Drew Sarnowski, two of his best players from last season, will join him, they’re definitely worth keeping an eye on.
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There are others who have announced their transfer intentions, which could make sense in Manhattan. Xavier’s Allright, who played against Alexander last season in Valparaiso, is the son of a former Kansas State University basketball player. Among them were prominent men from Lipscomb and Chattanooga, with whom Alexander was intimately familiar, which made it known that they too were bound by the portal.
In the meantime, we’ll get a better idea of what’s to come.
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State track and field for the USA TODAY Network and the Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987, or email wwheeler@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared in the Topeka Capital Journal: Casey Alexander’s Kansas basketball to-do list
