Big 12 weekly awards day: three Cats honored

Monday is, of course, weekly awards day at the Big 12 offices, and all three of K-State’s primary teams were represented on this fine afternoon. All three players are newcomers to Manhattan, transferring in during the summer.

The Big 12’s women’s basketball player of the week is Oklahoma transfer Gabby Gregory, who followed a 19-point effort in the season opener against Central Arkansas with a big 25-point outing to help lead the Wildcats back from a 10-point first quarter deficit to knock off Wisconsin 77-63 in a “neutral site” game in Milwaukee over the weekend.

On the other side of Bramlage, Keyontae Johnson earned Big 12 newcomer of the week honors after leading the Wildcats to a 2-0 start with 13 points against Texas-Rio Grande Valley and then 16 on the road at California. There’s no argument that it’s great to see Johnson not only playing this well but being recognized for it after his life-threatening illness at Florida.

Another newcomer of the week award went to Wildcat safety Drake Cheatum, who shared the award with Oklahoma State freshman safety Kendal Daniels, who also had a hell of a game against Iowa State. For Cheatum’s part, the senior transfer had a key interception in K-State’s rout of Baylor on Saturday night. It’s the third newcomer of the week honor of the season for K-State football following Kobe Savage in week four and Adrian Martinez in week five.