Desi Sills has brought a winning attitude and mentality to Kansas State

Suffice it to say, Kansas State hadn’t won a lot since the Big 12 championship season of 2018-2019. They missed the NCAA Tournament all three years since and finished last or second-to-last in the conference on two occasions.

That has been flipped upside down once again in Manhattan this season. K-State won 14 games in 31 tries a year ago. They already have 14 wins this season after just 15 regular season contests under new head coach Jerome Tang.

Clearly, the two Kansas State stars have been Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell.

Johnson transferred from Florida and has been one of the more efficient players in the country playing at an All-Big 12 first team level and Nowell is averaging about 30 points and 10 assists and has jumped into National Player of the Year conversations.

But there are unsung heroes and significant role players on the K-State roster as well. In fact, they impact winning just as much according to the coaching staff in Manhattan, especially Desi Sills.

Statement Made

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— K-State Men's Basketball (@KStateMBB) January 9, 2023

Because of him, it is not a surprise nor a coincidence that Kansas State sits atop the Big 12 and in the top 10 of the AP Poll.

“Just look,” Tang said. “It’s everywhere he has been. The common denominator for winning is Desi Sills.”

That includes a high school career that included two state championships, an 82-8 overall record and a 32-0 run during his 11^th grade year at Jonesboro High School. It was the school’s first undefeated season since 1954.

“I don’t have to be the best player on the team,” he pointed out. “But you’re going to feel my energy, enthusiasm and effort when I am on the floor.”

Sills has also won every year in college. Before leaving to return home and play for Arkansas State for a year, he played in three seasons for Arkansas and helped take the Razorbacks to the Elite Eight in 2020-2021 after a 25-7 campaign.

And he made a considerable mark on that team, being the only one on the roster to play in all 98 games during those three years.

His chapter with the Red Wolves was short. But in his lone season in Jonesboro, they went from years of dissatisfaction to an 18-11 record. It was Arkansas State’s first winning season in five years. And as mentioned earlier, K-State has now seen their fortunes reversed as well.

“With that dude, it’s the energy he brings at practice,” Tang shared. “The voice he gives, his willingness to sacrifice and, in big moments, his ability to step up.”

That was none truer than the sequence versus Baylor when adversity struck Kansas State in overtime at the Ferrell Center in Waco. And Sills delivered for the Wildcats.

“I told Coach Tang to put me in the game and I’ll go make one of those winning plays,” Sills recalled. “He said, ‘Alright Desi, let’s go’.”

“He subbed me in the game, and next thing you know, they hit a quick lay-up,” he added. “Keyontae (Johnson) had the ball and I sprinted up the court, got the ball and made a tough bucket. Then I took the key charge on Keyontae George. Then I made the pass to Keyontae for a wide-open layup to put us up four again.”

His head coach also described that minute of action from his guard.

“He just makes big play after big play,” Tang noted. “They’re very loud. He’s always ready.”

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— K-State Men's Basketball (@KStateMBB) January 9, 2023

As a reserve, he has to maintain readiness for when his number is called. It’s a decidedly different role than the one he had been accustomed to before, but he has accepted it with overwhelming maturity.

Of course he wants to start. Jerome Tang has even told us that, and he referred to Sills as a sixth K-State starter during one of his press conferences. But he’s owning the role he was given in the name of winning.

“I just like to win,” Sills explained. “No matter if I start, no matter if I come off the bench. I do what my teammates need me to do to win. Whether that’s taking a charge, guarding the best player, scoring the ball. I just love to win. I just want to win. That’s all that matters to me.”

“I got goals, too,” he continued. “I want to be Sixth Man of the Year in the Big 12. I want to be National Sixth Man of the Year. Winning takes care of a lot of things. When you believe in your talent and yourself, everything falls into place.”

He believes in his teammates and coaches at Kansas State, and they believe in him. Both sides know the best is yet to come for him.

“I just try to be in their ear and let them know that I am there for them,” Sills said. “I know that they are here for me. Let’s just give it our all. You never know when it’s going to be your last game. Why not give it 100 percent?”

“The coaching staff and teammates truly believe that I am about to really take off. I got here in late October. They were already practicing, and I wasn’t here. Everyone else was here by August. I’m still adjusting. I’m still learning about Manhattan. I’m still learning the plays and all the new stuff. They were here going for two months before me. That’s why I appreciate that I don’t start. At the end of the day, that’s cool. Because I am a winner. I want to win so bad. We are going to keep going, keep grinding and going 1-0 each and every time we step on the floor.”