Imagine the look upon the face of Kansas State head coach Jeff Mittie when he took the court docket for the Wildcats’ first follow. Gone had been his two All-Americans — all-time scoring chief Ayoka Lee and all-time help chief Serena Sundell — who helped the Wildcats to 4 postseason appearances capped by the Sweet Sixteen final season.
Now there have been no returning starters, one returning scorer in junior guard Taryn Sides, and 9 newcomers who carried potential however lacked consistency.
Mittie, who enters his 12th season at Ok-State, calls this one of many youngest groups he is coached in Manhattan. He put the previous couple months into sincere perspective throughout his first information convention for the reason that finish of final season’s run to the Sweet Sixteen.
“We’ve got a lot of unknowns starting out this year,” he stated. “We graduated a whole lot of good gamers, misplaced some gamers to the portal, and needed to redo the roster. I like our group. They’ve actually labored onerous this offseason. They obtained up extra pictures than any workforce we have had, however we’re actually inconsistent proper now, which is to be anticipated.
“I’m still trying to figure out lineups. I’m trying to figure out who plays well together at times, and that’s very different than a year ago.”
Ok-State was picked seventh within the Preseason Big 12 Women’s Basketball Poll. It obtained votes within the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll on Tuesday.
“I don’t really care where we’re picked,” Mittie stated. “Honestly, for our group right now, it’s how much better this team can be from October to March, and I think the growth rate of this team could be really big.”
But Mittie, in recalling that first follow, trails again to the preliminary questions that swept via his thoughts.
“There was a different level of excitement and a different level of concern,” Mittie stated. “Where are our points going to come from? Where do we help them the best? Those things are still questions we’re trying to figure out.”
As for what Ok-State is particularly doing nicely in follow?
“There are days when we really shoot the ball well and can really move it and have good shooters and can really see a different attack offensively and be really successful,” he stated. “Defensively, there are moments where I see athleticism that excites me, and we can create some problems for people. There are moments where our point guard play is exciting because we have two young ones there in Izela Arenas and Gina Garcia, and each are doing a little good issues.
“If you notice I keep saying, ‘moments.’ There aren’t extended stretches of really good play. It’s just the inconsistency. For mid-October, we have a lot of things we have to get better at.”
There’s consistency with Sides, the 5-foot-7 guard who averaged 9.2 factors on 45.2% taking pictures and was 43.3% (84-of-194) on 3-pointers whereas coming off the bench in 35 video games.
“We want Taryn to lead in a way she’s comfortable,” Mittie stated. “She knows the program, the standards, and has continued to grow in her voice over time, but she’s not a rah-rah leader or someone who is going to very often get into a team or play that leadership role.”
Mittie deferred the vocal management to Tess Heal, a 5-foot-10 senior guard from Melbourne, Australia, who transferred to Ok-State after spending one season at Stanford and two seasons earlier than that at Santa Clara.
Heal left Santa Clara after two seasons with 1,225 whole factors, an 18.6-level scoring common, and 296 assists. She joined Caitlin Clark in taking pictures a minimum of 45.0% and averaging 18.0 factors, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 2022-23 and 2023-24. She was named to the 2023 WCC All-Freshman Team and was a two-time All-WCC first workforce choice in 2023 and 2024.
At Stanford final season, Heal was the one participant in Division I to shoot a minimum of 50% from the ground and 45% from 3-level vary.
“(Leadership is) one of many causes we recruited Tess Heal,” Mittie stated. “We saw some leadership in her coming from Stanford. We saw that when we recruited her. Tess has filled that role of when she needs to jump the team a little bit to raise our standard up and raise our toughness up.”
Another spotlight of follow has been the play of 5-foot-8 sophomore guard Izela Arenas, a local of Los Angeles who started her profession at Louisville. The daughter of former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, Izela was a prime-100 prospect who helped Sierra Canyon High School to a 62-4 document her last two seasons, together with a 31-1 document and No. 1 nationwide rating her junior yr.
Last season at Louisville, Arenas averaged 11.8 minutes in 29 video games and averaged 4.2 factors on 41.8% taking pictures, together with 38.5% (20-of-52) on 3-pointers. She additionally averaged 1.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists per sport. She had a profession-excessive 14 factors in opposition to Clemson.
“She has good, solid leadership skills, and has scoring ability and an ability to get to the rim,” Mittie stated. “She hits the three very well and has been constant there. I really like her work ethic. She’s a participant that in the summertime was taking pictures pictures each morning at 5 a.m. then coming again at night time to get extra pictures. She was very routine-oriented. She shot 2s within the morning and shot 3s at night time. She obtained up extra pictures throughout every week than any gamers I’ve ever had, and we have had some good ones. I like her quickness with the ball and her potential to play the ball display.
