Football
The first day of the early signing period for football is tomorrow, but the big news to start the week is that Kansas State star running back Deuce Vaughn has earned a nod on the AP’s All-American First Team as the team’s all-purpose back. Vaughn becomes the first Wildcat to earn a spot on the AP First Team since Jordy Nelson received the honor back in 2007 after his record-breaking season. The AP voters appear to value offensive production, overall yards, and total team impact more than the Big 12 voters, who foolishly selected Baylor’s Trestan Ebner in that same spot on the AP All-Big 12 First Team last week.
Speaking of recruiting, the Wildcats have added two big commits in the last week, with Pennsylvania offensive tackle prospect Jalen Klemm committing to K-State last week, and Oklahoma defensive end prospect Donovan Rieman committing to the Wildcats yesterday after receiving his offer. Rieman is an under-the-radar prospect from Enid, OK, and has drawn comparisons to former Wildcat Jordan Willis, as well as current Wildcat (and post-season honor snub) Felix Anudike-Uzomah.
As first confirmed by The Manhattan Mercury ($), senior defensive end Reed Godinet, along with another young man, was involved in a shooting late Sunday night at Tate’s Bar in Aggieville. Reports indicate that Godinet was injured by gunfire while attempting to disarm the shooter, and was taken to the Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan before being airlifted to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka for further treatment (pretty common in Manhattan, actually). The reports indicate that the shot was not life-threatening, and he was released from the hospital by Monday afternoon.
Basketball
These WeberCats are definitely not the WeberCats of the last couple years. A few days after losing a heartbreaker to Marquette, and down regular starter Mike McGuirl, the Wildcats shook off a slow start to pull away and put away the visiting Green Bay Phoenix on Sunday, 82-64. The win marks the second time this season that the Wildcats have breached the 80-point mark, which matches the total from the the 2019-20 season, and is better than the zero in 20-21 (heck, last year they had trouble breaking the 70-point mark). Sure, the competition isn’t great, but these Wildcats are still able to put up points, and that’s something that they struggled with the last couple years regardless of quality of opponent.
For the third straight week, one of the stellar freshman for the MittieCats has earned the Big 12’s Freshman of the Week honor. This week, Serena Sundell reclaimed the nod after letting teammate Brylee Glenn take the honor last week. Sundell picks up the award after averaging 14 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2.5 steals this past week as the Wildcats picked up two straight road wins, including a 79-73 win over a South Dakota State team that was picked to finish second in the tough Summit League, and are a regular NCAA Tournament participant.
It’s finals week at K-State, so all the Wildcats teams are off until this weekend. Next up for the WeberCats is a Sunday evening game against the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, while the MittieCats return to action on Saturday evening with a home game against Oregon, who made the Final Four in 2019 and a Sweet 16 run last year, but are just 7-3 so far this year and are unranked (at the moment). Head coach Jeff Mittie has purchased 1,000 tickets for Saturday’s game, and is offering them free to to fans first-come-first-served at the K-State ticket office beginning this morning.