Kansas State makes NCAA Championship debut with chip on shoulder after being snubbed in 2024
Kansas State makes NCAA Championship debut with chip on shoulder after being snubbed in 2024
CARLSBAD, Calif. — Stew Burke and his players waited, staring at the television inside the Colbert Hills Country Club clubhouse waiting for Kansas State's name to pop up.
Regional after regional was announced during the 2024 NCAA Selection Show, and the Wildcats, fresh off a third-place finish at the Big 12 Championship, were in good position to make a regional. But Kansas State's name never came.
Burke and his players sat, dejected after finding out they were the first team out of the NCAA postseason. He had three seniors, and their careers were over. A couple teams below .500 made it in the field over the Wildcats.
"They deserved to go," Burke said.
More: NCAA Women's Golf Championship live leaderboard: Updates, tee times, highlights
Carla Bernat, the 2025 Augusta National Women's Amateur champion, was one of the players watching in the clubhouse who returned this year. That pain was a driving force through the offseason and this season, especially as the postseason neared. Bernat won twice in the regular season. Teammate Sophie Bert then won the Big 12 Conference individual title. Bernat, who won twice in the regular season, then won the NCAA Lexington Regional, but more importantly, she helped Kansas State tie for second.
That meant the Wildcats punched their ticket to the 2025 NCAA Women's Golf Championship, their first time making nationals in school history.
"The pain of not making it really drove them this year," Burke said Friday after Kansas State's opening round of 1 over at Omni La Costa. "They want to compete. They got a little chip on their shoulder. They want to be amongst these teams, whether they're invited or not."
Friday morning marked the Wildcats' first round at nationals, finishing fourth of the 15 teams who teed off in the opening wave. The program has been riding a high the last two months on the heels of Bernat's victory at ANWA, and since then, the Wildcats have continued to ride momentum.
Burke said his team has been motivated since being slighted last year, and that it's player driven. His players, including newcomers to this year's lineup, have pushed to ensure what happened last year to Kansas State didn't happen again.
Kansas State won its home event to open the season. A pair of runner-up finishes to complete the fall slate led to momentum in the spring, with the Wildcats winning the MountainView Collegiate in March. Bernat then won ANWA, and the momentum behind the program had never been higher.
Then came individual wins in both postseason events, and in Lexington, Kansas State punched its ticket to nationals for the first time. The Wildcats were going to Omni La Costa, riding the wave of momentum that started last spring in the Colbert Hills clubhouse.
"I want young ladies that want to win. They want to compete, and they, you know, they're, they're not scared," Burke said. "People showed up at the airport when Carla won ANWA, and people showed up at the airport when we made it home from regionals at 11:30 on a Wednesday night."
More: 2025 NCAA Div. I Women's Golf Championship predictions: Picks to win team, individual title
Burke said Bernat's leadership has been on display all season. He said she's essentially an extra coach for Kansas State, encouraging her teammates to make smart decisions that can be the difference between winning and runner-up finishes over a 54-hole tournament. She's also one of 10 finalists for the 2025 Annika Award, given to the top women's college golfer in the country.
The Wildcats' drive remains high, and their mentality won't change this week, even in unfamiliar territory.
"There's probably people here that are like, 'Who are Kansas State? Why are they here? What, they drive their purple tractor?' Well, yeah, we did. And we're hoping to run some people over," Burke said.
"We know this is a big task. We know these are the finest teams, the finest players, the finest coaches in the country. It's a good chance for us to test ourselves against them and that's really the message. It's just a golf tournament. We're gonna go and tee it up and play three rounds, see where it takes us, and if that gets us a fourth, great. And then we'll see what comes from there."
