Kansas State Basketball Player Preview: Shane Southwell

Continuing our countdown to the tip-off of basketball season this weekend for the Wildcats, next up on our player previews is Shane Southwell, a guard from Harlem, NY.

Looking for leadership and scoring options following the departure of coach Frank Martin, K-State was expected to turn to Shane Southwell as a major contributor his junior year. And while Southwell certainly contributed – he started 26 of the 33 games he played in – his 8.4 scoring average trailed teammates Rodney McGruder and Angel Rodriguez. Yet with both of those players gone, Southwell is the highest returning scorer from the 2012-13 season. As such he’ll be expected to step up in a big way his senior year.

Southwell finished his junior year as an All-Big 12 honorable mention by the league coaches, and was voted to the Preseason Honorable Mention Team this year as well. In addition to 8.4 points on 45.2 percent shooting, he shot 43.6 percent (48-of-110) from 3-point range and averaged 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 25.9 minutes per game.

Southwell’s best game of the season came against La Salle. With the rest of the team struggling to score, he shot 7/10 from the field and scored 17 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal while avoiding any personal fouls over 38 minutes in a losing effort in NCAA Tournament play. Among his other notable achievements in 2012-13 were shooting 6/6 from behind the arc to drop 18 points on Baylor and blocking a game-winning shot at West Virginia.

Southwell is a great defender and poses tremendous match-up issues for most teams. While playing the shooting guard position, he stands at 6’7” and weighs 215 pounds – much larger than most guards he’s posting up against. However, he’s also quick and versatile enough to beat larger players that play too close. Finally, he’s one of the most capable players at least 6’6” in the conference capable of stepping out and knocking down a three if you give him the space.

Click a link below to read the rest of our player previews:

Brandon Bolden
Marcus Foster
Thomas Gipson
Wesley Iwundu
D.J. Johnson
Nigel Johnson
Hagop “Jack” Karapetyan
Brian Rohleder
Jevon Thomas