Early Signing Period 2018: Kansas State Football

It’s officially the start of early signing period for college football.

This is just the second year for this period, and, as with last year, the early part of the 2019 recruiting class for the Kansas State Wildcats is going to be significantly smaller than most of its peers. At this point, we expect around a dozen or so young men to sign their National Letter of Intent between now and Friday evening, officially committing themselves to the Wildcats football program, K-State, and new head coach Chris Klieman.

We broke down the expected early class yesterday, but there has been two major changes to that list since that time. First, Yahweh Jeudy, linebacker out of Florida, visited Iowa last weekend and has now apparently flipped his verbal commitment to the Hawkeyes. K-State may still be able to snag him, but it would take a significant push to overcome. This also seems to be a strong indication that Eric Hickson, Jeudy’s primary recruiter, will not be retained by Klieman.

Second, on a positive note, K-State did receive a commitment from Bishop Miege (KC) lineman Taylor Poitier, who is listed at 6’3”, 250lbs and could play on either side of the ball, but is primarily being recruited for offensive line. While Poitier’s biggest offer before this was to Wyoming, it does signal that K-State might have managed to open the door for themselves at Kansas powerhouse Bishop Miege high school; a place the Wildcats have had little luck in the past.

So, with those updates, here is where we stand as of 9:00 am CST.

Names in BOLD have officially signed with K-State

• Chris Herron, QB, Houston, TX (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/4)
• Cooper Beebe, DT, Kansas City, KS (R/2, 247/3, ESPN/3)
• James Gilbert, RB, Ball State (Indianapolis, IN) - Grad Transfer
• Jaren Lewis, QB, Columbia, MO (R/NR, 247/3, ESPN/NR)
• Jax Dineen, FB/LB, Lawrence, KS (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/NR)
• Joe Ervin, RB, Rock Hill, SC (R/2, 247/3, ESPN/3)
• Keenan Garber, WR, Lawrence, KS (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/4)
• Khalid Duke, LB, Gainesville, GA (R/NR, 247/3, ESPN/3)
• Konner Fox, TE, San Antonio, TX (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/3)
• Logan Wilson, DB, Dallas, TX (R/2, 247/3, ESPN/3)
• Marcus Hayes, DB/KR, New Mexico (Rockford, IL) - Traditional Transfer
• Taylor Poitier, OL/DL, Shawnee Mission, KS (R/2, 247/NR, ESPN/NR)
• Trevor Stange, OL, Coppell, TX (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/3)
• Ty Zentner, K/P, Butler County CC (Tecumseh, KS) (R/2, 247/2, ESPN/3)
• William Jones, DB, Mansfield, TX (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/3)

• Gavin Potter, LB, Broken Arrow, OK (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/3)

FYI, this post will be updated throughout the day, so please refresh periodically.

*Update - 7:30am — K-State has announced the signing of graduate-transfer running back James Gilbert from Ball State. Gilbert ran for 1,332 yards and 12 TD’s as a sophomore in 2016, injuries in 2017 shortened his season to just three games, but he returned to start 10 games in 2018 and amass 659 yards and a team-leading 7 TD’s in 2018. He was on the 2017 Doak Walker Award and 2017 & 2018 Maxwell Award watch lists, and was First Team All-MAC in 2016. This is very good news, and as a grad transfer, Gilbert will be immediately eligible to play, and will likely be on campus for spring practice.

*Update - 7:50am — William Jones, a 5’9”, 165lbs 2019 high school commit that hails from Mansfield Summit high school in Mansfield, TX, has verbally committed to K-State. Jones was originally committed to TCU early in 2018 before flipping his commitment to Cal in October. Jones is a consensus 3-star recruit, and visited K-State in early November. He currently rates as one of the top 2 or 3 recruits on K-State’s 2019 commitment list.

*Update - 10:40am — Rumors are going that JUCO WR Khalil McClain will not sign with K-State, now or in February. Rivals and 247 still list him as a commit, so we won’t take him off our list here, but it’s one to watch out for. Also, as mentioned in the comments, Keenan Garber and Jax Dineen are expected to announce and sign at a ceremony at their high school at around 3:15pm today. Rumor is that Garber is still leaning heavily towards K-State, but Dineen seems to be an unknown by both K-State and KU.

*Update - 1:15pm — Three more names that appeared on our list yesterday have signed with schools not named “Kansas State”. RB Tyjae Spears has signed with Tulane, WR Khalil McClain has singed with Troy, and DB Gregory Brooks has signed with Arkansas. Spears and Brooks were part of the last-minute push by Klieman and Braet last weekend before the dead period hit. Also, DB Tyrone Lewis, part of the Louisiana group that Klieman and Braet visited last week, may not announce today after all (he still could, but rumors are that he will wait until February to sign with any school).

*Update - 3:20pm — As has been anticipated today, both Keenan Garber and Jax Dineen from Lawrence Free State HS have committed to, and signed with K-State. Garber has been committed to the Wildcats for some time, but KU made a strong late push for him while the Cats were still looking for a new coach. Dineen is a KU legacy with older brothers playing for the Jayhawks, and bringing the 3-star FB/LB on-board is both a big win for the roster and for future recruiting battles with KU. Also, the Cats have flipped a commit from NDSU, as 3-star QB Jaren Lewis from Columbia, MO’s Battle HS has signed his NLI for K-State.