SLATE: Tang already hitting heavy on the recruiting trail

Basketball

Jerome Tang and his staff have not wasted their time at K-State so far, and and have not only quickly put together a competent roster for 2022 that should be “fun to watch”, but have now secured the verbal commitments of two Top 100 players (any service) for the first time since 2009, when Wally Judge and Rodney McGruder signed with Frank Martin. Joining Top 50 player Dai Dai Ames with his announcement yesterday is RJ Jones, a 6’3 guard out of Texas. Jones, a 4-star recruit, is a Top 70 player nationally, and the 4th-best prospect out of Texas for the 2023 class. Jones picked K-State over offers from Boise State, Cal, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M, all schools he had visited prior to committing to K-State, as well as a slew of other offers from across the country. While he’s a native Texan, Jones will play his final season of HS ball at Wasatch Academy in Utah.

Football

After hitting on all cylinders through the month of July, the Kansas State recruiting staff didn’t stop with the start of August and fall camp. On Thursday, Coach Klieman and the Cats picked up two more commits for the 2023 class. First up was defensive lineman Asher Tomaszewski, a 6’4 275lb true d-tackle from Mt. Carmel in Chicago who will be expected to join the ranks at nose guard next season. Tomaszewski was identified by Joe Klanderman, and received his offer at the same camp that also saw offers to current K-State commits Ryan Davis, Austin Romaine, RJ Lester, and Chiddi Obiazor (I’d say that was a productive camp). Tomaszewski, a 2-star recruit, chose K-State over a slew of offers from upper-Midwest schools and Navy.

Then the Cats added a preferred walk-on in kicking specialist Simon McClannan, who will come to K-State out of Millard South in Omaha. McClannan is rated as the #22 kicker and #19 punter by Kohl’s Kicking, the industry leader for specialist evaluations. He chose to walk-on at K-State over a similar offer from Nebraska (LOL), as well as scholarship offers from South Dakota and South Dakota State. He’ll likely be expected to replace Ty Zentner once the Ray Guy Award watch-list athlete exhausts his eligibility at the conclusion of this season.

Soccer

The K-State athletics season is officially open with the start of preseason action from K-State soccer. The fútbol Cats took a 1-0 win over Missouri State on Saturday in a match with modified rules. K-State’s goal came in the second minute off the foot of Adah Anderson thanks to a deep assist from Kursten von Klahr. Next up will be an exhibition match against Wyoming in Laramie on Wednesday, before the regular season commences on Thursday, August 18th with a home match versus those other purple Wildcats.

Track & Field

#HighJumpU struck again the the Commonwealth Games this weekend, as former Wildcat Kimberly Williamson nabbed a bronze medal for Jamaica in the women’s high jump on Saturday (Aug. 6th). Williamson cleared a height of 1.92m/6-3.50 on her second attempt to earn the third-place medal, and her efforts put two Jamaicans on the medal stand as her teammate Lamara Distin captured the gold medal with a mark of 1.95m/6-4.75 on her first attempt. Williamson was a 4-time All American for K-State during her career from 2014-2016, capping her collegiate career by winning the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championship.