Transitions are inevitable.

They happen to everyone at some point in their lives, whether or not they arrive with the consent of the people they affect. Some are inconsequential. Some are drastic.

Pierson McAtee is experiencing the latter.

Outfitted with the diploma he earned from Manhattan High School in May and the background of four years of high school basketball at MHS, the freshman forward walked on to the Kansas State basketball team earlier the same month. His role under head coach Bruce Weber has been a transition the likes of which McAtee has never undergone.

The freshman is redshirting this year, meaning that he cannot play in any of K-State’s non-exhibition games this season. Rather, he has opted to sit out a year and unearth what it means to be a collegiate student-athlete. He said the metamorphosis from high school starter to college understudy has been unique.

“I haven’t been in this role in a while. It’s definitely a humbling experience,” McAtee said. “It’s a different role, but it’s definitely one I’m willing to accept.”

The challenge of shifting duties has extended beyond the confines of Bramlage Coliseum, he explained. It has found a home in his studies.

“It’s definitely a lot more difficult than high school was,” McAtee said. “It’s a lot of out-of-class work. In high school, you can get a lot of work done in class…. But when you’ve got to go straight to practice and you’re tired at the end of the day, you don’t want to start on that essay early, so you end up cramming at the end; different things like that. I’m definitely learning as I go.”

Climbing the ranks to Division-I student-athlete status has offered learning opportunities for McAtee. For the freshman, that has meant keeping his shoulder to the wheel.

“I’ve learned that it’s a grind,” McAtee said. “Whether it’s getting in an extra lift, an extra workout, going in to watch film, the schoolwork, it ends up biting you in the butt sometimes.”

Majoring in Business Administration, McAtee faces classes every other day: Monday, Wednesday and Friday or Tuesday and Thursday, depending on the week. After that, it’s back to practice, where the team watches film together and prepares for a schedule against both non-conference and Big 12 opponents, the dwellings of which are not sympathetic with visitors.

Through it all, McAtee said the nexus between he and his teammates remains unwavering.

“The bond has grown further over this preseason so far,” he said. “Everyone’s pretty close. It’s a pretty tight-knit group all the way around.”

McAtee shares a room with fellow freshmen Barry Brown and Kamau Stokes and has grown especially close with Dean Wade, a highly-touted freshman from St. John, Kan. The reason for the rapport, McAtee explained, finds its roots in each other’s personal lives.

“We have a lot in common,” he said. “A lot of the same interests; same background.”

In K-State’s two exhibition games of the season, drubbings of Emporia State and Fort Hays State, McAtee shed the purple-and-white warmup suit and stepped onto the court in the final minutes. Donning a bold No. 24 on his torso and on his back, McAtee clocked six minutes and tallied two points combined in the only two games he plans to see action in this season, barring a situation in which McAtee has his redshirt pulled. Despite the unfamiliar lack of playing time, he said he approached the playing time with a garden-variety attitude.

“It’s just like any other game,” McAtee said.

Though he may be in uncharted waters, aboard a ship on which he has yet to learn the ropes — one on which he finds himself low on the totem pole of experience — McAtee said he is eager to get the 2015-16 campaign underway.

“I’m extremely excited for these guys,” he said. “Practice every day, [I’m] willing to push them, willing to anything I can to help us win. That’s a special role. It’s a self-motivating role. There’s no one there to kind of say ‘hey, pick it up today.’ It’s kind of all on your shoulders to do that.”

He said he appreciates the strains of past mentors who have helped him along the way.

“I think I’ve had good coaches in the past — I know I’ve had good coaches in the past,” McAtee said. “Coach George, coach Sieben, coach Ingram; all those guys from last year and years before with my dad, growing up.

You’ve got to work hard. Or you’re going to get your butt handed to you.”