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Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Doyel: The story behind the story of Pacers coach Rick Carlisle defending ESPN Doris Burke
OKLAHOMA CITY – Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has said what he's said before Game 1 of the NBA Finals and now NBA analyst Doris Burke of ESPN is trending nationally on social media, which happens from time to time. Happens to a lot of people in the business, to some more than others. And some forms of social media being uglier than others – looking at you, Twitter or X or whatever we're calling you this week – it happens often to Burke. She trends online. She's trending again early Thursday evening, after Carlisle said what he said before Game 1, only this is good. This is amazing. Rick Carlisle has just used his platform at the height of its reach – less than 90 minutes before Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals – to speak up for Burke, and to speak out against unnecessary online cruelty. Social media is responding positively to Carlisle, and to Burke, and now her phone is blowing up. The noise is so loud it finds her inside that soundproof room at Paycom Center, home of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Burke is waiting with the rest of ESPN's broadcast team for Game 1, and you'll never believe who they're waiting to speak with at this exact minute, so I'll tell you: They're waiting for Rick Carlisle. Re-live the Pacers incredible postseason run with our commemorative book This is the schedule. NBA coaches speak to reporters about 90 minutes before tipoff – regular season, playoffs, that's the schedule. Then they have their pregame sit-down with the broadcast team. Then they coach. Burke is sitting there, waiting for Carlisle, with no idea what has just happened. She's not on social media, are you kidding me? That cesspool of malice and misogyny? But there in that soundproof room, waiting for the head coach of the Indiana Pacers, her phone is buzzing, one jolt after another, one friend after another saying something along the lines of: OMG And: I have a new favorite NBA coach! And: Rick Carlisle! News: Carlisle defends ESPN's Doris Burke, laments leaked reports ahead of NBA Finals Doris Burke is sitting there, and the information is coming to her in snippets of text messages, notes from friends. Tears are filling her eyes. This is not easy, OK? It's not easy putting yourself out there, day after week after month after year, and knowing – because we know, whether we look or not – that strangers are using our experiences as a punching bag. Burke knows, generally, what's out there when the trolls gather at their social media garbage dump and turn their gaze toward the first woman to analyze NBA games for ESPN. And she knows, specifically, what Rick Carlisle has just done for her. But no time to think about that. Time to work, and there's a knock on the door. Rick Carlisle walks in. Doyel from Game 1: Pacers never give up, have a star who doesn't miss in clutch time So, the reason Carlisle spoke up for Burke. It was a story on The Athletic suggesting ESPN could be changing its NBA Finals broadcast booth next year, the kind of thing that happens in this and any other business. People get promoted or replaced. Most don't have to find out through the media, though, and in that small subset, most people don't have to grapple what is happening on social media: That strangers – call them what they are, incels and trolls – are celebrating the news. So, the story went online within 24 hours of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. A scoop, we call that in my business. Carlisle sees it, and understand, as longtime president of the NBA Coaches Association, Carlisle speaks up for people all over this sport. When the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau shortly after being eliminated by the Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Carlisle was meeting with reporters the day before Game 1 of the NBA Finals and someone asked for his reaction. 'When I first saw it, I thought it was one of those fake AI (artificial intelligence) things,' Carlisle said. 'No way. There's no way possible.' Carlisle went onto share his reaction, using words like 'shocked' and 'numb' and noting that the Knicks have had 'a lot of lean years. Thibs went in there and changed so much.' This is who Carlisle is. Now, before you see what happened when he walked into the soundproof room at Paycom Center before Game 1 on Thursday night, you need to hear what he'd said about Doris Burke minutes earlier. This is how it looked, and sounded: It's 90 minutes before tipoff. Carlisle walks into the room. Normally before a playoff game he's quiet, curt, wanting this pregame media obligation to end as quickly as possible. He has work to do, you know? Normally he sits down, looks around and waits quietly for someone to ask a question. This time, before Game 1, he's not waiting quietly. 