Kansas State coach Bruce Weber looking to add seven players in 2020 recruiting cycle
Anyone that thought Bruce Weber’s recruiting focus might shift to the future after Kansas State added a fifth member to its batch of incoming basketball players will need to think again.
Weber is still looking to land more prospects during the 2020 recruiting cycle.
“We will probably try to get another big,” Weber said, “and then we will decide about a wing.”
That plan comes as a minor surprise given that K-State is currently projected to be one over the scholarship limit next season following the signings of Nijel Pack, Selton Miguel, Luke Kasubke and Davion Bradford. UTEP transfer Kaosi Ezeagu also committed to the Wildcats on Monday.
In order to make room for two additional recruits, the Wildcats will need to open up three scholarships after Xavier Sneed, Makol Mawien and Pierson McAtee run out of eligibility this season. K-State previously lost St. Louis guard Shaun Williams to the transfer portal last month, which created a short-term roster spot for Ezeagu.
Weber is apparently expecting multiple K-State players to transfer or turn pro at the end of the season. That’s why he is still actively searching for an extra big man and a recruit versatile enough to play both forward positions.
“That is what we have looked at,” Weber said. “When you get Antonio (Gordon) and Montavious (Murphy) hurt or sick now we have got no one to play there. Right now you’ve got Xavier (Sneed), who can do it, but then we are limited numbers wise with guards. That would be the only thing, to get somebody that could play that three or the four and possibly another big.”
It’s unclear which current K-State players might look to play elsewhere next season, but the Wildcats are recruiting as if they expect to need an infusion of size down low. Sophomore forward Nigel Shadd hasn’t played in a game this season and junior forward James Love has only played in one, which would seem to make them both transfer candidates.
If anyone on the K-State roster looks to turn pro early in the spring, Cartier Diarra seems like the primary candidate. The junior is averaging 12.1 points and 5.7 assists. This his fourth year in Manhattan after redshirting with an injury his first year on campus.
One possible new recruiting target has already emerged for the Wildcats. Donovan Williams, a four-star small forward from Lincoln, Nebraska, is set to visit K-State on a recruiting trip this weekend while the Wildcats host a Saturday basketball game against West Virginia, according to the recruiting website Stock Risers.
Williams was previously committed to Nebraska, but he changed his mind last month. The 6-foot-5, 175-pound prospect has also received interest from Creighton, Iowa, Wisconsin and other schools.
As it stands, K-State currently boasts a top 25 recruiting class nationally.
This figures to be K-State’s largest recruiting class since 2015, when the Wildcats landed Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade in a group of seven new players.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Kansas State coach Bruce Weber looking to add seven players in 2020 recruiting cycle."