Quietly in November of 2014, Xavier Kelly of East High School in Wichita committed to Kansas State, and became the first player in their 2016 recruiting class.
Today I committed to K-STATE! So excited to be apart of the FAMILY! I feels good to be a WILDCAT!!
— xavier kelly (@xavierkelly22) November 30, 2014
Kelly, a 6'5" 250 lbs defensive end, is ranked as a four-star prospect by 247sports, while Rivals has Kelly listed as a three star. Both services have him ranked as the second best player in Kansas behind Isaiah Simmons, a safety out of Olathe, KS. 247sports composite ranking has him marked at .8889, which would have placed him as the best player of the 2015 class.
Currently, his offers include: Texas Tech, Nebraska and as of today, Oregon.
Oregon called and offered East's Xavier Kelly today - K-State commit is 6-5, 240-lb DE/TE #vkscores
— Tony Adame (@t_adame) February 14, 2015
From the very first highlight on his hudl.com video, Kelly shows his freak athleticism, blowing past the lineman, throwing off the running-back with his shoulder and then chasing down the quarterback from behind. Then at the 48 second mark, Kelly throws down a monster reverse dunk. In more than one highlight you can see Kelly play the zone-read perfectly, as he reads the hand off and makes the tackle on either the running back or quarterback. Clearly, Kelly already has the athleticism to play at a Big 12 level. Oh, and did I mention he's only a junior in these highlights?
With another year still to go before he sets foot on a college campus, I fully expect Kelly to improve his strength and skill at the defensive end position and could see him as a contributor as a true freshman.