'Before we start…' is how he starts. First words out of Rick Carlisle's mouth to a roomful of national reporters. These are the next words: 'You know, when you get into this business, whether you're in coaching, whether you're a player, certainly media people have experienced scrutiny, broadcasting. It's a dynamic business. You're subject to things from unnamed sources. It's just part of it. 'So I saw the things that were leaked yesterday about Doris Burke. I just want to say a couple of things. 'She has changed the game for women in broadcasting. I have a daughter who just turned 21, who is in her second year at UVa. She's not in the basketball industry. But Doris is a great example of courage and putting herself out there. "It was just so sad to see these reports leaked, really unnecessarily before such a celebrated event. 'Doris is a friend. I've asked her many times: 'Why don't you get into coaching?' She has such great knowledge. 'There are many women (now broadcasting NBA games) who she's paved the way for. I'll name a few of them: Sarah Kustok in Brooklyn who does a great job, Lisa Byington in Milwaukee, Kate Scott in Philadelphia, Monica McNutt, New York Knicks. Katy Winge from Denver, Zora Stephenson in Portland, Ann Meyers Drysdale in Phoenix, and Marney Gellner does some play-by-play for games with Minnesota. 'I don't know what's going to happen with all that stuff. But I just want to say thank you to Doris for the example that she has put forth for young women like my daughter and all these people who are changing the game. "She has changed the game. That's the reason that she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame a couple of years ago. I just want to say that in support of her.' Soon he's done with us, and walking the hall of Paycom Center. He's heading toward Doris Burke. And as her phone is blowing up, one jolt comes from Rick Carlisle. He's sending her a text message. A story from 15 years ago: At this point, Doris Burke has made a name for herself after analyzing all manner of basketball – NCAA men's and women's, WNBA – and now she's starting to blaze trails: First woman to commentate Knicks games on radio and TV. First woman commentator for a Big East men's game, and to be the lead analyst for a network's conference coverage. First woman to become a full-time national NBA analyst, first woman to call conference and NBA Finals on radio, then TV. But it's not easy, being the first. This isn't the story from 15 years ago – it's coming – but just a few years back Burke was doing a podcast with Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson, an unlikely NBA story himself after playing at Division III Williams College. They got to talking about their shared experience in the NBA. 'We had a long conversation about imposter syndrome,' Burke says. 'I fight it every it day. I've never pretended to play or coach in the NBA. I consider myself in many ways, a very well-studied fan. This game I'm so passionate about, it has shaped my life since I was 7. Yes, I played college basketball (she was an All-American guard at Providence in 1987) but I kind of go at it the way a fan does. When I was a sideline reporter, the questions I was thinking were: What would I have been thinking at home as a fan? What would I have wanted to know?' So this happened about 15 years ago: Doris Burke is preparing for an NBA game, and her broadcast team is meeting with both coaches about 75 minutes before tipoff – and after finishing, one coach stops on his way out. Doris Burke is telling me this story Thursday night, in the minutes after Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton has just beaten the Thunder in the final second of Game 1. The Paycom Center is still buzzing wildly, not unlike her cell phone before the game, and Burke is standing at her courtside booth, removing all those microphones and earpieces. She's telling me about this meeting 15 years ago, and she's showing me what happened as that coach stopped on his way out the door: 'He grabs me by the shoulders and looks me in the eye,' Burke tells me, then shows me. 'And he says, 'Doris, you are doing an incredible job at this.'' That was how she met Rick Carlisle. They've talked a lot over the years, work and otherwise, professional colleagues and real-world friends. That's why Carlisle texted her Thursday night before his visit with ESPN's broadcast team. He texted her something supportive, something along the lines of what he'd just told the media, and now Burke is confused. 'I'm thinking, 'Oh boy, he's not going to say something out there is he?'' she says. 'Shortly after I have that thought, multiple people hit me with texts about what he's just said.' Burke is grateful, and the emotions are coming. And now there he is, walking into the soundproof interview room. 'He greets us all normally,' Burke says. 'I always hug him, but I just probably squeezed him a little tighter than normal, and I said: 'The article is just part of the business. I didn't really react to it, but I did react to your support of me and I can't thank you enough.' 'I was emotional,' she says, 'no question about it.' Burke is telling me about it, and it's happening again. 'I've said this often,' she says, and she's pausing because the gratitude filling her heart is now reaching up into her throat and catching her words. 'Forgive me here,' she says, then continues. 