In one of the most impressive individual displays in March Madness history, Markquis Nowell just added to the improbable story that is Kansas State basketball. But how did this team come together in the first place?
To have the Twitter handle @MrNewYorkCityy as a Harlem, New York native takes a certain level of confidence.
Dropping a March Madness record 19 assists, 20 points, and 5 steals in an Overtime win in Madison Square Garden arguably takes that same level of self-belief. And the college basketball world was lucky enough to witness it.
Kansas State senior guard Markquis Nowell did just that tonight, producing one of the best individual performances we’ve seen in tournament history to advance to the Elite Eight, topping Tom Izzo’s Michigan State unit 98-93 in OT.
But even though your Twitter timeline will consist of the miscellaneous stats and stories regarding Powell and the unlikely first team to breach the Elite Eight, the story of how this team was constructed is impressive on its own.
Flashing back to the 2021-22 season, Kansas State was a 14-17 overall team, with a 6-12 record in the Big 12. This was good enough for second-worst in the conference, losing in the first round of the Big 12 tournament to West Virginia, the only team to finish below them.
Nowell and Ismael Massoud, who scored 15 points on 4 for 6 shooting from beyond the arc, were the only two players to return to the Wildcats after the less than ideal year.
