Two hours before the Kansas State Wildcats tipped off against the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, Kansas State’s AP Pre-season All-American Jacob Pullen was dealt a three-game suspension for receiving impermissible benefits from a local department store in Manhattan, KS. He wasn’t alone as fellow teammate Curtis Kelly was also dealt a suspension by the NCAA. Kelly, however, received a more lengthy suspension because he received more impermissible benefits than did Pullen.

Neither Pullen nor Kelly made the trip to the Sprint Center when the Wildcats took on UNLV, but both watched the Wildcats win back-to-back home games from the bench.

After finishing up his three-game suspension, Pullen finally spoke to the media. “First and foremost, I just want to apologize to my teammates, the coaching staff, the KSU fans and all my friends,” Pullen said Friday following the Wildcats win against North Florida. “I had a lapse in judgment and I violated a few NCAA rules and I take full responsibility for my actions.”

During his four-year career at Kansas State, Pullen never sat out a game due to any circumstance. “I have not sat out a basketball game since my freshman year of high school when I did not meet the eligibility requirements,” Pullen said. “It was tough when I found out that I had to sit out three games.”

Pullen, the leading scorer for the Wildcats, was selected as a pre-season All-American as well as being named the favorite to win Big 12 Player of the Year. He currently averages 16.5 points, 3.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.

While perhaps Pullen hasn’t fully lived up to this year’s lofty expectations, the Wildcats have shown improvement with their young but talented squad. “We have a young team and we have to move forward,” Pullen said. “The guys in the locker room did a great job of not letting what happened affect them. The last three games, they went out and played their hearts out.”

Pullen returns to the lineup for the first time since scoring 19 points and grabbing four rebounds in a loss to Florida. Pullen is still on pace to take sole possession of the all-time steals record (190) at Kansas State. As it stands currently, Pullen is just nine steals short of the mark. He is also 427 points away from tying the all-time scoring record set by K-State great Mike Evans.

Led by Pullen, the Wildcats will take the court once more before Big 12 conference play begins when they square off against Savannah State on Monday at 7PM CST.