SLATE: Why, yes, Bill Snyder WILL still be coaching in 2023

Yesterday, because Bill Snyder had discussed his future plans in an interview, KSUEMAW! led the Slate with this headline:

So, um, yeah. Apparently, he will be, since yesterday K-State announced that Snyder had signed a new five-year contract which will carry him through the 2022 season. Of course, perhaps he won’t still be coaching in 2023 if K-State plays in a December 2022 bowl and he retires immediately afterward. (And there’s no guarantee he’ll fulfill the entirety of the contract, of course.) Still, we’re going to take credit for calling our shot yesterday.

The contract replaces the annual rollover deal Snyder has been on for the past several years, and pays out $3.45 million in year one, with a pair of $300K raises in each of the next two years. That means in 2020 Snyder will be making a cool four million a year, at which point the compensation portion of the contract is renegotiable.

The new contract retains the same language which provides Snyder “input” into naming his replacement.

Surprisingly, that news was the only real news of the day, although we’ve got some undercard goodies for you. Before we get to those, however, we’ll point you to yesterday’s countdown, wherein BracketCat profiles #23, running back Mike McCoy — and also this morning’s early edition, the first of two countdown pieces this fine Friday, which features linebacker Daniel Green at #22.

The Eagle’s Hayden Barber reports on safety Denzel Goolsby as he prepares for what could be a breakout season, and the route he’s taken to get here.

Suzanne Halliburton of the Austin American-Statesman is touring the Big 12’s triplets, but K-State’s swirling personnel questions made yesterday’s installment a little difficult. Her best guess: Alex Delton, Alex Barnes, and Dalton Schoen.

Basketball

In today’s Sports Extra, Corbin McGuire reports on Pierson McAtee’s trip to Europe which begins today. McAtee will be spending a week in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands with Global Sports Academy.

Golf

He’s nowhere near the top of the actual leaderboard — tied for 62nd, seven strokes off the lead at 1-over — but former Wildcat Ben Kern does have a distinction of note following the opening round of the PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis: he’s leading the club pro leaderboard. Per Ryan Black at the Mercury, Kern’s score puts him ahead of some much more recognizable names — including the reigning holder of the green jacket.

If Kern doesn’t lose any ground today, he’ll make the cut.

Volleyball

Yesterday’s Sports Extra saw McGuire tackling the story of freshman Gloria Mutiri, who spent a few days not far from her hometown of Sand Springs as she participated in the USA High Performance Championships event in Tulsa. We don’t get too deep in the weeds on volleyball recruiting around here, but we should make you aware Mutiri was a great get for Suzie Fritz — she was a second-team All-American as a senior at Charles Page High School.

Tomorrow night is the Purple-White game, and next Friday night the team will head to Omaha for an exhibition against Creighton. A week after that, they’ll be in Hawai’i for the opening of the regular season: the Texaco Rainbow Wahine Invitational against UCLA, Hawai’i, and Gonzaga.

Track and Field

Terrell Smith will be in Toronto this weekend at the NACAC Championships as a member of Team USA. You can watch the meet live and free via Athletics Canada starting at 9:00 AM.

Other

K-State’s announced a new mobile app-based reward program called Powercat Perks. You get points for attending home games and spending money at concessions and the K-State Super Store, and you can spend those points on select tickets, merch, and other stuff.