On The Trail: Kansas State Wildcats

Defensive tackle C.J. Reese (San Antonio/Madison) reconfirmed his April commitment to Kansas State with all-points-bulletin text message Wednesday afternoon to the media masses.

“I’m done with my recruiting,” Reese texted. “I’m 100 percent with Kansas State.”

That message serves as a sigh of relief for Wildcats fans who may have originally thought Reese’s verbal was soft rather than solid. Now, the 6-foot-2, 260-pound defensive lineman is doing two things -- working on becoming a better player during the spring and positioning himself as an unofficial player/recruiter for Kansas State. Reese is targeting one player in particular to join him in Manhattan, Kan., if given the chance.


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Recruiting pitches: Big 12

May, 10, 2013
May 10
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Inspired by Florida's "#ComePlayWRFortheJoker" campaign, our recruiting writers looked at other ways schools can sell themselves on the trail. Here's a look at recruiting pitches for the Big 12:

Baylor Bears
What they’re selling: The new 45,000-seat, $250-million on-campus stadium that will open in 2014. Recruiting is an arms race, and players like fancy stadiums and locker rooms, and Baylor’s upgrade puts them finally on the same level playing field as everybody else in the Big 12.
What they're missing: Help on defense -- specifically at defensive line and defensive back.

Iowa State Cyclones
What they’re selling: Paul Rhoads. He grew up miles from the campus and has helped turn around Iowa State with a physical and fundamentally sound style of football.
What they're missing: A true home-run threat at receiver.

Kansas Jayhawks
What they’re selling: Charlie Weis. He’s taken risks (juco infusion), repaired relationships with area high school coaches and widened KU’s recruiting pool.
What they're missing: Wins. When you’ve won only one conference game in three years, a little bit of everything is missing.

Kansas State Wildcats
What they’re selling: Bill Synder. The plan has worked for years in Manhattan. K-State doesn’t care how many stars a player has attached to his name, a player only earns an offer from K-State unless Snyder personally signs off on it after a lengthy review. It’s a plan that produced a No. 1 BCS ranking and a Big 12 championship in 2012.
What’s missing: I’ve been told by coaches for years that the most difficult position to recruit is defensive tackle. That’s why you often see even average defensive tackles rack up double-digit offers, and finding good depth at defensive tackle has been very difficult to do at K-State.

Oklahoma Sooners
What they’re selling: Oklahoma is proud of its football tradition, and few schools can match the Sooners’ track record for success, facilities and ability to prepare you for the next level.
What they're missing: A renewed focus on evaluating players. It’s what differentiated Bob Stoops’ staff when they started, and it’s how they found players like Sam Bradford, Josh Heupel, Juaquin Iglesias and Donald Stephenson. All at the time were considered to be three-star recruits but wound up being impact players for the Sooners.

Oklahoma State Cowboys
What they’re selling: Their ability to evaluate and develop offensive talent.
What they're missing: Elite players in the Lone Star State. With the best facilities in the conference, it might be just enough to get kids to visit.

Texas Longhorns
What they’re selling: Few in the nation can offer up the type of atmosphere, fan base, tradition and total student-athlete package like Texas can.
What they're missing: A true a difference-maker at quarterback. The last two Heisman Trophy winners have come from Texas high schools, and the Longhorns didn’t recruit one heavily and recruited the other as an athlete.

TCU Horned Frogs
What they’re selling: The Horned Frogs recruit to their style of smash-mouth play on both sides of the ball and don’t care how many stars a recruit has. It hurts them some in the recruiting rankings, but it helps them win a lot of ball games.
What they're missing: BCS conference depth. Heading into their second season in the Big 12 after a 7-6 season, the biggest thing the Horned Frogs need to do is to build the roster to be able to compete year in and year out in the BCS conference.

Texas Tech Red Raiders
What they’re selling: The Red Raiders went through a transition that brought Kliff Kingsbury to Lubbock, and the early reception has been nothing short of positive.
What they're missing: The Red Raiders have never had issues putting up points on people, but under Tommy Tuberville and Mike Leach there was little defense being played.

West Virginia Mountaineers
What they’re selling: WVU is a force in the Atlantic region, can recruit well in Pennsylvania and is arguably one of the best schools at identifying offensive talent in the JC ranks.
What they're missing: The 2014 class will have to be all about rebuilding in Morgantown, as the needs are mounting while several impact players have moved on.
After garnering new interest last week, Elijah Lee (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) has fielded a couple of questions about his commitment to Kansas State. The three-star outside linebacker committed to the Wildcats on March 26, but he’s landed two Big Ten offers since then that have made him further weigh his options in the recruiting game.

