The Division I program located in Manhattan, Kansas (lightheartedly referred to as the Little Apple) competes in the highly competitive Big 12 Conference whose members include many perennial powerhouse programs including in state rival the University of Kansas. The intrastate rival Kansas Jayhawks are often referred to simply as KU and are located a mere 85 miles to the west with the city of Topeka separating the two schools.

The K-state men’s basketball program has been around for over a hundred years with competition on the hardwood beginning roughly ten years after the game was invented. KSU played its first game in 1902 and would go on to enjoy an impressive seventeen conference championships over the years and enough noteworthy victories to land a spot in a 2005 list by Street & Smith (New York City publication) as one of the top 25 greatest college basketball programs ever.

Although the K-State Wildcats have never had the distinction of winning a national championship they have advanced to the Final Four on four separate occasions. Current (February, 2010) head coach Frank Martin brings an intensity to the court every night that gives the K-State team a fighting chance for a championship run almost every season. With over 1,400 wins and 23 NCAA tournament appearances Coach Martin is building upon past success to put a competitive team on the floor each night.

During the short time that head coach Frank Martin has been with the K-State program he has showed tremendous promise in advancing the squad back to a place of national prominence. In his first year as head coach he advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament after finishing the 2007-2008 season with a 20-11 record. Leading into his first season at K-State he was largely responsible for recruiting and coaching up eventual Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and All-American Michael Beasley (now with the Miami Heat). Despite losing Beasley to the NBA Draft Coach Martin improved upon his record the following season with a 21-10 mark. Through two thirds of the 2009-2010 season the KSU Wildcats are far ahead of pace to again outshine their win total from the previous year and have even broken into the top ten spots in national rankings, a feat that has not been accomplished in Manhattan, Kansas in years.

The K-State wildcats have had their ups and downs over the decades but with an energized coach at the helm and a reinvigorated fan base the team that is often considered the second best basketball team in the state of Kansas (behind KU) believes they are on the road to reversing that order in the second decade of the twenty-first century.

(Note: All stats through 1/28)

Player 1 (5 Games)
Monta Ellis, LeBron James, Antawn Jamison, Dirk Nowitzki, Zach Randolph

James is the do-everything player in this group, obviously, but he is second to last in the group in rebounds per contest, and every player in it averages at least 21.0 points per game. Ellis is one of just three NBA players averaging at least 2.0 steals per game. Randolph leads the league in offensive boards per game and is one of just three players averaging at least 4.0 per contest.

Player 2 (6 Games)
Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Joe Johnson, Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade

This group features three of the league’s top scorers in terms of points per game, with Anthony, Bryant and Wade each averaging at least 27 points per game. Paul currently leads the league in assists per game with more than 11 per outing, and is one of only two players averaging double figures in that statistic.

Player 3 (4 Games)
Chris Bosh, Kevin Durant, Danny Granger, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire

As of this writing, Durant had scored 25 or more points in a remarkable 19 consecutive games, which, to put in perspective, is a streak that started before Christmas. Nash is second in the league in assists per contest, barely trailing the aforementioned Chris Paul. Granger is the NBA leader in three-pointers made per game at 2.8. Bosh is easily the group leader in rebounds with an average of over 11 per game, and he’s the only one in the group averaging at least 1.0 block per contest, though Stoudemire is very close.

Player 4 (6 Games)
Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Brandon Jennings, Kevin Martin, Derrick Rose

Howard leads the NBA in rebounds per game at just over 13 per contest, and is also first in the league in blocks, averaging more than two and a half per game. Rose has seen his scoring average increase over the season, and he’s nearing an average of 20 points per game, and has hit that mark in five straight contests. Gasol is hot as well, and is averaging more than 20 points per contest over his last five. And while Martin has started off slowly in his return from injury, he’s capable of filling it up on a nightly basis, especially from beyond the arc.

Player 5 (5 Games)
Carlos Boozer, Tim Duncan, Chris Kaman, Gerald Wallace, Deron Williams

Kaman leads this group in scoring average, and he’s the only one putting in at least 20 points a night, but everyone here averages at least 18.5. And all but Williams pull down at least 9.0 rebounds per game, with Wallace the leader at 11.0, though Williams makes up for it with an average of 9.5 assists per contest. Something else to keep in mind is that Williams also has the ability to hit the three-point shot, something only Wallace also does, though not with the frequency of the Jazz point guard.

