K-State Slate: 6.4.14 - Early 2015 NFL Draft thoughts, Track rising

Yesterday's profile, courtesy of the inestimable BracketCat, was redshirt frosh TE Dayton Valentine.

CBSSports.com's Dane Brugler took a look at the Wildcat roster and dropped his pre-season draft prospectus. You'll like it; he mentions Jason Verrett while talking about Tyler Lockett (and you know what that means), compares Ryan Mueller to Tedy Bruschi, and likens Jake Waters to Connor Shaw. On the other hand, you'll be terrified to know that he's actually mentioning Glenn Gronkowski in his "others to watch" category (and yes, Gronk is draft-eligible after the season).

Some high school stuff of relevance: Bobby Nightengale at the Journal-World paid a visit to Free State's summer camp. Free State OL Scott Frantz, a 6'5" 285 three-star, has an offer from K-State; he's also holding paper from Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, and Nebraska. He dropped into Manhattan in April for an unofficial.

J.P. Urquidez, a four-star 6'7" 300 junior tackle from Copperas Cove, Texas -- but now on his way to DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Maryland -- has an offer in hand from K-State, as well as a bunch of other big-time schools. But things just got even tougher for the Wildcats if they hope to nab him: the Texan just got an offer from Texas, as reported by Burnt Orange Nation.

It's bad enough the Wildcats have to play Auburn while they're throwing a JUCO QB at them who Bill Snyder really wanted. But K-State's already fighting Auburn for something else: Maurice Swain, a JUCO sophomore from Lagrange, Georgia, currently at Mississippi Gulf Coast CC. Swain, a 6'4" 295 DT, had been a three-star out of high school and signed with Indiana, but he suddenly backed out and enrolled at MGCCC. He's holding offers from Iowa State, Kentucky, Mississippi State, South Alabama, and UAB; per AL.com's Wesley Sinor, Auburn, Georgia, and K-State have suddenly swooped in with feelers of late.

The AP reports that Jordy Nelson is really hoping to sign a new deal before the season begins, rather than having to play out the final year of his contract and become a free agent.

David Topham of iSportsWeb explains why Lions fans should keep an eye on Cornelius Lucas.

FBschedules.com takes a look at the schools who won't even leave their home state until October. Much to the surprise of the entire planet, Florida is not on the list. Somehow, New Mexico is.

Ken Corbitt engaged in an early-summer convo with Marcus Foster on keeping a level head and working hard. Foster was in Topeka helping Bob Chipman teach kids a thing or two for a day.

Danny Davis at the Austin American-Statesman reports Cedar Park-Vista Ridge (Tex.) guard Japreece Dean, a 5'5" three-star with a 90 grade from ESPN, has officially narrowed her choices to Utah, Texas Tech, and K-State. Mittie doin' work.

The super regionals are now set, and after a blistering 13-4 run through the regionals, the Big 12's hangin' bling. Five teams went in, and how four of them are hosting supers: TCU hosts Pepperdine, Oklahoma State welcomes Cal-Irvine, Texas Tech entertains College of Charleston, and for the second weekend in a row the Longhorns will have to beat an in-state rival twice as Houston rolls up 290 to Austin. That, my friends, is one half of the super regionals being played in Big 12 stadiums. Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has all the scoop on how awesome the Big 12 is, and our pals over at Frogs o' War have the #ToadToOmaha machine running in high gear. Really, with a catchphrase like that and those beautiful purple uniforms, we have to be on their side since we're not involved, right?

It's sometimes hard to get a grip on how well your track teams are actually doing. The systems are complex, the scoring is weird, and we don't exactly follow it that closely anyway. Right?

Well, here's how well the men did in Fayetteville last weekend: their performance caused them to jump ten spots in the final USTFCCCA rankings, leaping into the top 25 all the way up at $18. The women, who interestingly enough were also sitting in 28th last week, also slid into the poll at #25. What's this mean? Means K-State, as teams, might be able to make a little noise in Eugene next weekend.

By the way, and I am not saying this to bust on Kansas but to illustrate what numbers can do in the national championship, last year Kansas won the women's outdoor title. This year, Kansas is sending a total of six athletes, men and women. K-State is sending 14. KU sent 13 women to the nationals last year. So the chances of actually winning the thing are slim for the Wildcats. But it's a good sign that the teams might put up a respectable point total.

Terrell Smith of Vicksburg, Mississippi, was named Mississippi's Mister Track for 2014. Laurence Hilliard of the Vicksburg Clarion-Ledger talked to Smith and Clinton freshman Demi Washington, who was named Miss Track. Hilliard asked Smith, who's registered a 20.79 in the 200m, why he chose K-State, and what his goals are. Short version: run fast, win titles.

Grant Robbins has his assistant; K-State has hired Cullen Carstens, late of Jacksonville State, to be the new men's coach's right hand.