Kansas State wing David N’Guessan has become a valuable sixth man for the Wildcats
It felt appropriate that David N’Guessan was the Kansas State basketball player who got to throw down a monstrous dunk at the end of an impressive victory over BYU last weekend with thousands of fans cheering him on inside Bramlage Coliseum.
The 6-foot-9 senior wing has quietly become one of Jerome Tang’s best players this month, and it was finally time for him to enjoy a moment in the spotlight.
“David’s maturity is what’s allowing him to do what he’s doing,” Tang said. “He doesn’t really care if his name is called at the start of a game. He just wants to do whatever it takes for the team to win, because he understands that winning is going to get everybody what they want.”
N’Guessan began to fade into the background a few weeks ago when he was removed from Kansas State’s starting lineup. The Netherlands native has been coming off the bench for the Wildcats every since.
Some players may have perceived that change as a demotion. But that clearly wasn’t the case with N’Guessan, even if (deep down) he would rather still be in the starting lineup.
N’Guessan has been playing his finest basketball of late. Over the past six games, he has been one of K-State’s best overall players by averaging 10 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists. If you could stretch those numbers out over an entire season, he might be in the running for Sixth Man of the Year in the Big 12.
The Wildcats might not be on their current streak without him scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds against BYU or following that up with eight points and 10 rebounds against West Virginia.
“David is just an amazing player,” K-State teammate Arthur Kaluma said. “For him to be able to go through the adversity that he’s going through and not starting ... man, you can see how that could affect some people. For him to have the mental fortitude to be able to come out there and give us his best every single possession these past few games has been great. He has been extremely efficient and he has been rebounding the ball. That’s what we need from.”
Tang said he used N’Guessan as a starter in the first 21 games of the season, in part, because he had a knack for winning the ball on opening tips.
It makes sense, then, that N’Guessan was removed from the starting lineup because he suffered a lower body injury that hindered his ability to jump. If he couldn’t leap higher than the other team’s center, it made sense to start 6-foot-10 big man Jerrell Colbert instead.
Otherwise, the Wildcats are still asking N’Guessan to play the same role on this roster.
“I have the same mindset going into the game,” N’Guessan said. “Just play with energy and effort and the rest will take care of itself.”
Believe it or not, his minutes have gone up since he became a reserve. N’Guessan has topped 24 minutes in six straight games, and he has eclipsed 30 minutes in half of them.
“We don’t so much have a starting lineup,” Tang said. “It’s more like a rotation. We have got seven dudes who are going to play a lot, so it really doesn’t matter who starts the game. It’s about who finishes the game.”
N’Guessan has definitely been doing that lately.
Even though he is rarely the team’s headliner, he has become a valuable complementary player alongside Cam Carter, Tylor Perry and Kaluma. He may do more important little things that don’t show up on a stat sheet than anyone else on the team. But he has had a few moments to shine, like when he drained a corner 3-pointer against West Virginia and threw down that dunk against BYU.
Add it all up and there is no doubting that his recent production has been instrumental for K-State as it tries to make a late-season push toward the NCAA Tournament.
