National Signing Day 2016: Who We Know

Recruiting is always quite the carousel, with recruits committing and decomitting seemingly constantly until the paperwork is signed and official. So it's nice when some of those guys are wrapped up early.

It's even nicer when they can get on campus early. For a kid coming from JUCO, it means a semester of learning a new system. For a recent HS graduate (or greyshirt), it means a whole easy semester for off-season practices, workouts, and classes, and get allows them to get in the groove of the program and being in college before they're worried about the weekly distraction of games and a heightened need to perform.

At K-State, the coaching staff favors players who participated in spring practices, who showed their work in the off-season to get stronger and improve their knowledge of the playbook. This means that incoming freshman are rarely able to see the field unless they come in a semester early.

So with all that in mind, lets take a look at who in the 2016 K-State recruiting class is already on campus.

Who We Know

Junior College

Abdul Beecham is a 6'4", 310lb 2-star O-Lineman from Converse, TX via Blinn CC. Beecham had offers from Iowa State, Fresno St., and UAB among others, but chose the Wildcats after his official visit to Manhattan for the game against West Virginia. Beechamn will be looked at to provide instant depth along a severely depleted K-State o-line. Beecham signed in the JUCO early signing period and is currently enrolled in classes at K-State. You can check out some of his 2015 highlights at Hudl.

Byron Pringle is a 6'2", 210lb 3-star Wide Receiver who played his JUCO ball at powerhouse Butler (KS) CC. ESPN lists Pringle in their Top 50 JUCO recruits for 2015, but surprisingly neither ESPN or Rivals lists any other offers for the receiver. Pringle will be expected to compete immediately for a starting spot in a receiving corp that saw no standout in 2015, nor any hint of promise for 2016. Pringle signed in the JUCO early signing period and is currently enrolled in classes at K-State. You can check out some of his 2015 highlights at Hudl.

True Freshmen

Corey Sutton is a 6'2", 200lb 3-star Wide Receiver out of Mallard Creek HS in Charlotte, NC. Sutton's biggest offer was from K-State, but he also held FBS offers from Colorado State, Appalachian State, and Georgia Southern. Like Pringle, Sutton will look to join a wide-open wide receiver race. However, it is more likely that Sutton will redshirt, even after arriving early. Sutton graduated HS early and is currently enrolled at K-State for the spring semester. Hudl doesn't have any highlights for his senior year at Mallard Creek, but you can check out his junior season highlights.

Skylar Thompsonis the gem of the 2016 recruiting class. The 6'2", 195lb 4-star Quarterback comes to K-State from Ft. Osage HS in Independence, MO. Thompson has been committed to K-State since last May, and will join a very crowded, but wide-open QB battle at K-State. Thompson led his HS team to a state championship before graduating HS in December to join K-State for the spring semester. Thompson had offers and interest from several other FBS and top-tier FCS programs from around the country. You can check out Thompson's senior season highlights over at Hudl.

Greyshirts

There are three confirmed 2015 greyshirts that are now enrolled at K-State to join the Wildcats for spring practices.You can read about Kyle Ball and Brett Bell in this piece on their commitment last year by KSUEMAW!. The third is All-American Morgan Burns' little brother Tyler Burns, who you can check out in this piece on his commitment last year by Jon Morse.

Stay tuned to Bring On The Cats all week for continuing recruiting coverage as we lead up to National Signing Day 2016!