A variety of factors prevented Kansas States Dean Wade, Wisconsins Ethan Happ and Kentucky newcomer Reid Travis from ending the season the way they would have wanted last year.
They want their senior years to conclude differently.
A foot injury caused Wade to play a total of eight minutes in the NCAA Tournament during the Wildcats run to an NCAA regional final last season. Wisconsin went 15-18 last season to end a string of 19 straight NCAA Tournament appearances . Travis never reached the NCAA Tournament during his four seasons at Stanford, which included one injury-shortened campaign that resulted in a redshirt.
I didnt watch any of the tournament because of how bitter I was about it, about the whole thing, Happ said. Obviously life is funny in some ways. Hopefully that great failure turns into something special this season.
Theyre eager to create better March memories this season.
Happ is back for his senior season at Wisconsin. Wade is healthy again and eager to get Kansas State back into the postseason. Travis is now a graduate transfer at Kentucky , a move that significantly improves his chances of getting to the NCAA Tournament.
Theyre three of the top seniors in college basketball heading into the season. Heres a look at some notable seniors across the country.
MIKE DAUM, SOUTH DAKOTA ST.
Height: 6-foot-9,
Position: Forward
Daum was one of only three Division I players to average over 20 points and 10 rebounds last season, as he ended up with 23.9 and 10.3 points per game. The other 20-10 players were Dukes Marvin Bagley and Saint Marys Jock Landale. Daum also made 96 3-pointers to set a school single-season record. He ranked sixth in the nation in scoring average and 16th in rebounds. This followed a sophomore season in which he had 25.1 points per game. Each of the last two seasons, Daum has been Summit League player of the year and has received honorable mention on the Associated Press All-America team.
CALEB MARTIN, NEVADA
Height: 6-7
Position: Forward
Martin, a North Carolina State transfer, is an AP preseason All-America selection who helped Nevada reach the Sweet 16 last year. Hes the first Nevada player ever to make the AP preseason All-America team. Martin averaged a team-high 18.9 points and was named the Mountain West player of the year in his first season with Nevada. He made 40.3 percent of his 3-point attempts. Martins twin brother, Cody, also plays for Nevada.
DEAN WADE, KANSAS STATE
Height: 6-10
Position: Forward
Big 12 coaches have selected Wade as the conferences preseason player of the year. He earned first-team all-Big 12 honors from the leagues coaches and was a second-team AP all-Big 12 pick last year. He had 16.2 points per game last year for the highest single-season scoring average by a Kansas State player since Jacob Pullen had 20.2 points per game in 2010-11. He also averaged 6.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 steals.
