It’s that time of year again, and here’s my Christmas list for Santa on behalf of Kansas State University athletics. Feel free to add any suggestions in the comments.

Basketball

• A jump shot for Jacob Pullen

Contrary to popular belief of those who didn’t see Jake much until the end of last year, jump shooting has never been a strength of his game. But this year his three-point percentage (31.3%) is down eight percent from last season, and his overall field goal shooting (40%) is down almost two percent. In direct opposition to every other year going back to his 20-point performance in a win over KU as a freshman, he has been even worse in big games.

• A brain for Curtis Kelly
Curtis obviously has great athleticism, great length, and even a great jump shot on occasion. But on and off the court, he has made some of awfully bad decisions. We can only hope he ’ll finally be set to go when (if?) he gets back, but maybe now we’re getting a clearer picture of why he struggled so much at Connecticut.

• Coordination for Jordan Henriquez-Roberts
The need for this gift was never more apparent than last game, when Jordan clumsily lost the ball trying to drive inside, just a few minutes after he looked unable to run like a normal human being in a failed attempt to catch up to a long pass.

• Confidence for Wally Judge
Wally has perfected the deer-in-the-headlights look and somehow been even less effective this season than he was last year. There may be some other issues going on here we don’t know about, so whatever Santa needs to do, he should go ahead and do it. Thursday night was a good start, but that was the most ineffective double-double you will ever see (6-18 shooting, all from inside of five feet.

• A true post player
Sure, Curtis Kelly and Jamar Samuels can beat defenders one-on-one with their athleticism, and even Freddy Asprilla can be tough to stop when he gets in deep enough. But none of those guys is really a consistent threat with their back to the basket. For an example of just how much that can help an offense, look no further than Mi1ssouri’s Ricardo Ratcliffe.

• Free throw shooting touch
I don’t think anything more needs to be said here.

• A mute button for Frank Martin
I understand that the emotion that makes Frank such a great motivator for his team will also sometimes cause him to say or do things that you don’t exactly want from your basketball. So how awesome would it be if you could just give the SID a button that would allow Frank to vent, without anyone getting to hear it and having it leave a bad impression on outsiders willing to take it out of context and make him look bad?

Football

• A defensive line
Giving up almost six yards per carry and 229 yards per game (118th out of 120 in FBS) starts on the defensive line, where even promising sophomore Brandon Harold looked pretty miserable for most of this season.

• A good running back
Obviously, this one is for next season, but it’s a pretty dramatic need. Great running backs are immensely important in the Snyder system, and from what I’ve seen, Kansas State does not want John Hubert as its #1 option next season.

• A new defensive coordinator
This seems like a foregone conclusion considering Chris Cosh took full reins of the defense for the first time in his fourth season (he previously shared duties with Snyder) and the results were disastrous. K-State gave up 441 yards (106th in FBS) and 28.5 points (74th) per game, and was markedly worse than last season.

• Recognition for David Garrett
It just seems unfair that Garrett hasn’t gotten the recognition of Ty Zimmerman, William Harrison, or even Emmanuel Lamur. Garrett probably deserves to be preseason All-Big 12 next season. Just look at the stats.

• A punch in the face for Derek Jeter
like so many Americans, I hate the Yankees, and although Jeter as a person isn’t awful, he represents everything we associate with being a Yankee. If the opportunity presents itself, I can’t think of a more worthy cause to get a little suspension or even some minor legal trouble.

• An iPad for Bill Snyder

Because how much fun would it be to see his face when he opened the gift, and then watch him as he subsequently tried to figure out how it worked? Of course, it would be bad news for his family and friends, as it would allow him to watch game tape anytime, anywhere.

• A Pinstripe Bowl win
Sure, a win over a mediocre Big East team isn’t going to impress anyone, but it would be a nice confidence boost going into next year, and more importantly, a great way to send off Daniel Thomas and the rest of a senior class that was never great, but did pretty well representing Kansas State in a positive way.

Miscellaneous

• Women’s soccer and softball programs
Perhaps some of you remember me ranting about this before, but it’s absolutely absurd that any Divison I school, let alone a Big 12 university, has women’s rowing and equestrian rather than soccer or softball. I don’t care about the Title IX justifications, no one else does it, and it’s just ridiculous when the rowing team is recruiting high school softball and soccer players who have never rowed before in their lives, because there aren’t enough rowers, and there aren’t enough soccer and softball teams.

Merry Christmas, everyone!