Curtis Kelly hits coach with chair, leaves K-State

BOULDER, Co. – In a shocking turn of events, Curtis Kelly completed his destruction of the Kansas State Wildcats basketball team by whacking his coach, Frank Martin, in the back with a steel chair during the Wildcats 58-56 loss against Colorado on Saturday. Immediately after the chair shot, Kelly tore off his Kansas State jersey to reveal a University of Kansas t-shirt, then extended both middle fingers to the Wildcats’ bench and walked off the court to a chorus of boos from the K-State fans in Boulder.

The events culminated Kelly’s slow turn on his coach and teammates, as he has seemingly spent the entire season undermining the Kansas State basketball team, which was coming off an appearance in the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight in 2010, and had earned a pre-season ranking of No. 3 in the country.

The chair shot only added to the painful night for the Wildcats, which fell to 4-6 in Big 12 play after Rodney McGruder's apparent game-winning 3-pointer was waved off. The Wildcats now find themselves in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament, and have to deal with losing what should have been their best frontcourt player in Kelly.

“Looking back, all the signs were there, but as a fan you just didn’t want to believe it,” said Wyatt Thompson, the voice of the Kansas State Wildcats. “When it happened, all I could think was, ‘Good God, what is he doing? No, no, no!’”

Kelly’s season got off to a rocky start when he was benched for three games by Martin for allegedly giving poor effort during practice. He then picked up a six-game suspension in December for an impermissible benefits violation when he accepted free clothing from a Dillards in the Manhattan mall. And the most recent events come on the heels of another possible university violation that caused controversy throughout last week.

When reached for comment, Kelly said the turn started well before the season.

“All last year, I was the guy who put us on our shoulders and took us to the Elite Eight. But when you’d hear from fans and the media, all they talked about was Frank’s stare, or Jake’s beard,” Kelly said. “It’s bullshit. That was my team. And if they’re not gonna recognize, then I’m gonna make them recognize. And that's the bottom line.”