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When the Kansas State men’s basketball team lost in the Big 12 Tournament last month, coach Jerome Tang hoped the players would someday reflect on the rollercoaster season and remember their perseverance to translate to other difficult times.
“One day, we’re gonna look back on this season that we had,” Tang said. “The ups and downs and everything that took place, and we’re going to be able to say, ‘That’s why God had me go through what I went through,’ and it’s prepared them for something next. We don’t know what that is, but they’ll know when it happens.”
A few weeks later, Kansas State women’s coach Jeff Mittie has that same message of reflection as the Wildcats’ postseason ended against USC Saturday night.
Only his was more focused on using the good of their experience as positive contemplation. The women’s squad boasted arguably its best season in more than two decades.
“You wanna have one more film session, one more practice, one more walkthrough, and just how long could you extend it,” Mittie said in the postgame interview. “When it ends, it ends like that. So yeah, I’m proud of this senior group, they’ve done some good things. I’m disappointed with the outcome tonight, but I told them at some point your tears will hopefully become happy tears when you start to remember the time you spent with your coaches, the wins, the bus trips, the plane trips. All that.”
Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats on SI. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.
