K-State Football: 2019 National Signing Day Primer

For new head coach Chris Klieman and his staff, the early signing period was a big success. His first class fro Kansas State may not have gotten high grades by the recruiting services, but it addressed needs and was surprisingly large considering how late he got started into the process.

Klieman was able to not only keep a large part of the recruiting class that was already committed intact, and was able to add several key pieces like Ball State runningback transfer James Gilbert (BIG need), KU-legacy FB Jax Dineen out of Lawrence (huge steal away from KU), and Bishop Miege OL Taylor Poitier (the Cats have historically done poorly recruiting at the 4A powerhouse).

Current Signed 2019 Class

• 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)

So can it get better for National Signing Day? It sure can, and the Wildcat coaching staff is expecting more big names to sign with K-State tomorrow on the opening of the traditional signing period.

Since the early signing period ended, five prep products have verbally committed to K-State, and the coaching staff isn’t done yet. The biggest “gets” in this period are, well, all of them, but 3-star RB Thomas Grayson and DB Tyrone Lewis both spurned other serious major P5 offers to commit to Klieman and the Wildcats. 2-star prospects RB Clyde Price and and ATH Joshua Youngblood are both under-rated guys with serious P5 interest as well. And just today, 2-star DL prospect Kenny Givens out of Chicago de-committed from Toledo and announced for the Wildcats. #BringontheCats

Current Committed 2019 Class

• Clyde Price, RB, 6’1” 215lbs, Kansas City, MO (North Kansas City) (R/2, 247/2, ESPN/3)
• Joshua Youngblood, ATH (WR), 5’11” 185lbs, Tampa, FL (Berkeley Prep) (R/2, 247/3, ESPN/3)
• Kenny Givens, DT, 6’4” 270lbs, Chicago, IL (Hubbard) (R/2, 247/3, ESPN/3)
• Thomas Grayson, RB, 5’11” 190lbs, Tulsa, OK (Booker T. Washington) (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/3)
• Tyrone Lewis, DB, 6’0” 190lbs, Hammond, LA (Hammond) (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/3)

Others to watch for

• Danielson Ike, OL, 6’6” 325lbs, Kansas City, MO (Rockhurst) (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/3)
  Ike has offers from all the regional P5 schools, and has taken visits to both Oklahoma and Missouri. But Ika visited K-State this past weekend, and while it may still be a bit of a long-shot to reel him in, don’t expect Klieman and staff to give up on him.
• Gavin Potter, LB, 6’2” 205lbs, Broken Arrow, OK (Broken Arrow) (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/3)
  Potter has been committed to K-State since before the coaching change, but chose not to sign with K-State in the early period. He has since taken visits to KU and Texas Tech, and rumors are that he will not end up in Manhattan, at least not as a Wildcat.
• Kenyon Reed, DB, 6’0” 153lbs, Long Beach, CA (Poly) (R/2, 247/2, ESPN/NR)
  Reed has serious interest from both K-State and UCLA, and was just in Manhattan last weekend for his final official visit of this recruiting cycle. His recruitment appears to be a toss-up at this time.
• Matthew Pola-Mao, DT, 6’3” 300lbs, Chandler, AZ (Chandler) (R/3, 247/3, ESPN/4)
  Pola-Mao holds offers from the area P5 programs (USC, both AZ schools, BYU, etc.), but visited Manhattan last weekend (thank goodness it was warmer last weekend) and apparently came away impressed. Officially, Pola-Mao has not announced his commitment, but all signs point to the big guy being a Wildcat.

There could still be some surprises on signing day, not just from the guys already listed.

We’ll have an open-thread tomorrow as usual, so hopefully you aren’t too hungover after tonight’s basketball game to enjoy a little football news bright and early.