When Jacob Pullen stepped foot on Kansas State University there was not a single person who could have predicted the type of player that he would one day become. At the time Jake was actually one of Kansas State’s lesser-known recruits. Not to say that fans weren’t excited about getting the point guard from Maywood, Illinois, but the 3-star point guard’s name, at the time, did not compare to that of Michael Beasley (considered the #1 recruit in the country) or Bill Walker (#7 recruit in the nation). Many have come to the realization that the gem of Kansas State’s #1 recruiting class in 2008 was actually Jacob Pullen.
Pullen has been a great scorer, a great passer, and a great defender. He never had a season like Michael Beasley and he won’t be drafted #2 in the upcoming NBA Draft, but Pullen has been the heart and soul of Kansas State for the past four years. When Bob Huggins left after the 2006 season, Pullen was the first player in his class to announce his intentions to stay. On the flip-side, in 2011 when all hope was going by the wayside he was the last person in the world to give up on the Wildcats as he put K-State on his back to salvage the season and make a run for the NCAA Tournament.
Let’s flash back to the year 2006: Kansas State had the #1 recruiting class in the nation, Bill Walker (whom enrolled a year early as he graduated high school early and used up all his eligibility in high school) was the only player in that class who was already enrolled at Kansas State. Bob Huggins left for his alma mater, and everything else was left up in the air. The biggest question: would Beasley still come to K-State?
Jacob Pullen (who, let’s not forget, had offers from Xavier, South Carolina, Saint Louis, Purdue, Notre Dame, Miami (FL), Marquette, Iowa State, and Dayton) was the first person to step up and say he was sticking to his commitment. It would have been so easy for him to switch to a school which had more recent success than Kansas State. Why not go to a school with a “proven” head coach instead of Frank Martin? For whatever reason, he showed faith in Martin and his faith was rewarded as he has proven himself as one of the premier coaches in the country.
In Pullen’s freshman year he seemed to be the player coach Martin loved to yell at the most. Yet at the same time Martin was the first person to praise Pullen for his efforts. This type of tough love between Martin and Pullen could have broken many 18 year-old kids–but not Jacob. Pullen bought into everything that coach Martin said. Pullen scored 18 points off of 7-of-11 shooting in his very first game as a Wildcat. He also had very strong shooting performances in 2006 against Central Florida (19 points), Rider (19 points), Oklahoma State (17 points), Texas Tech (16 points), Nebraska (15 points), Texas (19 points), Iowa State (19 points), and the most notable of all Kansas (20 points).
In that Kansas game, Jacob looked like a senior in a freshman’s body. He introduced himself to the world as he helped lead the cats to a shocking 84-75 win over the eventual national champion Jayhawks. The win was K-State’s first against Kansas at home since 1983. The 2006 team was Beasley’s team as he had the greatest single season in Kansas State basketball history. But Pullen emerged as a rising star.
Heading into his sophomore year, not a lot was expected out of Kansas State. K-State was written off early by the media. How could Kansas State win without Beasley or Walker? Kansas State also lost a key player in point guard Clent Stewart. Kansas State brought in a speedy transfer guard from the University of Miami (FL) in Denis Clemente. Pullen and Clemente formed a backcourt that was considered to be one of the best in the nation. Together they put together a 21-11 record which exceeded many in the media’s expectations of the team. They ended up just short of the NCAA Tournament and had to settle for an NIT berth as a two seed where K-State lost to top-seeded San Diego State in the second round.
Next came Pullen’s breakout junior season. Once again K-State wasn’t receiving much attention as they were not a preseason top 25 team despite returning nearly everyone (Fred Brown transferred to Louisiana Monroe and Ron Anderson bolted for South Florida) and bringing in a top 25 recruiting class. In 2009-10 there was no question; Pullen and Clemente combined to form the best backcourt in the nation. Pullen emerged as one of the most clutch players in college basketball.
Whenever K-State needed a clutch shot, Pullen would seem to hit it. Pullen went from averaging 13.9 points per game his sophomore season to 19.6 points per game as a junior. He shot nearly 40 percent from the three-point arc and increased his free-throw percentage by 10 percent. The game that Pullen will always be remembered for will be the sweet 16 game against Xavier. Jacob hit clutch shot after clutch shot in the thrilling double overtime game. K-State ended up prevailing 101-96, led by Pullen’s 28 points.
Although Kansas State would end up losing to Butler in the next round it gave tremendous hope to Wildcat basketball. Entering this season, Pullen was honored as a preseason All-American and the Big 12 preseason player of the year. For the first time Kansas State was not looked over. Instead, they were on top of the world starting the season off as the #3 team in the country. Jake was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. But things did not go as hoped, and the roller coaster began with some bad news.
