Winners and Losers: Kansas State makes cut for big-time targets

KSO covers the biggest winners and losers in the world of Kansas State and college athletics.

Winners

1.) High school hoops recruiting: It is picking up in Manhattan. After a quiet handful of months in the aftermath of securing four-star guard David Castillo and missing on five-star big man Patrick Ngongba, it has been quiet on the high school recruiting front for Kansas State. They weren’t being discussed much in regards to 2025 high school targets, particularly because a lot of the focus and energy was on assembling the 2024-2025 basketball roster via the transfer portal. The heat is coming, though. They have made two recent cuts – for both five-star guard Meleek Thomas and four-star wing Cam Ward.
2.) Fans: K-State football is just around the corner, and practice begins this week. The first one the media gets to see is the first portion on Thursday.
3.) QB selling points: Chris Klieman has additional recruiting ammunition when it comes to the quarterback position. We all know about Carson Wentz, Trey Lance and Easton Stick collecting NFL checks. But so too is former Kansas State quarterback Skylar Thompson. Two more can be added to the list, though one is instead a product of new assistant Matt Wells. After being named the UFL MVP, Adrian Martinez has signed with the New York Jets. Additionally, former Wells under-study Jordan Love just signed a massive deal with the Green Bay Packers.
4.) Longhorns: Texas could be getting an even better version of Steve Sarkisian now that he’s single.
5.) Ques: According to his social media bio that was revealed to me by basketball writer Kevin Sweeney, former K-State guard Ques Glover has found a new landing spot. After stints at Florida, Samford, BYU and Kansas State, he will be with Ohio State this season.

Losers

1.) Tallahassee: Nobody has been more aggressive, vocal or frustrated than Florida State when it comes to their current situation in college athletics. They are looking for any exit path possible. But they didn’t have the opportunity or flexibility at their disposal to notify the ACC of their intention to leave by the deadline and will instead remain in the conference at least through the 2025-2026 school year. Realignment probably isn’t finished, but it may be left to just simmer for a few more years.
2.) Oregon: The Ducks will still sign an elite class. Dan Lanning will probably win a national title in Eugene. But it hasn’t been a great few weeks on the recruiting trail after a sensational month of June. Receiver Isaiah Mozee is going to flip to Nebraska. LSU beat them for five-star cornerback DJ Pickett. Blue-chip tight end DaSaahn Brame flipped to Tennessee and long-time five-star lean Trey McNutt may get away to Texas A&M.
3.) Schedule: Not that it is anyone’s fault and just a product of how things must go sometimes, but it could be at least a month without college basketball in Bramlage Coliseum during the season. Depending on the conference schedule and where K-State begins league play, they will perhaps play only one home game in December and that is on the first of the month against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. With that being said, it is good to play as few home games as possible when the students are not in town.
4.) Demon Deacons: Wake Forest loves their safety commit Logan Bartley. But they could bee in danger of losing him. He recently visited Kansas State, and the Wildcats are full steam ahead on him.
5.) Roster limit conversation: New football roster limits will be set at 105, as agreed upon in the House vs NCAA settlement. Does that crush the walk-on programs at storied places such as K-State, Iowa, Nebraska and elsewhere? I don’t know, yet. Perhaps, because they were carrying more than 105 players. At the same time, it is also an opportunity for even more athletes to earn scholarships instead of beginning their college careers with no scholarship aid.

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