Slate: A Commit and Some Awards

In the midst of all the things happening around the country, we still have some actual #SPORTS things to bring you today.

Previously

We got our next installment of the Countdown to Kickoff, with a profile of #95 Elliott Strahm, a big dude from Sabetha, KS.

Drew also brought the exciting news that Chris Klieman and the Wildcats picked up a commit from a BIG wide receiver for the 2021 class.

Baseball

Back at the end of last week, head baseball coach Pete Hughes voiced his support for a major overhaul of the college baseball schedule (Black, Mercury), that would include moving the start of the season to March, and ending the season in July, as well as adding extra pre-season practice time. Player safety is a big driving force behind the proposal (more practice time under controlled conditions should help prevent in-season injuries), but the thought is a later start time could actually help many programs become “revenue” sports by putting more games during a time of year people actually want to be outside watching baseball, as well as reducing early season expense by northern teams.

For the second year in a row, K-State had a Freshman All-American on the mound. Last season, ace Jordan Wicks earned that honor, while this season, RSFR Connor McCullough earned the nod after posting a 2.25 ERA and a team-best 29 strikeouts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. His 29 strikeouts and 24 innings pitched ranked seventh and eighth in the Big 12, respectively, and were both tops among freshmen in the conference.

Basketball

Bruce Weber announced Monday that Mason Schoen, former Wildcat walk-on and graduate student manager, has been elevated to the role of video coordinator for the Wildcat men’s basketball team.

Frank Martin is one of the thousands to contract COVID-19, making the announcement on Tuesday that he tested positive for the virus early in May (Robinett, Eagle), but thankfully no one else in his family was infected and he only experienced minor symptoms.

Football

A couple weeks after making local headlines for a late-night arrest, it appears as though Samuel Wheeler will not be charged for offenses (at least at this time) (Fritchen, GoPowercat.com). It’s good news for Wheeler, at least on the public front. No word on how much “extra conditioning” he will be assigned by the football coaching staff.

Chris Klieman and Skylar Thompson both spoke out on Monday in support of the black memebers of K-State’s football team and their fight to end injustice (Black, Mercury). O-line coach Conor Riley has taken an even harder line, posting a lengthy, heartfelt note on social media and being very vocal about racial injustice since (Black, Mercury).

Other

K-State soccer player Katie Cramer and distance runner Ethan Powell were two of the 20 student-athletes selected by the Big 12 Conference to receive the 2019-20 Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarships, as announced by the conference on Monday.