MANHATTAN — Kansas State women’s basketball coach Jeff Mittie expressed his frustration with the NCAA following a recent ruling that will heavily impact his frontcourt heading into the 2025-26 season.
Kennedy Taylor, who began her waiver process hoping to gain an extra year of eligibility in February, was denied an extra season in recent weeks. The forward from Shawnee Mission Northwest is appealing the decision.
Taylor played her first season at Kansas State last season after spending the previous two at Missouri State. She began her career at Colorado, playing in eight games and totaling 19 minutes, which was where the Wildcats hoped it would be minimal enough to grant her an extra season.
“For the life of me, I can’t understand the NCAA on some things,” Mittie said Tuesday, Oct. 14. “They keep moving the goalpost. This would’ve been a case that was (approved) 95% of the time previously.”
Mittie said the timing of the decision was unfair to Taylor and the team. He questioned why the decision wasn’t made during the summer, allowing Taylor to pursue a career overseas or employment elsewhere.
Taylor was with the Wildcats during the initial waiver process, but Mittie didn’t see it as fair to string her along during the uncertainty of an appeal. He remains hopeful that the NCAA will “see the light” and allow her to suit up this winter.
“I don’t sit here and pretend like I have all the answers, but I just know there’s a better way to do it, not just for Kennedy, but for any player in these situations,” Mittie said. “It’s been frustrating.”
If Taylor is unable to play this season, Mittie said the Wildcats’ frontcourt will be as thin as it’s ever been. It’s now too late in the process to add quality, eligible help via the transfer portal. Being strung along for over six months significantly impacted K-State’s ability to pursue frontcourt help, particularly at the five.
“It’s a problem,” Mittie said. “We just have to figure out how to cover it up, and if we can’t figure it out, we need to figure out how we’re going to play that. But yeah, we’re not very deep there.”
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@gannett.com
