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Men’s Basketball
On Monday the athletic department announced that 2019-2020 recruit Goodnews Kpegeol will enroll at Kansas State early and will join Bruce Weber’s squad immediately. Though the 6-6 guard from Minneapolis is expected to redshirt, Weber says Kpegeol’s family decided it was in his best interests to leave prep school to get acclimated to college life and to get a jump-start on learning K-State’s system.
In what may be even better news, all-conference forward Dean Wade is out of the walking boot and may be able to rejoin the team soon. Since pain tolerance is the first major concern, nobody knows for certain when he may be able to practice and play again, but any positive progress is welcome.
Women’s Basketball
Jeff Mittie’s squad will commence conference play on the road tomorrow evening against No. 25 Iowa State. The women finished non-conference play strong and believe the win against Northern Iowa, particularly, helped them prepare for the rigors of the Big 12 schedule.
Football
Bison Illustrated’s Dan Slaubaugh interviewed former North Dakota State free safety Tre’ Dempsey about his time playing for Coach Klieman. He had nothing but glowing praise for the new K-State coach. As a sampling, here is Dempsey’s response to people who question whether Klieman can successfully make the jump from FCS to Power-5:
Well, I’d tell people who don’t think he can coach Power 5 to check his resume. Whether he was the defensive coordinator or head coach, every time he’s played a Power 5 at NDSU, he’s won. And after that, I’d say that the guy is just a football genius. I’ve witnessed him outsmart many coaches, and I’ve seen some of the schemes coaches run at Power 5 schools, and some of them are garbage; their athletes save them half the time from looking stupid. So when you give him these Power 5 athletes with his knowledge of the game, watch out.
If you read nothing else in today’s Slate, be sure to check out this interview.
Mack McClure at The Mercury interviewed Jordy Nelson when the Okland/Las Vegas/Limbo Raiders were in Kansas City Sunday. It appears reports that the Riley County High School and K-State wide receiver plans to retire appear are incorrect, as Nelson talked about this year’s struggles and what he hopes the team can do next season.