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#73 Xavier Gates |
Position: Defensive Tackle Previous College: None Projection: Scout Team Status: Preferred Walk-On |
Xavier A. Gates (b. June 22, 1993) followed a long, complicated and confusing road to become a preferred walk-on at Kansas State.
Rather than try to recount it in its entirety, I'll simply point you to this excellently written article that recaps most of it.
To make a long story short, Gates probably would be on scholarship right now at a Division I university somewhere but for the recruiting ball being dropped in the midst of a coaching change at his high school.
He was coming to K-State anyway, as a regular student, for our nationally renowned architecture program. But once we realized he was qualified fully, a walk-on offer was extended quickly.
In other words, we lucked into a player who had slipped through the cracks, but has the potential of earning a scholarship in pretty short order — and in one of our weaker position groups, too.
Now that he has a redshirt season under his belt, it will be interesting to see if he can break into the playing time mix at all in 2012. The defensive tackle spot opposite Vai Lutui would seem to be up for grabs, after all.