Wildcats' Clemente a YouTube star

By ARNE GREEN

Salina Journal

MANHATTAN -- Thanks to modern technology, it has become the shot seen around the world.

Kansas State senior guard Denis Clemente actually made the shot -- heaved from the baseline off the Bramlage Coliseum scoreboard and back into the basket on one bounce -- twice, with the second one captured on film and promptly posted on YouTube.

"I don't think I can do it again," a smiling Clemente said Tuesday while meeting with reporters on his way to the gym. "I'll try it today, and we'll see."

Clemente said it only took two tries the first time he made the shot, though with the camera on him it was closer to 30.

K-State coach Frank Martin was not on hand for the shot, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

"I just started laughing," he said. "I couldn't believe it.

"But coming from him, nothing surprises me."

Martin said trick shots are nothing new, only now they're captured for the world to see.

"That's the marvel of YouTube," he said. "People have been making shots like that forever.

"When I was his age, I'd try to hit hook shots from the other baseline. When you spend a lot of time in the gym, you need some kind of joke time, some time to relax and do stuff that just puts you at ease. That's what gym rats do."

Clemente said he was surprised by the reaction.

"I didn't think it was going to blow like that," he said. "It blew like crazy. Like one day I got like 5,000 views."

And it wasn't the only Wildcat YouTube highlight. Freshman guard Martavious Irving, standing with his back to the basket, swished a shot over his head from center court.

Clemente said he'll gladly challenge Irving to a game of H-O-R-S-E.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I've got something for him."

GameDay at Bramlage

The ESPN television network announced Tuesday that its College GameDay show will be in Manhattan on Jan. 30 for K-State's Sunflower Showdown game with Kansas.

The Saturday game will tip off at 6 p.m. on ESPN (Salina cable 32), with the one-hour GameDay segments broadcast live from 10-11 a.m. and 5-6 p.m.

"I can't wait to get on the court, over there (Lawrence) and here," Clemente said of facing the Jayhawks. "I can't wait to play them.

"I know they talk a little bit, but I can't even explain how excited I am."

Martin credited an energized fan base and coaches and players who turned the program around on the court for making K-State an attractive destination for GameDay.

"If we didn't have that passion in the stands, ESPN wouldn't come in," he said. "That's what makes it attractive to them -- the atmosphere that we've created in Bramlage.

"Then No. 2, it's a credit to (former coach) Bob Huggins, it's a credit to (former players) Cartier Martin, it's a credit Darren Kent, Clent Stewart, Blake Young, Mike Beasley, Bill Walker, David Hoskins. Those guys that were here when we got here three years ago have busted their humps to go on that floor and compete, to go out and represent Kansas State and to go out and win games."

Bigger is better

K-State players and coaches have long sung the praises of strength and conditioning coach Scott Greenawalt for his role in improving the Wildcats physically, especially during the offseason.

Two of his summer success stories have been incoming freshmen big men Wally Judge and Jordan Henriquez, each of whom has added 20 pounds of muscle since their arrival.

"I'm ecstatic," Martin said. "In the recruiting process we show them, we talk to them, we really emphasize how important that is to us, that weight room.

"The reality is some guys come in and they just don't adapt well to that, even though they understand it. When you see guys make those kinds of gains, that means they've been fully committed to everything."

Martin said veterans Clemente, Jacob Pullen, Dominique Sutton and Jamar Samuels also have made significant gains.

Join the Discussion:

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David Zigler says....
Un real, What's next. I guess that imagination is the mother of all inventions he must have great imagination to make that shot happen.
8/22/2009

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guest says....
You forgot to mention that he also stars in these YouTube clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM_JLr4EB2U&feature=channel_page and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X-yQtWUj_o&feature=channel_page
8/19/2009

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