Casey Alexander is putting together a different kind of coaching staff as he looks to reshape the Kansas State men’s basketball program. For the first time ever, the Wildcats will have a general manager on the basketball side at Bramlage Coliseum. Alexander has hired Sean Rutigliano to fill that position. Rutigliano spent last season as the head coach at Colby, a Division III program in Maine, and previously served as an assistant under Alexander at Belmont. Now reunited in Manhattan, he will take on key responsibilities such as identifying recruits and overseeing the team’s NIL and revenue-sharing operations.
While K-State football has long used a general manager, former basketball coach Jerome Tang never adopted the role—a decision that drew criticism from fans during the team’s recent back-to-back losing seasons, especially given the costly investments in high-profile transfers. With this new structure, many will be watching to see how K-State’s recruiting and spending strategies evolve.
K-State also unveiled additional staff hires on Wednesday.
Phil Cunningham and John Cooper will join the program as assistant coaches, while Wes Long steps in as the new chief of staff. Cunningham, a former head coach at Troy, compiled an 80–111 record from 2013 to 2019 and led the Trojans to one NCAA Tournament appearance. He most recently coached at Louisiana-Monroe. Cooper, a former Wichita State standout, previously served as head coach at Tennessee State and Miami (Ohio) before working as an assistant at UNLV.
With Cunningham and Cooper on board, Alexander’s staff will now include two former head coaches. Long, who previously held the associate head coach role at Middle Tennessee State, joins a group that also features JJ Butler, Kerron Johnson, and Luke Smith as assistant coaches.
