Kansas State men’s basketball signs three recruits

The Kansas State men’s basketball team signed three recruits on Wednesday.

Mike McGuirl, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Manchester, Conn., will bolster K-State’s backcourt. He did a little bit of everything in high school last year, averaging 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and four blocks on a team that won a state championship.

He earned all-conference and all-state honors as a junior and orally committed to K-State following a recruiting visit to the school in September.

K-State’s other new recruits will provide a boost inside.

Levi Stockard, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound center from St. Louis, may remind fans of senior forward D.J. Johnson. Both players have similar bodies, and both players are from St. Louis.

Stockard averaged 12 points and seven rebounds as a junior for Vashon High and chose K-State over Xavier.

He will play alongside Nigel Shadd, a 6-foot-9, 237-pound forward from Chandler, Ariz.

Shadd received little recruiting attention from major-conference schools, choosing K-State over a host of mid-majors. Shadd averaged 18.5 points, 14 rebounds and 3.9 blocks as a junior at Tri-City Christian Academy.

“We felt like we needed to get more athleticism in this class with the graduation of both Wes (Iwundu) and D.J. (Johnson),” K-State coach Bruce Weber said in a Thursday release announcing the signing of Shadd and McGuirl. “Nigel brings a lot of the same qualities as D.J., with his athleticism and physicality in the low post, but is a little more skilled at this point in his development. Mike is a great compliment to both Barry (Brown) and Kamau (Stokes) in our program as he can play both spots. He’s not only a talented 3-point shooter, but a very adept ball handler.”

Rivals.com rates all three of K-State’s new signees as three-star prospects.

McGuirl, Stockard and Shadd signed with K-State on the first day of the fall early signing period. The Wildcats have one available scholarship remaining for the 2017 class, which they hope to use on another recruit or transfer during the late signing period.

This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Kansas State men’s basketball signs three recruits."