Mailbag: Kansas State about to close on their top targets?

1.) Is K-State still the team to beat for Linkon Cure with Texas A&M “surging?”

From the start of his recruitment to now, Kansas State has been the perceived leader in Goodland five-star Linkon Cure’s recruitment. Now the highly-sought tight end is halfway through his official visits. He has been to Kansas and Texas A&M. The remaining visits are to Oregon (this weekend) and K-State (next weekend). It was also thought that if anybody was a close second, it might be Oregon heading into Cure’s OVs.

It has been reported in some places that the Aggies are “surging” in the recruitment. It makes sense, Collin Klein is the offensive coordinator now and has a good relationship with Cure. The allure of the SEC can also play a part. But it is good to remember that the K-State lead has been perceived as large. I have no reason to think K-State is trailing. And until DY or Drew starts to panic, nobody else should either. This staff has proven to be able to close their top targets over the last few seasons.

2.) How many more commitments will K-State add before July?

I will amend this and slide 4th of July into the time frame, since that tends to be a big commitment weekend. As I am writing this the Cats have landed Sawyer Schilke, a defensive end from Nebraska.

The current class sits at seven commitments. The way Kansas State is trending, I have no doubt the Wildcats will be in double digits. Maybe one or two more trickle in after this weekend’s wave of official visits. The exciting time could come after next weekend though, that will be when the aforementioned Cure will visit and it may not be long after he comes to Manhattan that he makes his destination known.

If I had to ballpark a number, I think the Wildcats go from seven commits to at least 12 by the 4th of July.

3.) Who are the top three coaches on Fraud Watch this season?

The leader in the clubhouse and inspiration for Fraud Watch is Baylor’s Dave Aranda. The Bears just don’t frighten me and the Big 12 Championship seems like anomaly at this point. If Aranda can’t capitalize on Toledo quarterback transfer Dequan Finn, his fraud status will be cemented.

This is a big year for Sonny Dykes at TCU. Year one the Frogs rolled to the National Championship game, 2023 didn’t go so well. TCU struggled to a 5-7 record and losing established quarterback Max Duggan proved a problem. Success will be dictated by how well Dykes and his staff can get Josh Hoover up to speed as a signal caller.

Deion Sanders is the third name on here. He might be king of the frauds after swindling a large portion of the country and the Colorado Athletic Department into thinking he was a good Power 4 football coach. What makes 2024 so pivotal for Sanders is that there is a real chance he never has the top end talent like he does this year with his son, Shedeur, and Travis Hunter, ever again.

Other names to keep in mind are Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire and Gus Malzahn at UCF. Outside of the Big 12, Lincoln Riley has to be dangerously close to being dropped a tier in his status of college football coaches.

4.) More rushing yards for K-State: Avery Johnson & Dylan Edwards or DJ Giddens?

I love this question. Kansas State will certainly be spoiled this season with options in the run game. Last season DJ Giddens ran for just over 1,200 yards. I would pencil him in for that total again this year. Treshaun Ward and Will Howard/Avery Johnson combined for almost 1,300 yards.

Based on my rudimentary math and the idea that Johnson, who has better running ability than Howard, will touch the ball more that boosts the Sedgwick County duo’s chances. Dylan Edwards will get the ball in some different ways than Ward though, passing game and return game.

It might be close, but I think I will take Johnson and Edwards by a hair over Giddens. Either way you slice it, I think the Wildcats run for 3,000 yards this season as a team. Only three times in K-State history has that been done(2002, 2003, 2016).

5.) Which corporate partner would you choose for Big 12 naming rights?

For those that haven’t heard, the Big 12 is exploring a naming rights partner for the conference. On3’s Andy Staples wrote about that move here.

In a world where money is even more important for making decisions, it is much harder for the Big 12 and ACC to come by it. If the deal is lucrative enough, Brett Yormark should make it happen.

The route to go is finding someone who is flush with cash, but will also boast their partnership with you. Buc-ees or Quik Trip would make sense. Everyone thinks the Big 12 is a truck stop league anyways (no trucks at Buc-ees though) and those two brands certainly don’t lack for marketing.

Outside the box thinking would be to sell the naming rights to one of your TV partners. Squeeze more money out of them and guarantee yourself airtime outside of just live games. It also might secure long-term TV rights. Maybe the right partner is the ESPN-FOX-Warner Brothers sports streaming service that is coming, Venu Sports 12? Good, early marketing for platforms that the Big 12 will be playing games on for years to come.

Selfishly, get a cool sponsor like Nike or Titleist and give the media nice gear at Media Days in July and October.

6.) Would you trade any transfer addition for their position equivalent on last year’s basketball roster?

K-State has completed its 2024-2025 basketball roster with the addition of Coleman Hawkins. Jerome Tang and staff landed four top-60 transfers in the On3 Industry Ranking.

There is only one player that I would consider swapping out for the members of this transfer class, and it is Tylor Perry. I know, I can hear some of the groans now.

But Perry was forced into a position that he shouldn’t have been in and he still found his way by the end of the year trying to will the team to the NCAA Tournament, as unlikely as that was. The easy switch would be a guy like Max Jones, but I think Jones is the right kind of secondary guard for K-State. He will have the ability to go out and make some plays occasionally.

I would entertain swapping Perry for Brendan Hausen, just because it would have been nice to see Perry in spot where he didn’t have to play 40 minutes a game and be the main ball handler and only shooting threat.

I wouldn’t want any of the outgoing transfers over what K-State has brought in.

7.) Condiment Mt. Rushmore?

Lots of great info was in the Coleman Hawkins thread started by On3’s Joe Tipton last week, most of it revolved around condiments since the Illinois transfer waited a few days to make a decision after his visit.

I am a condiment connoisuer, I have tried many and think I have a pretty good idea of most of the notable options out there.

Mayo
A classic sauce that basically sets up life for almost every other good sauce in the world. Sandwich, burger, fries, not a hot dog though.

Mustard
I don’t discriminate against any kind of mustard. It is all good and serves many different purposes. If you had asked me when I was 11, I would have said honey mustard was my favorite. I might lean toward a stone ground at this point.

Cane’s Sauce
If it wasn’t for this stuff, there would be zero reason to go to Cane’s. The chicken is okay, but nothing special. The fries aren’t good unless doused in some kind of sauce. Cane’s Sauce is like Dirk on the 2011 Mavs, carrying a bunch of average to below average pieces with it to glory.

Blackened Ranch – Popeyes
My freshman year the Popeyes in Aggieville was newly opened. I had never once had it, but they had a killer student deal so my floormates and I frequented it. The best indicator of how good it is, is that every Popeyes I have lived near since college will have moments where they are all out of it. After the second semester started we started adorning the walls of one of my friends’ room in Goodnow Hall with the tray papers from our visits. A very freshman in college move. You make the Popeyes trip that night? You get to sign the paper. Many times after frustrating Bruce Weber losses in 2017 we wrote “fire Bruce” on them.

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