Player 6 (5 Games)
Rudy Gay, Andre Iguodala, Corey Maggette, Paul Pierce, Rodney Stuckey

Gay and Maggette each average over 20 points per game, and though Iguodala is the lowest in terms of scoring average among this group at 17.4 points a night, he leads it in rebounds, steals and assists per game. However, his 6.8 rebounds per contest are just a bit more than Gay and Maggette, and Maggette is also the only player in the group not averaging at least 1.2 steals per game.

Player 7 (4 Games)
Andrea Bargnani, Al Jefferson, David Lee, Kevin Love, Troy Murphy

Love leads this group in boards, pulling down nearly 12 per game, but Lee is right behind him and both Jefferson and Murphy average more than 9.5 per contest. Bargnani lags in rebounds, but he’s in the middle of the group with an average of over 17 points per game, has hit the most three-point shots, and is the only one who swats an average of over 1.0 shots per game, which is surprising considering this is a group of big men.

Player 8 (6 Games)
LaMarcus Aldridge, Andrew Bogut, Brook Lopez, Josh Smith, David West

One of the few things a miserable New Jersey team has going for it is the play of Lopez, who leads this group in scoring at 19.0 points per game, is second at 9.4 rebounds per contest, and averages 2.0 blocks per game, something Bogut and Smith also do. Smith leads the group in steals, picking his opponents’ pockets 1.5 times per game, and assists, as he dishes nearly 4.0 dimes per contest.

Player 9 (5 Games)
Baron Davis, Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd, Tony Parker, Rajon Rondo

Parker leads this group of point guards in scoring at nearly 17.0 points per game, but he also sprained his ankle recently, so keep that in mind. Rondo is the league leader in steals per game and is the only NBA player averaging at least 2.5 per contest. He also leads this group in assists with 9.7 per game, followed closely by Kidd, who also dishes over 9.0 per contest. But Kidd has a huge edge over Rondo in three-pointers, and is also the only player in this group pulling down at least 5.0 rebounds per game.

Player 10 (6 Games)
Michael Beasley, Chauncey Billups, Jamal Crawford, Luol Deng, Rashard Lewis

This is a diverse group led in scoring by Billups, who pours in over 19.0 points per contest. Naturally, Billups also leads the group in assists and steals, but he lags in rebounds. Deng averages over 7.0 rebounds per contest to lead the group, and his blocks per game average of 1.05 is nearly double any other player here. Lewis is third in the league in three-pointers made per contest at 2.5.

Player 11 (5 Games)
Ray Allen, Caron Butler, Allen Iverson, O.J. Mayo, Lou Williams

Mayo leads this group in scoring average with just over 18.0 points per game, followed by Butler at nearly 17.0 points per contest. Butler also leads in rebounding by a hefty margin, collecting 6.7 boards per game, but he’s made fewer three-point shots than any other player in this group with the exception of Iverson, who’s played nearly 20 fewer games than Butler.

Player 12 (4 Games)
Trevor Ariza, Jonny Flynn, Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu, Russell Westbrook

Westbrook’s 7.3 assists per contest are easily the best in this group, well more than Turkoglu’s 4.5 per game. However, Westbrook is by far the worst at hitting three-point shots, with half of the total of Flynn, who is fourth in this group in threes made. Westbrook also leads in scoring at 15.8 points per game, but not by much, as only Turkoglu doesn’t average at least 14.0 points per contest. Don’t overlook Ariza, who leads this group in both steals and rebounds.

Player 13 (6 Games)
Nene Hilario, Al Horford, Lamar Odom, Emeka Okafor, Jason Thompson

Okafor is sixth in the league in offensive boards per game with 3.4, but he’s third in this group in rebounding average at 9.7. Then again, that could change overnight considering that Horford leads with an average of 9.9 boards per game and Odom is next at 9.8. Okafor also leads this group in blocks with 1.7 per contest, though only Odom doesn’t average at least.95 swats per game. Odom also averages the most assists per game at over 3.5 per contest, but he’s last with a scoring average below 10.0, a category that Hilario leads by putting home over 14.0 points a night.

Player 14 (5 Games)
Stephen Curry, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Andrei Kirilenko, Shawn Marion

Curry is among the league leaders in steals with nearly 2.0 per game, and he also leads this group in scoring with about 14.0 points per contest. Ginobili and Kirilenko also average over 1.0 steal per game, but AK-47 is the only one averaging at least 1.0 block per game, and his average of over 4.5 boards a night is second in the group to Marion’s average of 6.5 rebounds per game.