Mailbag: Culprits of Kansas State football and basketball recruiting success

1. IS ISAIAH ELOHIM A REALISTIC TARGET FOR KANSAS STATE?

DY: Absolutely. We have shared that sentiment for a while on KSO, including in an article from months ago. Quickly upon receiving an offer from Kansas State, five-star guard Isaiah Elohim expressed immediate interest in the Wildcats.

The chances with him are far better, from my standpoint, than with Isaiah Abraham.

2. WHO IS THE NEXT BASKETBALL RECRUIT TO WATCH OUT FOR?

DY: Patrick Ngongba. A part of me is still surprised that he wasn’t the first commit for K-State. Virginia is doing their best to keep it interesting, though.

3. WHAT DOES WILL HOWARD DO AFTER THIS SEASON?

DY: If you’re asking if it may be his last season at Kansas State, I think it’s possible. It will be his fourth full year of college football. Staying on board for one more season would be exercising the extra year granted to Will Howard by the pandemic.

He very well may, but it still would be more of the exception.

4. OF THE REMAINING IN-STATE TARGETS IN 2024, WHO ARE YOU MOST CONFIDENT ABOUT HEADING TO K-STATE AND WHO HAVE YOU WRITTEN OFF?

DY: The only two remaining targets for K-State in the Sunflower State are Junction City linebacker Michael Boganowski and Lyndon offensive lineman Kaedin Massey. It’s not an exceptionally deep class. Kansas State has already landed John Price and Gus Hawkins.

I’m most confident about Boganowski but haven’t written off Massey.

5. WHO IS MORE LIKELY TO LEAD KANSAS STATE TO THEIR FIRST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BETWEEN JEROME TANG AND CHRIS KLIEMAN?

DY: Easy. Jerome Tang. Just look at college football. There’s no parity. K-State can win a national championship in basketball, though. It is impossible for anyone other than about 6-8 teams to win a national championship in college football. That number is larger in basketball.

6. WHO IS THE MOST IMPORTANT COG IN THE WHEEL OF K-STATE BASKETBALL RECRUITING?

DY: Easy. Jerome Tang. I know you’re meaning to ask about an assistant or a staffer, but Tang is the one that stirs the Kansas State drink. It’s hard to pinpoint anyone else specific to the cause or effort. Everyone brings something to the table and it is a pretty staff-wide operation.

Austin Carpenter does carry more of a load when it comes to recruiting than other phases, though.

Ben Sinnott/Kansas State Athletics

7. I HAVEN’T HEARD A LOT OF BEN SINNOTT HYPE IN THE SPRING. WON’T HE BE THE TRUE WR1 FOR WILL HOWARD THIS SEASON?

DY: There hasn’t been a lot of hype because none of the regular contributors took a lot of reps during spring ball, as is usually the case under K-State head coach Chris Klieman. In addition to that, Sinnott missed a portion of it while recovering and rehabbing an injury from the previous season.

However, yes, I would imagine that Ben Sinnott and Keagan Johnson are the main weapons for Will Howard.

8. WHAT WOULD YOU SET THE OVER/UNDER TOTAL FOR KANSAS STATE FOOTBALL WINS?

DY: 8. I wouldn’t place it at 7.5 because everyone would punch the over hard. 8.5 is probably a little too high for a Kansas State team that is replacing much of their star power that paved the way for a lot of their success a year ago.

I see the wheelhouse being between seven and nine wins next year.

9. WHAT HAS CHANGED IN FOOTBALL RECRUITING, THAT IN A FEW YEARS, K-STATE CHANGED FROM THAT SCHOOL THAT WAS OVERLOOKED BY THE MAJOR IN-STATE PROSPECTS TO ONE THAT IS SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED?

DY: It is a combination of having an already established culture, success on the field, staff continuity, further strengthened relationships with the right high school coaches and players as a product of that staff continuity and having a firm understanding of what they want to do and who they want to be.

K-State has a clear identity, a more fun brand of offensive football, defined roles of their operation with the right people in them and a more deeper understanding of their own school, program and athletic department and how it functions.

Because of that, it is an easier sell and now they have the results to back it up.

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