Member of K-State Men’s Basketball Coaching Staff Arrested for Domestic Battery

Manhattan, Kan. — Kansas State men’s basketball graduate student manager Mark Vital Jr. was arrested early Monday on a domestic-battery charge, according to Riley County Police.

Officers responded at 12:20 a.m. on Feb. 9 to 606 Vattier St., No. 2, where the 29-year-old was taken into custody and booked into the Riley County Jail. He was later released after posting a $2,000 bond.

A second person, 27-year-old Kristen Blake Whiting Daniels, was arrested at the same address and charged with domestic battery and criminal damage to property. Daniels was released on a $4,000 bond.

K-State athletic officials issued a brief statement late Monday: “We are aware of Mark Vital’s arrest on Sunday night. He has been removed from all team responsibilities until the judicial process runs its course.”

Vital is in his first season with the Wildcats while pursuing a master’s degree in counseling and student development. He arrived in Manhattan with an extensive résumé that includes three All-Big 12 selections and a key role on Baylor’s 2021 national-championship team. A three-time Big 12 All-Defensive Team honoree, Vital twice reached semifinalist status for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award and was a finalist in 2020. During Baylor’s title run he set a school record with 45 career Big 12 victories and finished 10th in program history with 144 steals. In the championship win over Gonzaga he logged six points and 11 rebounds.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in health, kinesiology and leisure studies from Baylor in 2021, Vital briefly signed as a tight end with the Seattle Seahawks’ practice squad before joining the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad. He is known to head coach Jerome Tang from their overlapping years in Waco when Tang served as an assistant under Scott Drew.

The case remains pending as both the athletics department and legal process move forward.