'The players and the coaches, going back to my time covering every single thing I've ever covered – women's and men's college, WNBA, NBA – the players and coaches have been always my soft landing spot. They have always given me incredible support. And at various times I've expressed gratitude.' Now she wants to be specific, about the supremely public gesture – more than that – Rick Carlisle had made for her before Game 1. 'Think about who Rick Carlisle is as person,' she says. 'He is about to coach Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and he takes the time to reach out to me to make sure I am OK. He is so passionate about the game and everyone who is part of the game. There is a reason he has led the (NBA) coaches association for as long as he has, a reason why he talks to players about getting into coaching and making them believe they can have an impact in this profession. There is a reason when he talks about officials, that he does it with incredible respect. 'It blows me away that in that moment in time, he has the heart to feel for another human being. So incredibly moving to me.' They hug there in the broadcast room, Doris Burke thanks Rick Carlisle, and then it is time to work. 'We got down to the business of basketball,' she says. Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Threads, or on BlueSky and Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar, or at Subscribe to the free weekly Doyel on Demand newsletter.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
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New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Pacers' Rick Carlisle backs Doris Burke after rumors swirl about her future in top ESPN booth
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said it was 'sad' to see Wednesday's report from The Athletic speculating on Doris Burke's future in ESPN's top NBA broadcasting booth before the 2025 NBA Finals tipped off. Prior to Game 1 of the Pacers-Thunder series, Carlisle began his pregame availability Thursday with a tribute to Burke, who is part of ESPN's lead NBA broadcast team with Mike Breen and Richard Jefferson, and explained how she has inspired other woman broadcasters. 'Certainly, media people have experienced scrutiny,' Carlisle said. 'Broadcasting, it's a dynamic business and you're subjected to things from unnamed sources. It's just part of it. So, I saw the things that were leaked [Wednesday] about Doris Burke, and I just want to say a couple things. 4 (L-R) Richard Jefferson, Doris Burke, and Mike Breen on the ESPN broadcast before Game 3 of the Oklahoma City Thunder-Minnesota Timberwolves Western Conference finals on May 24, 2025. NBAE via Getty Images 4 Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said it was 'sad' to see the report by The Athletic about Doris Burke's job security at ESPN before Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals. YouTube/Indy Star 'She has changed the game for women in broadcasting,' Carlisle continued before using his 21-year-old daughter as an example of the way Burke has empowered women through her broadcasting career. '… Doris is a great example of courage and putting herself out there. It was just so sad to see these reports leaked, really, unnecessarily, before such a celebrated event. 'Doris is a friend. I've asked her many times, 'Why don't you get into coaching?' because she has such great knowledge. There are many women who she's paved the way for.' Carlisle went on to name more than half a dozen women working in NBA television media whom Burke has inspired during her career, including Knicks broadcaster Monica McNutt and Sarah Kustok, who calls Nets games for YES Network, among other broadcast roles. The coach's comments came after The Athletic reported Burke could be removed from ESPN's NBA Finals coverage next season. The report detailed how Burke's spot in the Finals broadcast is not guaranteed for next season, per ESPN's preliminary plans. 4 Richard Jefferson, Doris Burke and Mike Breen speak during Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder on June 5, 2025 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NBAE via Getty Images ESPN execs reportedly will reevaluate and discuss if they feel Burke is better on a two-person broadcast team as opposed to the three-person team. ESPN intends to re-sign Jefferson, whose contract is expiring, according to the outlet. The Athletic also noted Amazon Prime Video has expressed interest in the former NBA champ. Breen is under a long-term deal. 4 Doris Burke arrives to the arena before the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks on April 9, 2025 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. NBAE via Getty Images Burke was promoted to ESPN's NBA Finals broadcast team in 2023, becoming the first woman to work as a television analyst for a major men's American sports championship. The Basketball Hall of Famer has been with ESPN since 1991. The Pacers rallied for a Game 1 victory over the Thunder on Thursday night, with star Tyrese Haliburton hitting a game-winning jumper in the final moments of the 111-110 triumph. Game 2 is set for Sunday.
