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Big 12: Who Must Step Up For Kansas State’s D.J. Johnson

By Cody Daniel

Jan 7, 2014; Fort Worth, TX, USA; TCU Horned Frogs center Karviar Shepherd (1) battles for position with Kansas State Wildcats forward D.J. Johnson (50) during the game at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Kansas State won 65-47. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 7, 2014; Fort Worth, TX, USA; TCU Horned Frogs center Karviar Shepherd (1) battles for position with Kansas State Wildcats forward D.J. Johnson (50) during the game at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Kansas State won 65-47. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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For those who weren’t able to catch the hints of it at the Big 12 media day last week, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports reported yesterday via Twitter that Kansas State junior forward, D.J. Johnson, will miss the majority of, if not all of the 2014-15 season after still being in a medical book, which was the result of a broken foot he suffered in the NCAA Tournament game against Kentucky.

As the most familiar big body that Kansas State would have had for the upcoming season, outside of Thomas Gipson, of course, the absence of Johnson could prove to be one that could come back to haunt the Wildcats, who desperately lack depth and experience in the paint.

Of course, Kansas State still has their anchor in the paint with Gipson, who will continue to have his way as a scoring and rebounding threat to be reckoned with. But outside of Gipson, Bruce Weber and his Wildcats will have to rely heavily upon the shoulders of two former transfers in Brandon Bolden and Stephen Hurt. Bolden is a 6’11” presence who came to Kansas State from Georgetown, while Hurt is bringing the same stature along with him from Lipscomb.

The two had very different measures of success in their previous situations.

Bolden played in only five minutes throughout four games and never registered a single point or rebound. Hurt, on the other hand, was a huge asset as Lipscomb, where he averaged 11.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game during the 2012-13 season. This goes to show Hurt clearly has the advantage in both collegiate experience and in-game impact, which will be detrimental for the upcoming season as he will likely start at center. But where Hurt will have his culture shock will come with the quality of competition he will see. At Lipscomb, Hurt played in a weak conference with just as unworthy competition, but the Big 12 is one loaded with NBA talent and teams with more than enough size in the paint, such as Texas and Kansas.

So now Kansas State interior presence rests on the shoulders of an undersized, but very physical senior and two towering, but unproven and inexperienced newcomers. This isn’t exactly the kind of formula that Weber would have longed for with hopes of remaining very competitive in the Big 12, but his options are exceptionally thin, especially with the loss of a veteran big man in Johnson.