Underwood’s Past With K-State Adds Intrigue to Big 12

Brad Underwood said a lot of things that were not new this week at the Big 12 media days in Kansas City. He once again expressed his passion for Oklahoma State, his love for historic Gallagher-Iba arena, changing and molding the culture in Stillwater, and his admiration for senior Phil Forte. You can read a sampling of his best quotes from the press conference here.

But he spoke a bit more in detail about another topic — his history with K-State as a player in the Big Eight, and as an assistant coach under Bob Huggins and Frank Martin. Heck, Underwood even grew up in McPherson, Kansas.

“I don’t want to say I’ve thought about it very much,” said Underwood. “It seems like a long ways away, and yet I know it’s right around the corner. I have great, great memories of my time in Manhattan. When I left Kansas State with Frank (Martin) to go to South Carolina, and after being with Bob Huggins there for a year – Bob brought me back – we left Kansas State with our head held high.

“I’m sure it’s going to be emotional [to return there as a coach]. It’ll be different from the standpoint, I’m used to walking in the tunnel and hanging a right. Now I gotta hang a left.”

Underwood is clearly very aware of his history in Manhattan, and doesn’t hide the emotional ties he still has to the school. Many K-State alumni were disappointed with Athletic Director John Currie’s decision to stick with Bruce Weber this offseason, while Oklahoma State moved on from Travis Ford and jumped on the hot candidate, Brad Underwood.

There were many reports of tension and disagreement between John Currie and Frank Martin’s staff, which included Underwood. Underwood actually left K-State with Frank Martin to South Carolina in 2012, a move that seemed a little curious and quite frankly, a lateral move for Martin.

There’s no telling if Underwood and Currie would have been able to put aside past differences had the Kansas State job been open, or if Underwood would have even been interested, with the Oklahoma State job open as well.

Regardless, Underwood’s arrival in Stillwater ushers in a potentially delightful basketball rivalry between the Wildcats and Cowboys. The two schools already have plenty in common — they are state schools, mostly known for their historically strong agriculture programs, that happen to have in-state rivals with quite the history of dominance in a sport.

Tilts in the coming years with Lon Kruger and the Sooners will be a blast, as will Bill Self and Kansas, but I’m expecting Kansas State and Oklahoma State to have a fun rivalry as well in the coming years on the hardwood.