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Football
National Signing Day for the 2022 class is next Wednesday, but that doesn’t mean that Kansas State isn’t already looking ahead to 2023. And the 2023 Class kicked off with a bang yesterday, as Camden Beebe, a 6’3” 300lbs OL from Piper HS in Kansas City, KS, gave his verbal commitment to the Wildcats. Beebe is currently a 3-star recruit, and saw interest from around the region, but chose instead to join his brother Cooper at K-State.
The Wildcats also picked up several commitments from preferred walk-ons yesterday, but none bigger than another recent legacy, this one from Lawrence, as Jet Dineen, younger brother of Jax, has elected to join his brother and walk-on at K-State. The Dineen’s are a very deep KU family, and Jax made big waves in late 2018 when he decided to commit to new head coach Chris Klieman instead of walking on at KU. Now Jet is joining the train to Manhattan, and the prospective defensive back is one that could earn a scholarship sooner than later.
Skylar Thompson and Russ Yeast are set to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl on Thursday, with Thompson at QB for the West squad, and Yeast at safety/nickle for the East. That game, being played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, can be seen on the NFL Network at 7pm. But Skylar got some bigger news yesterday, as according to his Instagram story, he has received an invite to the NFL Combine in early March.
Basketball
The Los Angeles Athletic Club announced the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s Late Season Top 20 Watch List, and of course Wildcats star Ayoka Lee made the list. This puts her in prime position for the final National Ballot of 15 players that will be sent out to voters later this season. Of course, the Wildcats need to keep winning, and Lee needs to keep playing well, and that continues tomorrow as the MittieCats start the second half of their conference slate as they head to Ames looking for revenge after their loss back in early January. The 6:30pm contest, on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, features two teams vying for the top spot in the Big 12, with Iowa State sitting in a tie for 1st with Oklahoma, and K-State sitting in a tie for 3rd with Baylor just one game back of the leaders.
The men are also back in action on Wednesday, with an 8pm game against Oklahoma State in Bramlage on ESPNU. No preview yet from the AD. Mark Smith had a big game against Mississippi, but the Wildcats need other contributors to step up if they want to have any more success this season.