March Madness at MSG: Kansas State Ready to Transfer to Final Four

The Kansas State Wildcats' surprising spring success has been built by transfer stars like Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson. Do the imports have one more big game in them on Saturday night at MSG?

NEW YORK-Even in their most dominant years, the top seeds in the NCAA Basketball Tournaments have massive targets on their backs that are only shed once "One Shining Moment" kicks in ... if they even make it that far at all. Though they've stood as the third seed in the East Region of the men's edition, it's fair to credit a little bit of the Kansas State Wildcats' March success to a bit of March magic

This whole season, one set to continue at the Regional Final at Madison Square Garden on Saturday against Florida Atlantic (6:09 p.m. ET, TBS), has consisted of waiting for the other sneaker to drop on Kansas State. Kansas State took advantage of the first leg of its New York City adventure with a thrilling 98-93 overtime over Michigan State on Thursday, affording it a chance to play for its first Final Four berth since 1964.

The Wildcats (26-9) were picked dead last in the Big 12's preseason poll and it wasn't hard to find reasons for their tumble: they last saw their name show up on Selection Sunday in 2019 (where they fell to a No. 13 UC Irvine group) and 11-year boss Bruce Weber departed after three straight losing seasons and was succeeded by the former Baylor assistant Jerome Tang.

Upon his arrival in a different brand of Manhattan ... the one in Kansas over 1,300 miles away from MSG's hallowed hardwood ... Tang, a transfer in his own right, has gotten to work with several high-octane transfers, primarily Keyontae Johnson. The former Florida Gator worked his way back from an on-court medical collapse in 2020 to become the leading scorer in the Wildcats' resurgence.

"I had a goal for myself coming into the basketball season, I wanted to take advantage of it. My goal was to try to change the program," Johnson said during the pregame build-up on Friday. "Coach Tang, he showed me his platform for me ... I was preseason Player of the Year in the SEC, so I just wanted to transfer my talents to the Big 12, what they call the pro league and just see my skill sets from there. Coach Tang had trust in me from day one with everything, my team just welcomed me here, and it's just like a home to me. It's the best thing I could have done."

Building a home for the transfers has defined Kansas State's season: depth stars Ismael Massoud (Wake Forest) and David N'Guessan (Virginia Tech) repaid the faith with a combined 26 points in Thursday's Sweet 16 win over the Spartans. They and others fulfilled Tang's desire to recruit winners to the Wildcat program as it sought redemption after closing the Weber era on a low note.

"The number one thing I looked for was winners and guys who had won in high school and college," Tang said. "Because winners know it takes a certain level of sacrifice in order to win, so for me, that was the most important thing."

The face of the program in this unforgettable run has been one of those transfers in Markquis Nowell, who picked the perfect time to save the best for last: a Harlem native originally disregarded by the big schools for his 5-foot-8 stature (which led to Kentucky coach John Calipari bestowing him the nickname "little kid" after the Wildcats emerged victorious in their second-round showdown), Nowell has shown the non-believers what they're missing to the tune of a sterling tournament that has turned him into one of the breakout stars of March. 

The former Little Rock star perhaps perfectly defined the perseverance and thrills of March on Thursday to the tune of a record-breaking performance at 20 points and 19 assists (the latter being a record for an NCAA Tournament game) ... most of that tally earned after sustaining an ankle injury in the second half.

"Heart over height, it's a slogan that I live by," Nowell said after the win over the Spartans. "You don't determine somebody's destiny because of their height. You determine it by their heart and their passion. That's something that I live by and that I play my game after."

The tallest step ... and the sweetest kind of transfer ... awaits Nowell and the Wildcats on Saturday night. 

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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