For those wondering if Kansas State is in jeopardy of losing him, Lee is the first to squash any potential rumors.


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Weekly Commitment Roundup

May, 3, 2013
May 3
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ACC
Florida State
Alec Eberle | OG |Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee
HT: 6-4 WT: 271
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

N.C. State
Michael Till |TE-Y |Upper Marlboro, Md./Wise
HT: 6-5 WT: 260
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

North Carolina
Brandon Fritts |TE-H |Mentor, Ohio/Mentor
HT: 6-4 WT: 210
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Pittsburgh
Connor Hayes |OG |Traverse City, Mich./West
HT: 6-4 WT: 270
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Virginia Tech
Travon McMillian |ATH |Woodbridge, Va./Hylton
HT: 5-11 WT: 186
Position Rank: #41 ATH
Stars: 4

Big 12
Baylor
Josh Pelzel |OT |Rockdale, Texas/Rockdale
HT: 6-7 WT: 334
Position Rank: #31 OT
Stars: 3

Chad President |ATH |Temple, Texas/Temple
HT: 6-3 WT: 195
Class of 2015

Kansas State
Sam Sizelove | OLB | Argyle, Texas/Argyle
HT: 6-2 WT: 229
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Texas Tech
Derrick Neal | ATH | Dallas/Lincoln
HT: 5-10 WT: 155
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Big East
Rutgers
Peter Mokwuah | DT | Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph By The Sea
HT: 6-4 WT: 304
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Big Ten
Illinois
Chayce Crouch | QB-PP | Newark, Ohio/Newark Catholic
HT: 6-4 WT: 215
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Michigan
Juwann Bushell-Beatty | OT | Paramus, N.J./Catholic
HT: 6-7 WT: 330
Position Rank: #10 OT
Stars: 4
ESPN 150 (120)
Under Armour All-American

Minnesota
Dimonic McKinzy | ATH | Kansas City, Kan./Wyandotte
HT: 6-0 WT: 215
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Steven Richardson | DT | Chicago/Mount Carmel
HT: 5-11 WT: 280
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Pac-12
Arizona State
Avery Anderson | ATH | Colorado Springs, Colo./Pine Creek
HT: 6-0 WT: 166
Class of 2015

Oregon
Morgan Mahalak | QB-PP | Kentfield, Calif./Marin Catholic
HT: 6-3 WT: 185
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Stanford
Christian McCaffrey | ATH | Highlands Ranch, Colo./Valor Christian
HT: 6-0 WT: 195
Position Rank: #34 ATH
Stars: 4

USC
Michael Wyche | DT | Monterey Park, Calif./East Los Angeles College
HT: 6-4 WT: 325
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Washington State
Marcus Griffin | DT | Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue
HT: 6-3 WT: 285
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

SEC
Georgia
Sony Michel | RB | Plantation, Fla./American Heritage
HT: 5-11 WT: 194
Position Rank: #2 RB
Stars: 4
ESPN 150 (16)

Kentucky
Tymere Dubose | DT | Youngstown, Ohio/Youngstown Christian
HT: 6-5 WT: 245
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Darryl Long | TE-Y | Westerville, Ohio/Westerville
HT: 6-5 WT: 217
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Missouri
Thomas Richard | WR | Nashville, Tenn./Chris Presbyterian
HT: 6-0 WT: 181
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

South Carolina
Kalan Ritchie |TE-Y |Goose Creek, S.C./Goose Creek
HT: 6-6 WT: 226
Position Rank: #10 TE-Y
Stars: 3

Tennessee
Orlando Brown Jr. |OT |Duluth, Ga./Peachtree Ridge
HT: 6-8 WT: 348
Position Rank: #25 OT
Stars: 3

Kameel Jackson |WR |Arlington, Texas/Blinn College
HT: 6-0 WT: 200
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Vanderbilt
Mikale Wilbon |RB |Chicago/De La Salle
HT: 5-9 WT: 186
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Independents / Misc.
Boise State
Greg Gaines |DT |La Habra, Calif./La Habra
HT: 6-1 WT: 297
Position Rank: N/A
Stars: Evaluation Pending

Notre Dame
Elijah Hood |RB |Charlotte, N.C./Catholic
HT: 6-0 WT: 220
Position Rank: #8 RB
Stars: 4
ESPN 150 (49)

Quenton Nelson |OG |Red Bank, N.J./Catholic
HT: 6-5 WT: 289
Position Rank: #19 OG
Stars: 4

Texas DB Wilson says yes to K-State 

April, 29, 2013
Apr 29
10:40
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With fewer than 700 students, Argyle (Texas) High School isn’t one of the biggest schools in Texas. Argyle, however, is producing FBS talent on the football field. Late Sunday, a third member of the 2014 class announced his commitment.

