(last week’s pt. I)

From the Kansas City Star’s Howard Richman.

A new fan base is emerging in Kansas State men™s basketball.

Cincinnati.

GTM Sportswear on McCall Road in Manhattan has received nearly 300 phone calls from people in Cincinnati requesting K-State merchandise. Apparently, they are hot for Wildcats apparel because of former Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins, hired Thursday at K-State.

œWe didn™t just get a coach. We got a whole lot of new fans, said John Strawn, vice president of sales at GTM. œWe™ve got stuff flying off the shelves.

The most popular items just arrived. Those would be purple T-shirts at $16 a pop that are a tribute to Huggins. One reads on the front, œFeeling bad about your SELF? Get a big HUG! The other says, œHuggieville on the front and œGot Huggs on the back.

œWe™ve sold nearly 400 of them since he was named the coach, Strawn said late Friday afternoon.