1987–88 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team

The 1987–88 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Kansas State University in the 1987-88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Lon Kruger who was in his second of four years at the helm of his alma mater. The Wildcats tied a then-school record with 25 wins and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.^[1]

1987–88 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
Sun-Met Classic champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 20
AP	No. 20
Record	25–9 (11–3 Big Eight)
Head coach	Lon Kruger (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Dana Altman (2nd season) Greg Grensing
Home arena	Ahearn Field House
Seasons ← 1986–87 1988–89 →

1987–88 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Oklahoma†	12	–	2		.857			35	–	4		.897
No. 20 Kansas State	11	–	3		.786			25	–	9		.735
Kansas	9	–	5		.643			27	–	11		.711
Missouri	7	–	7		.500			19	–	11		.633
Iowa State	6	–	8		.429			20	–	12		.625
Oklahoma State	4	–	10		.286			14	–	16		.467
Nebraska	4	–	10		.286			13	–	18		.419
Colorado	3	–	11		.214			7	–	21		.250
† 1988 Big Eight tournament winner As of March 3, 2012 Rankings from AP poll

The team played its home games in Ahearn Field House in Manhattan, Kansas. It was the last season the team played in Ahearn Field House before moving into Bramlage Coliseum. Kansas State was a member of the Big 8 Conference.

Roster

1987–88 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 12 Steve Henson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So McPherson, Kansas G 23 Mitch Richmond 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Fort Lauderdale, Florida	Head coach Lon Kruger (Kansas State) Assistant coach(es) Dana Altman (Eastern New Mexico) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Starting line-up

This was the starting five for the last game of the regular season, against Missouri on March 5, 1988.

Position	Player
Forward	Mitch Richmond
Forward	Charles Bledsoe
Center	Ron Meyer
Guard	Steve Henson
Guard	Will Scott

Class of 1987 recruits

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Carlos Diggins SG	South Bend, IN	Clay HS / Butler County CC	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Buster Glover SG	Gary, IN	Lew Wallace HS / Allen County CC	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	155 lb (70 kg)
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Fred McCoy PF	Washington, DC	Woodson HS / Allen County CC	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	230 lb (100 kg)
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
John Rettiger C	Strong City, Kansas	Chase County HS	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
11/27/87*		vs. San Diego State Sun Met Classic	W 79–68	1–0	Selland Arena (10,159) Fresno, CA
11/28/87*		vs. Fresno State Sun Met Classic	W 65–50	2–0	Selland Arena (10,159) Fresno, CA
11/30/87*		Cal-State Northridge	W 79–68	3–0	Ahearn Field House (10,500) Manhattan, KS
12/2/87*		UMKC	W 81–54	4–0	Ahearn Field House (10,400) Manhattan, KS
12/5/87*		at Creighton	W 88–78	5–0	Omaha Civic Auditorium (5,787) Omaha, NE
12/8/87*		Southwest Missouri State	L 80–82 4OT	5–1	Ahearn Field House (10,800) Manhattan, KS
12/17/87*		Southern Miss	L 69–71	5–2	Ahearn Field House (9,500) Manhattan, KS
12/20/87*		at No. 12 Purdue	L 72–101	5–3	Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN
12/31/87*		at Utah State	W 81–69	6–3	Smith Spectrum (5,735) Logan, UT
1/3/88*		vs. Marquette	W 78–57	7–3	Kemper Arena (6,724) Kansas City, MO
1/11/88*		at Southern Miss	L 89–91 OT	7–4	Reed Green Coliseum (7,512) Hattiesburg, MS
1/16/88		No. 3 Oklahoma	W 69–62	8–4 (1–0)	Ahearn Field House (11,220) Manhattan, KS
1/19/88*		Wichita State	W 58–47	9–4	Ahearn Field House (11,220) Manhattan, KS
1/23/88		at Oklahoma State	W 76–60	10–4 (2–0)	Gallagher-Iba Arena (6,381) Stillwater, OK
1/27/88		at Colorado	W 68–60	11–4 (3–0)	CU Events/Conference Center (3,132) Boulder, CO
1/30/88		at Kansas Sunflower Showdown	W 72–61	12–4 (4–0)	Allen Fieldhouse (15,800) Lawrence, KS
2/3/88		No. 16 Iowa State	W 79–68 OT	13–4 (5–0)	Ahearn Field House (11,220) Manhattan, KS
2/6/88		Nebraska	W 65–63	14–4 (6–0)	Ahearn Field House (11,220) Manhattan, KS
2/9/88	No. 14	at Missouri	L 75–79	14–5 (6–1)	Hearnes Center (13,028) Columbia, MO
2/13/88	No. 14	at No. 4 Oklahoma	L 95–112	14–6 (6–2)	Lloyd Noble Center (11,327) Norman, OK
2/16/88		Colorado	W 83–65	15–6 (7–2)	Ahearn Field House (10,400) Manhattan, KS
2/18/88		Kansas Sunflower Showdown	L 63–64	15–7 (7–3)	Ahearn Field House (11,220) Manhattan, KS
2/22/88*		Northern Illinois	W 88–67	16–7	Ahearn Field House (9,500) Manhattan, KS
2/24/88		at Iowa State	W 83–66	17–7 (8–3)	Hilton Coliseum (14,263) Ames, IA
2/27/88		Oklahoma State	W 59–58	18–7 (9–3)	Ahearn Field House (11,220) Manhattan, KS
3/2/88		at Nebraska	W 77–67	19–7 (10–3)	NU Sports Complex (13,487) Lincoln, NE
3/5/88		Missouri	W 92–82	20–7 (11–3)	Ahearn Field House (11,850) Manhattan, KS
Big 8 Tournament
3/11/88		vs. Nebraska Big 8 Tournament – Quarterfinals	W 75–70	21–7	Kemper Arena (16,900) Kansas City, MO
3/12/88		vs. Kansas Big 8 Tournament – Semifinals	W 69–54	22–7	Kemper Arena (16,904) Kansas City, MO
3/13/88  ABC		vs. No. 4 Oklahoma Big 8 Tournament – Championship game	L 83–88	22–8	Kemper Arena (15,953) Kansas City, MO
NCAA Tournament
3/17/88	No. 20	vs. La Salle NCAA tournament Opening Round	W 66–53	23–8	Edmund P. Joyce Center (10,760) South Bend, IN
3/19/88  CBS	No. 20	vs. DePaul NCAA Tournament Second Round	W 66–58[2]	24–8	Edmund P. Joyce Center (10,760) South Bend, IN
3/25/88  CBS	No. 20	vs. No. 3 Purdue NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen	W 73–70[3]	25–8	Pontiac Silverdome (31,309) Pontiac, MI
3/27/88  CBS	No. 20	vs. Kansas NCAA Tournament Elite Eight	L 58–71	25–9	Pontiac Silverdome (31,632) Pontiac, MI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source^[4][5]

Rankings

Main article: 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Awards and honors

• Mitch Richmond – Consensus Second-team All-American

NBA draft

Main article: 1988 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	5	Mitch Richmond	Sacramento Kings

^[6]

References

1. "Schedule". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
2. "Purdue Overpowers Memphis State". The New York Times. March 20, 1988. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
3. "KANSAS STATE SPELLS END OF PURDUE DREAM". The Chicago Tribune. March 25, 1988. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
4. "1987-88 Kansas State Wildcats Schedule and Results". CBBRef. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
5. "2020-21 K-State Media Guide" (PDF). K-State Basketball. K-State Athletics. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
6. "1988 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 11, 2021.