Safety Connor Wilson, who said he officially committed to Kansas State on Wednesday, is the Wildcats’ first recruit in the secondary and will join teammate Sam Sizelove, a linebacker who committed during Saturday’s spring game.


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K-State picks up Texas LB Sizelove 

April, 27, 2013
Apr 27
6:37
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Texas has been a recruiting hot spot for Kansas State for years, and on Saturday -- immediately following the school's spring game -- the Wildcats added one more Texan to their recruiting resume.

Linebacker Sam Sizelove (Argyle, Texas/Argyle) gave the Kansas State coaching staff his commitment Saturday afternoon. He became the sixth reported commitment for the Wildcats and the third player from the Lone Star State to commit to the reigning Big 12 co-champion.


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ESPN 150 OT in no rush to commit 

April, 23, 2013
Apr 23
6:55
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ESPN 150 offensive tackle Roderick Johnson (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) had his spring game invitations this past week. His mind, however, is focused on helping his track and field team get as many accolades as possible.

Johnson is a thrower for Hazelwood Central, and while interested schools such as Missouri and Arkansas held spring games on Saturday, he was participating in a track meet in Kansas.

“We had a meet at KU. It was my first time going,” Johnson said. “It was a good experience.

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A new option for K-State commit? 

April, 21, 2013
Apr 21
5:58
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Although committed to Kansas State, offensive tackle Robert Castaneda (Round Rock, Texas/Round Rock) ultimately will have a big decision to make.

After taking in the Texas Tech spring game -- an experience he gave the highest marks -- Castaneda said the Red Raiders are high on his recruiting list. Castaneda was one of the estimated 16,000-plus in attendance in Lubbock, Texas, for Saturday’s game, and he, his father and his younger brother all enjoyed the atmosphere and being around coaches and past, present and future Red Raiders.


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Weekly Commitment Roundup 

April, 19, 2013
Apr 19
8:00
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A look at this week's notable commitments:

ACC
Boston College
Thadd Smith ATH Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara

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LB Detric Dukes makes the call 

April, 15, 2013
Apr 15
6:40
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After visiting the campus of a prominent Big East program last weekend, Detric Dukes (Tucker, Ga./Tucker) had seen enough. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound linebacker decided Monday to make the call and end his recruitment.


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Kansas State adds Texas DE Reese 

April, 15, 2013
Apr 15
12:03
PM ET
Defensive end C.J. Reese (San Antonio/Madison) hoped one day he’d put on a Big 12 uniform. On Monday, that idea became a signature away from reality.

Reese verbally committed to Kansas State on Monday morning. A 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive end, Reese chose the Wildcats over offers from Colorado, SMU and Nevada.


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It was a different feeling this time around for North Richland Hills (Texas) Birdville running back Xavier Turner at Oklahoma.

Turner made his first trip to OU last year for the spring game as a virtual unknown who hoped to earn some recognition. Turner made another trip to Norman, Okla., this weekend and felt a lot more comfortable.

His goal was to leave OU’s spring game with an offer. That didn’t happen, but it was key for Turner and OU running backs coach Cale Gundy to reconnect and Turner said he feels good about his situation going forward.

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With Sunday’s announcement of Markel Smith (St. Louis/St. John Vianney) decommitting from Missouri, the Tigers were left without a running back in this class -- at least for now.


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ESPN Watch List offensive lineman Ty Barrett (Dallas/Skyline) is a major target on multiple big boards around the country. He has 17 offers and picked up his latest offer from a Big 12 program Friday evening.


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Weekly commitment roundup 

March, 29, 2013
Mar 29
8:05
AM ET
ACC
Boston College
Isaac Yiadom WR Worcester, Mass./Doherty
HT: 6-foot-0 WT: 170 pounds

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