SLATE: Byron Pringle gettin’ paid

The Chiefs love Byron Pringle. His teammates even pressed Andy Reid to get him more involved in the offense before the Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay.

They showed that love yesterday, signing the former Kansas State wideout as reported by Charles Goldman at ChiefsWire. Pringle inked a one-year restricted free-agent deal which will pay him $2.133M. It’s a non-guaranteed deal, and that it’s only one year indicates that Pringle is probably going to have to have a career year to remain in the red and white in 2022. But it’s a pretty nice payday.

Oliver Hodgkinson at Pro Football Network previews the draft prospects of Elijah Sullivan. He expects the linebacker to sign as an undrafted free-agent somewhere, but allows for a potential late-round pick.

One last bit of football business, as Valdosta (Ga.) three-star wide receiver Tajh Sanders whittled down his recruitment to five teams: Florida State, Miami, Mississippi State, Kentucky, and... Kansas State. Hmmmm. (Story from Josh Newberg and Fletcher Keel of, respectively, Florida State’s 247 site and WCTV in Thomasville, Ga.)

Basketball

On Wednesday, Southeastern Louisiana officially announced that Antonio Gordon will join the Lions for the 2021-22 season.

Meanwhile, Bruce Weber took time this week to discuss his new arrivals for next season, the spring practice results, and the return of Martavious Murphy.

Golf

The Wildcat men had a painful final round at the Big 12 championships at Prairie Dunes in Hutchinson, finishing 6-over on the day for a total score of +54 for the tournament. The good news is that West Virginia and Iowa State were even worse Wednesday, allowing K-State to remain in eighth place overall. The bad news is they lost another six strokes to Kansas, which shot even par to take seventh.

Oklahoma State won the title, finishing 45 shots ahead of the Cats at +9. Cole Hammer of Texas won the individual crown, shooting a -4 over the course of the tournament and claiming a one-stroke win over Oklahoma State’s Bo Jin and Oklahoma’s Quade Cummins. Riccardo Leo and Luke O’Neill, tied for 29th at +14, were K-State’s best finishers; Tim Tillmans tied for 32nd a shot back of the pair.

Baseball

K-State’s 12-game homestand ends this weekend as they host Texas Southern (10-28) for a three-game series to finish off the 2021 non-conference schedule. The big news: Pete Hughes has shaken up the rotation for the weekend. Connor McCullough will draw the game one start at 6:00 tonight. Jordan Wicks will go Saturday at 4:00, and Sunday’s 1:00 start will see Kasey Ford (3-0, 1.56 ERA) finally getting to take the hill for the first pitch. As always at home, all three games will air on ESPN+.

Track and Field

The Wildcats will divide their forces this weekend as the distance runners and pole vaulters head to Lawrence for the Rock Chalk Classic today and tomorrow while everyone else will be in College Station on Saturday for the Texas A&M Alumni Muster. Meanwhile, the Wildcat women have vaulted into the USTFCCCA Top 20 at #17, joining Big 12 rivals Texas (#4) and Texas Tech (#8).