NOTE: Kansas State has elected to advance players’ classification even though the 2020 season did not affect eligibility. Those who wish to take advantage of this extra year will be listed as a (“super”) senior again after their original eligibility would have been exhausted.

#23 Julius Brents

Redshirt Junior | 6-4 | 204 lbs. | Indianapolis, Indiana

Courtesy Kansas State Athletics

• Position: Defensive Back
• Previous College: University of Iowa
• Projection: Second-String
• Status: On Scholarship

Julius Brents (b. Jan. 18, 2000) is a transfer defensive back from Iowa who played in 19 games spanning three seasons, including the 2019 campaign, when he was injured after one game and subsequently earned a medical hardship. He projects best as a cornerback.

The way this works is that Brents used a redshirt in 2019, but can reclaim that season of eligibility at the end of his “normal” career if he so chooses. Combined with the free year of eligibility he earned by playing in 2020, he could conceivably play four seasons at K-State!

Many have penciled in Brents as an instant starter in 2021, and while I won’t rule out that possibility, he is battling both a soft-tissue injury in fall camp plus stiff challenges from 2020 starters Ekow Boye-Doe and Justin Gardner. I’m going to hedge and say second-string.

Brents, who is majoring in communication studies, prepped under head coach Jayson West at Warren High School Central in Indianapolis, where he was rated the 28th-best cornerback in the Class of 2018 by 247Sports.

That organization also viewed him as the fifth-best overall prospect in the state of Indiana, while Rivals ranked him fourth and had him listed as a four-star player.

Brents was named to the 2017 American Family Insurance ALL-USA Central Indiana high school football Super Team and earned first-team all-conference honors during his final three seasons as a prep, while he was an all-county pick the final two.

He totaled 53 tackles and three interceptions as a prep, also competing in track and field.

At Iowa, Brents played in 11 games as a true freshman in 2018, including five starts.. He totaled 13 tackles, an interception and four total passes defended.

Brents set his career high with four tackles against Wisconsin, then came back the next week with his first career interception and three pass breakups at Minnesota.

He had three tackles against the Golden Gophers and three more at Penn State, and also had a pass breakup at Purdue.

Brents was injured to begin the 2019 season and only played against Michigan before not see action again and redshirting/claiming his medical hardship waiver.

He then saw action in seven games in the Big Ten’s extremely pandemic-shortened 2020 season, including the opener at Purdue, when he carded a career-high-tying four tackles.

Brents also had a pass breakup at Minnesota and was named to the 2020 Leadership Group.

Back in 2018, he chose Iowa over a a fairly impressive list of offers from Ball State, Boston College, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Indiana, Louisville, Michigan State, NC State, Northern Illinois, Syracuse and Vanderbilt.

To learn more about Brents, who enrolled in time for 2021 spring practices, please enjoy Drew Schneider’s excellent write-up here.