MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kansas State has hired Belmont coach Casey Alexander as its next men's basketball coach, the school announced Friday.
Alexander, 53, agreed to a five-year contract approved by the K-State Athletics, Inc., Board of Directors and university president Richard Linton. He will make $3.3 million in 2026-27, with annual raises of $50,000 that increase the deal to $3.5 million by 2030-31.
Alexander becomes the 27th head coach in program history after leading Belmont to 166 wins and four conference titles in seven seasons, including the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference championship.
"I’m incredibly excited to join the team at K-State and can’t wait to get the journey started," Alexander said in a statement. "K-State has such a rich tradition and a wildly passionate fan base and I’m grateful for the opportunity provided by Gene Taylor to be a part of it."
A date and time for Alexander’s introductory news conference have not yet been announced. The event will be streamed on ESPN+ and K-State’s Facebook Live page and carried on the K-State Sports Network.
Alexander has compiled a 303-180 record in 15 seasons as a head coach, with stops at Stetson, Lipscomb and Belmont. His teams have won six conference championships and reached the postseason three times, including an NCAA Tournament appearance with Lipscomb in 2018 and NIT appearances in 2019 and 2022.
His 2019-20 Belmont team also earned an automatic NCAA Tournament berth before the event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This season’s Belmont team secured another postseason berth after winning the Missouri Valley regular-season title.
"We couldn’t be more excited to announce Casey Alexander as the next head men’s basketball coach at K-State," athletic director Gene Taylor said in a statement. "He is known nationally as a tremendous evaluator of talent and one of the best offensive minds in the college game."
Alexander has posted 10 straight 20-win seasons and has guided Belmont to a 166-60 overall record since taking over for longtime coach Rick Byrd in 2019. The Bruins went 102-33 in conference play during his tenure.
Before becoming a head coach, Alexander spent 16 seasons as an assistant at Belmont under Byrd after playing point guard for the Bruins from 1991-95. He later revived the program at Lipscomb, leading the Bison to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018.
K-State is coming off a 12-20 season in 2025-26, including a 3-15 record in Big 12 play.