“She has some scoring ability that we’re going to need.”
Arenas and Heal headline a gaggle of Division I transfers the Wildcats secured for the season — an inventory that additionally consists of 6-foot-5 sophomore middle Ramiya White (Virginia Tech) and sophomore ahead Jenessa Cotton (Duke).
Heal is the one senior on the roster. There are two juniors in ahead Nastja Claessens (from Belgium) and Sides. There are 4 sophomores in redshirt guard Mikayla Parks, White, Cotton and Arenas. There are additionally 5 freshmen in guard Brandie Harrod, guard Aniya Foy, guard Gina Garcia (from Spain), redshirt ahead Alexis Hess, and guard Jordan Speiser, who maybe carries the best following of any newcomer.
The 2023-24 Gatorade Missouri Girls Basketball Player of the Year, Speiser was a 5-star prospect who was ranked because the 14th general participant within the nation by ProspectsNation.com and because the fourth-greatest taking pictures guard by 247Sports. Speiser, who was rated as one of many prime shooters within the nation within the Class of 2025 by ESPN, averaged 20.9 factors on 42.8% taking pictures and made 102 3-tips on 42.0% taking pictures from lengthy vary. She additionally averaged 7.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals in 27 video games throughout her senior season at Lutheran High School in Warrenton, Missouri.
In April, Speiser competed within the McDonald’s All-American Game, The Nike Hoops Summit and the Jordan Brand Classic in a span of three weeks.
In June, Ok-State’s freshman class was ranked No. 8 by ESPN.
There’s room to develop.
“(Speiser) has been the same way that all of them have been — really good moments and really rough moments, at times,” Mittie stated. “One of the primary scrimmages she hit 7-of-10 3s. Then the blokes guarded her rather a lot higher and the following time it was 1-of-7. So, we have seen huge moments, however we have additionally seen the struggles you’d anticipate from a freshman in being guarded otherwise than she has in her profession.
“She’s a heck of a player with a heck of an opportunity to be an impact player right away.”
One participant not on the Ok-State roster is 6-foot-2 senior ahead Kennedy Taylor, a local of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, who averaged 7.1 factors on 53.4% taking pictures and averaged 4.6 rebounds whereas taking part in in 36 video games with 12 begins final season.
Mittie indicated that Taylor’s absence was as a consequence of an NCAA ruling of her eligibility standing.
“The NCAA denied it two weeks ago, and Kennedy and her family filed an appeal,” Mittie stated. “That’s where it sits. It’s a pretty good player that we’re waiting on. You’d like to have the answer. In our situation, it’s been frustrating.”
As for Ok-State’s presence within the paint in Taylor’s absence?
“Thin — as thin as we’ve ever been,” Mittie stated. “It’s a problem. It’s a problem. We just have to figure out how to cover it up and how we’re going to play that. We’re not very deep there. We’ve looked for possible players that could be eligible, but there’s just not very many out there. We’re pretty thin.”
While Mittie talked about “inconsistency” a number of instances in his information convention, he stays aware of persistence throughout these instances as nicely whereas demanding consistency in two key areas.
“As I’ve told them, my patience is being tested only in the sense of effort and communication,” Mittie stated. “The relaxation will deal with itself. But these are non-negotiables. Your effort must be constant, and your communication must be constant. We’ll work our manner via our chemistry on the ground offensively, and thru us as a workers attending to know them higher. It’s on me to determine this factor out. We could be failing in some areas that I believe we may be good at, and possibly we simply cannot. I’ve obtained to determine these issues out as quick as I can.
“What I go back to with this group is they’ve worked so hard in the moments that we’re not asking of them. I come here all the time and they’re in the gym, so it matters to them. Right now, they’re a little paralyzed by their overthinking, and I probably have to simplify that and make sure I’m patient with them as they grow.”
Ok-State will get its first official probability to indicate its progress within the coming weeks when it travels to play Tarleton State within the Wildcats’ lone official exhibition sport, which is able to happen at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 27 in Stephenville, Texas. The sport will stream on ESPN+.
“I like the fact we have a brand-new team, it’s a road game, and it’ll be in front of a decent crowd and an excited team,” Mittie stated. “I think we need to find some answers as quick as we can there.”
Ok-State formally opens the 2025-26 girls’s basketball season in opposition to Omaha on November 3 at Bramlage Coliseum.