Fellow 2007 recruit Dominique Sutton announced his decision to transfer to North Carolina Central to be closer to his daughter. Sutton was K-State’s best defender and one of the best rebounders on the team (if not the best) in 2009-10. But even with this loss, Kansas State seemed to be fine as they did not lose a big man to graduation and brought in highly-touted JUCO recruit Freddy Asprilla. But things just seemed to get worse from there. Curtis Kelly was suspended to start the season due to his lack of effort in practice.
Even with this drama K-State and Pullen started strong with a 4-0 start with wins over Gonzaga and Virginia Tech. Following those two wins, however, K-State was beaten pretty easily by #1 Duke the day after the Gonzaga win. It wasn’t a bad loss as Duke was ranked #1, but it showed the nation Kansas State’s weaknesses. After five wins against not very prestigious schools Pullen and the Wildcat’s season took another bad turn. Following a humiliating 57-44 loss to Florida, Pullen and fellow senior Curtis Kelly were suspended for accepting discounted clothes from a local department store. The news came out minutes before the UNLV game, which K-State lost. Pullen missed three games and Kelly missed six. The losses proved to be costly.
For the first time in his collegiate career Pullen had to face criticism. He had not been the player everyone expected him to be this season. Pullen had always been the feel-good story on Kansas State’s team, and now that he was labeled an All-American things began to fall apart. Jake was able to pull Kansas State out of the mess they were in, but in normal fashion things had to get worse before they got better.
K-State lost two of the three games after Pullen returned and Kelly was still suspended. Following a loss to Colorado, Pullen promised that he would not play in the NIT. By doing so he challenged his teammates, his coaches, and himself to get better. It was a spur of the moment quote, but he was quoted for saying “I’m not going to the NIT, I won’t play basketball in the NIT. I’m saying that now. If we lose, and we have to go to the NIT, I will not play”. Pullen was—and continues to be—criticized by the media for this quote, but it truly did inspire his team.
A couple of days following the Colorado game, junior forward Freddy Asprilla announced he was transferring from the team. But it was quickly forgotten as Pullen and Kelly led the Wildcats to a 90-66 thumping of Texas Tech. For the first time all season the Wildcats showed promise. But that promise was quickly dashed as the Wildcats continued to struggle after the Texas Tech game. The Kansas game was the hardest to swallow as K-State looked as if they didn’t deserve to be on the same court with Kansas. KU won 90-66, and their fans let Jacob have it with the chant “NIT, NIT, NIT”. That chant may have fueled what was about to happen.
Immediately following the KU loss, former 5-star recruit Wally Judge announced he too was leaving the team. Kansas State had reached rock bottom and was well on its way to falling to the NIT. Morale was nonexistent. Three key players had left the program, a 14-8 (2-5 in conference) record looked awful, and Kansas State still hadn’t gotten to the tough part of the schedule yet. The possibility of falling into the NIT was rising in the minds of Kansas State fans. Many began to believe maybe this team was just average and not the Final Four contender it had been hyped as before the season began. Pullen didn’t believe that, nor did he accept that. Something sparked inside him after the KU loss, and he put the team on his shoulders.
Pullen scored 18 against Nebraska and then made a last-second layup against Iowa State to defeat the Cyclones in Ames, IA. Pullen would have made the game-winning three-point shot against Colorado had Frank Martin not called a timeout during his shot. And then in the most impressive game of his career he scored 38 points in an 84-68 whipping of arch-rival Kansas. Following that game Pullen put up 27 twice in a row against OU and at Nebraska. Then Pullen added 24 in a win against Missouri. In a gutsy performance, he scored 20 against Texas and played with an injury that looked very severe. In his final home game as a Wildcat he scored 17 points and kissed the court as he left the game with under a minute remaining. Despite all the negative things that have happened early on this season, Jacob Pullen has salvaged the year for the Wildcats.
The best part of Jacob Pullen’s game is his never-say-die mentality. When things go bad and everyone around him crumbles, Jake stands firm. He plays his best when K-State is written off, when nobody believes in him. Jake handles adversity better than anyone in the country and has proven it countless times over his career. If you doubt Pullen, if you question Pullen, then you inspire Pullen.
Pullen will leave K-State as a three-time captain and will be in the top 10 in six different Big 12 categories as well as being in the top five in 17 Kansas State categories. Jacob holds the career record at Kansas State for games played, double-digit scoring games, 3-point field goals, 3-point field goals attempted, and steals. He also is the only two-time first team All-Big 12 player in Kansas State history. He currently sits 43 points behind Mike Evans for the all-time scoring record at Kansas State.
Jacob Pullen and the Wildcats lost for the third time this season against Colorado in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament, but they will soon return to the court to face Utah State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday (9pm CST). Pullen will have to play well in the Big Dance if he wants a chance to break Evans’ incredible record. It would be a perfect storybook ending for the incredible career of Jacob Pullen. No matter how the season ends, one thing is certain: Jacob Pullen is one of the greatest players to ever put on a Kansas State jersey. That jersey will one day soon hang from the rafters of Bramlage Coliseum where it belongs.
