Kansas State basketball won't use smaller roster budget as excuse
Kansas State basketball will have a smaller roster budget than most of its peers next season. The Wildcats won't use it as an excuse.
MANHATTAN — The new Kansas State basketball staff may be entering a season with a smaller roster budget than most of those within the Big 12, but the Wildcats won't use it as an excuse if it contributes to poor results. New Wildcats general manager Sean Rutigliano spoke to the media on Friday, May 22, in the days after it was reported that Kansas State would have a $6 million roster budget heading into the program's first year under coach Casey Alexander . National reporting suggests that the most expensive rosters are around $22 million and higher, while Kansas may have signed incoming freshman star Tyran Stokes to a $6 million deal alone.
Alexander said earlier this month that Kansas State "definitely" had what it needed to build its roster. Athletic director Gene Taylor said he wanted to promise roster budgets that would include "true NIL" and the dollars allocated from the school's revenue share pot. Rutigliano, the first GM in the program's history, downplayed the panic a smaller figure could create, saying it all came down to selling Kansas State and Alexander to the right recruits.
"The most value that you're gonna get are guys that fit your program and guys that fit your head coach," Rutigliano said. "I don't ever think we're gonna get it perfect, but we're gonna work really hard to make sure that we bring in guys that fit that skill set, that toughness and have the grit that fit Coach Alexander in terms of who he is as a person and fit Coach Alexander in terms of if they're willing to be coached by him. " Rutigliano joins Alexander's inaugural coaching staff after coaching this past season as the head coach at Division III Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
He was on Alexander's staff at Lipscomb and Belmont for the 10 years prior. Kansas State has signed 14 players since Alexander became head coach, only retaining Andrej Kostic from Jerome Tang's roster in 2025-26. The roster mostly consists of players with untapped potential rather than proven results at the college level.