K-State Q&A: Michael Beasley, football predictions and Jerome Tang’s latest recruit
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
Sadly, I don’t have a long lead in prepared for you this week. Well, that’s not actually such a sad thing, because it means we can dive straight into your questions. Those are always the main attraction. Thanks, as always for providing them.
Pretty good?
You could easily get away with channeling your inner Larry David and saying that Darrin (Dai Dai) Ames is a pretty, pretty, pretty, preeeeeettttttty good pick up.
K-State has reeled in plenty of four-star men’s basketball recruits over the years, but Ames might be the best of the bunch. That’s what the recruiting services say, anyway.
Here’s how Rivals rated all of the Wildcats’ top recruits compared to the rest of their class as they were coming out of high school, going back to 2003:
- Nijel Pack - 128
- Dean Wade - 106
- Xavier Sneed - 93
- Rodney McGruder - 84
- Malek Harris - 80
- Cartier Martin - 50
- Darrin Ames - 46
- Jason Bennett - 30
- Wally Judge - 18
- Bill Walker - 7
- Michael Beasley - 1
So, by at least one measure, you could say Ames is the fifth-best recent recruit, as well as the best overall addition the Wildcats have landed since Judge in 2009.
I also like Ames’ highlight reel. The way he slashes to the basket and finishes at the rim reminds me of Barry Brown as as a senior.
Jerome Tang mostly scrambled to recruit players late during the 2022 cycle, and he missed out on all the big-time high school recruits that he tried to get. But he won a recruiting battle for Ames and, because of that, K-State is off to a strong start in the 2023 cycle.
No.
I sure hope Kansas State’s alumni team can make a run at The Basketball Tournament and maybe even win the grand prize of $1 million. That would be very entertaining to watch.
But I’m not expecting them to win more than a few games, if that.
Cool as it is to see Michael Beasley, Bill Walker and Jacob Pullen back together, they are all past their prime as basketball players. It’s been three full years since any of them were in the NBA.
Who knows? Maybe playing in purple again will allow them to turn back the clock. I am prepared to eat my words if they go Major League on me and win the whole bleeping thing.
But even with the big three firing on all cylinders, their supporting cast leaves a bit to be desired.
It’s best to kick back and enjoy the 2008 nostalgia without any expectations. Watching Beasley, Pullen and Walker team up for the first time in 14 years should be fun, no matter what happens on the court.
I asked K-State athletics director Gene Taylor about football ticket sales last week. Here is what he told me ...
“It’s certainly tracking as well as 2019 and is ahead of last year,” Taylor said. “We use 2019 as a good gauge, because it was pre-COVID. There’s a lot of interest in the Missouri game. I think as we get closer to the fall we’ll have as good of season ticket sales as we’ve had a few years, both in terms of tickets sold and total financials.”
Right now, it seems like the Missouri game will be a sell out.
If K-State can do something creative for the season opener against South Dakota and unload a lot of cheap tickets that could also reach that threshold.
I will be very surprised if Tulane, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State or Kansas can attract 50,000. But the Texas game on Nov. 5 will have a chance. K-State fans like to hate the Longhorns.
I can’t really explain why, but the palm tree seems like it would be a good fit.
Manhattan has a beach bar in Aggieville. You can’t tell me Kansas State isn’t in a tropical climate right now, either.
I’m planning to take one more week off before football season arrives.
The entire Robinett clan hasn’t gone anywhere together this summer, so we’re going to load up the whole crew and do something fun. I’m not sure exactly what that activity will be, but it will probably involve a long drive, a few stops at Whataburger and some time at the swimming pool.
It means that Jake Rubley is going to have to seriously improve between now and 2023 if he wants to play. Heck, he might have work to do before he is in a position to win the backup job.
Coming out of spring practice, the QB depth chart looked like this:
1. Adrian Martinez.
2. Will Howard.
3. Jeron Lewis OR Jake Rubley.
Rubley’s name didn’t come up at Big 12 media days last week in Texas. But Chris Klieman did mention Will Howard quite a few times, saying that he “is going to play a lot of football for Kansas State” before his college career comes to an end.
I know Howard hasn’t looked like the Wildcats’ QB of the future yet, but he is still young and he is going to have more experience than anyone else in the room after Adrian Martinez plays his lone season in Manhattan.
Maybe Klieman was just talking him up. He loves few things more than praising his quarterbacks, particularly Howard.
Still, I think his words show that it may be hard for anyone to start over Howard (at least immediately) in 2023.
Rubley is a former four-star recruit, so he has the talent to do it. Avery Johnson is coming in expecting to win the job right away. That could happen, too.
Just don’t forget about Howard. He will probably end up being the favorite.
You probably have to go back to the days of Bill Snyder when K-State won nine games in 2014.
That offensive line feature B.J. Finney and Cody Whitehair. You could also find Ryan Mueller and Jordan Willis at defensive end.
I think K-State is better on the defensive line now with Nate Matlack, Eli Huggins and Felix Anudike-Uzomah leading the charge. But the Wildcats are replacing some bodies on the offensive line. That unit probably isn’t quite as good.
Well, Joshua Manning’s older brother is a walk-on at Missouri.
I can only surmise that had something to do with his decision to pick the Tigers over Arkansas and K-State.
The Wildcats made a strong push for him and hosted him on a visit at the same time as Avery Johnson. It was nearly enough to get him on campus permanently. But it wasn’t to be.
“I took a deeper dive into their offenses,” Manning told On3 at his announcement ceremony. “I love the quarterback at K-State, but I feel like the offense at Missouri fit me probably a little bit better. That was probably the deciding piece.”
The good news for K-State is that it remains in the running for another four-star receiver. If the Wildcats can land Ja’Kobi Lane, a 6-foot-4 pass-catcher from Arizona, that will take some sting away from losing out on this recruiting battle.
This story was originally published July 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: Michael Beasley, football predictions and Jerome Tang’s latest recruit."