Kansas State Wildcats lose defensive back to transfer portal as season approaches
The Kansas State football team will look quite a bit different in the secondary this season following the unexpected departures of a pair of senior contributors.
Walter Neil, a senior cornerback who started 18 games over the past two seasons, became the latest departure on Friday when a source confirmed Neil decided to continue his college football career at a new school and entered the transfer portal.
The news was first reported by Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports.
Neil will depart K-State after making 40 tackles as a sophomore and 21 more as a junior. He wore multiple hats for the Wildcats since arriving on campus from Lawton, Okla., defending passes at both nickelback and cornerback. Neil started out last season at the nickel and later moved to the perimeter when K-State coaches needed extra depth at corner, making him a utility player on defense.
His decision to transfer comes a few weeks after Jonathan Alexander, another senior defensive back with a year of experience in Chris Klieman’s system, announced plans to opt-out of the upcoming season because of concerns about playing during a pandemic.
Neil’s exit will give several new and young players on K-State’s roster to make an impact this season. Coaches have spoken little about Neil during preseason camp, which was perhaps a sign they knew he might not play for them this season, and have praised newcomers like Tee Denson, T.J. Smith, Justin Gardner and Kiondre Thomas.
With A.J. Parker returning after a strong year at the other cornerback position, K-State will have several options to replace Neil on the other side of the field.
Neil will probably be missed in the locker room, though. He was the type of player who put his team above everything else during his time in Manhattan. After arriving on campus as a walk-on, coaches approached him about promoting him to scholarship status once he earned a starting role on the defense. But he refused those offers, because his father is a veteran and that allowed him to attend college for free. He wanted K-State coaches to use that scholarship on an extra player instead of himself.
In any case, it will be interesting to see what lineup Joe Klanderman dials up in his first game as defensive coordinator against Arkansas State on Sept. 12.
Two players who were expected to contribute in his secondary this season are no longer on the active roster.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Kansas State Wildcats lose defensive back to transfer portal as season approaches."