Andrej Kostic is the rare holdover in Manhattan, the only returning player on Kansas State’s rebuilt basketball roster as Casey Alexander takes over the program.
That alone puts the 6-foot-6 sophomore from Serbia in a different spot than anyone else on the team. With so much turnover around him, Kostic brings the most familiar production back to the Wildcats, even if the numbers are modest: 5.2 points per game, 1.7 rebounds per game and 37.5% shooting from 3-point range.
Those stats didn’t match the buzz that followed him to Kansas State a year ago. Kostic arrived after playing professionally in Europe, and his highlight tape - all handles and shooting touch - had some expecting a quick rise in Manhattan.
Instead, his first season was uneven. He flashed what he could do, including a game against Kansas in which he hit four 3-pointers, but the bigger picture never fully came together.
Now he’s back with a different outlook.
“I just want to be better every day and win more games than last year,” Kostic said this week. “That’s it.”
For Kostic, the next step is about becoming more complete. He doesn’t want to be viewed only as a perimeter threat, and he knows the new staff wants more from him than spot-up shooting.
“I want to be more of a team player,” Kostic said. “He’s really teaching us to beat one more guy, pass the ball, move the ball.”
That message fits Alexander’s style. His run-and-gun approach is built to generate open looks from deep, which makes Kostic an obvious fit if he can settle into the system. Alexander made keeping him a priority, and the coach said summer practices have already shown progress.
“I feel the weight of the world dripping off of his shoulders a little bit more and more each day,” Alexander said. “Not so much where he just puts undue pressure on himself, but he came in highly acclaimed, and it didn’t go his way.
Then he gets a fresh start. So we’ve just tried to temper those expectations a little bit and say, ‘Hey, it’s a long time until November, and you don’t have to be a lottery pick this season.’”
Kostic says the adjustment has been helped by a different atmosphere around the program. He pointed to more time spent together off the court and said Alexander has brought a new sense of hope into the locker room.
“It was a hard time last season,” Kostic said. “A lot of things just happened.
I don’t know what to say about it, to be honest, But it’s just different now. Everything is new, except the city.
I like it.”
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