K-State Q&A: Dylan Edwards, Adrian Martinez expectations, Pac-12 nonsense and more
A week has passed since Dylan Edwards withdrew his commitment from Kansas State, but it’s clear there are still hard feelings on both sides.
That is sadly part of the game when it comes to big-time recruiting. Commitments aren’t binding until signing day. When a blueblood program like Notre Dame enters the picture for a recruit, sometimes he decides to listen and re-evaluate things ... even if he has already promised to play for the top football program in his home state.
K-State fans shouldn’t lash out at Edwards for changing his mind, unless they hate the idea of flipping commitments so much that they won’t welcome a player to Manhattan who had previously pledged his services elsewhere.
This stuff happens all the time. These are teenagers we’re dealing with. Changing their minds is what they do.
It’s fine to feel upset, or even betrayed on some level, by the way Edwards announced his commitment to K-State and then reneged on his decision 36 days later. Some of the things he said back then did make it sound like he had purple blood flowing through his veins.
Still, my advice would be to share those thoughts with other fans, not in a Twitter reply to Edwards himself. Not that I’ve seen a ton of that, but even a little is too much.
Also try and remember a few things. Notre Dame wasn’t involved back then. Oklahoma really wasn’t either. If the Sooners had scholarships to spare at running back and the Fighting Irish were actively recruiting him, I think Edwards would have waited to make a commitment. It also seemed like K-State had other options emerging at running back at the time. It’s not hard to see why Edwards might later wonder if he rushed into things.
Odds are good that Edwards will announce his new commitment to Notre Dame on Saturday. Then Marcus Freeman will be tasked with trying to hold onto his pledge until signing day.
The good news for K-State is that the Wildcats have other options. Maybe this opens this door for Wichita Heights running back John Randle Jr. to join their 2023 recruiting class. He’s a four-star recruit. Landing him could make it a happy ending for everyone involved.
Regardless, there are plenty of other things in sports we can be angry about. I recommend we unite against a common foe.
Why not the Pac-12?
There is an entertaining rivalry brewing between the Big 12 and the Pac-12. I’m not sure why George Kliavkoff thinks the Big 12 is trying to “destabilize” his conference when the Big Ten is the league that poached UCLA and USC. I’m also not certain why he is so certain none of his members will consider a switch to the Big 12.
But if he’s going to use fighting words, and Pac-12 media are going to repeat them in hopes of stirring up Big 12 Twitter, we should all be prepared to fire back.
Or you can just wait until the AP releases its preseason top 25 later this month. I’m sure there will be much to ridicule on my ballot.
Now it’s time to dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
Daniel Green will almost certainly lead the K-State defense in tackles this season. I can’t picture anyone else staying close to his numbers.
But will that make him the team’s best player on that side of the ball?
That’s an entirely different question.
Julius Brents, Ekow Boye-Doe, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Eli Huggins and maybe even Nate Matlack would like a word.
My vote probably goes to King Felix. There’s a reason why Big 12 media selected him as the top defensive player on its preseason all-conference team. His ability to disrupt a game with sacks is potentially more value than anything Green can do at linebacker. But it’s close. I wouldn’t scoff at anyone for picking Green instead.
I suppose the most important thing will be for him to stay healthy. Martinez knows how to play with injuries like the best of them, but the Wildcats don’t want him getting dinged up before the start of conference play.
Otherwise, he can just repeat a bunch of these plays:
The season-opener against South Dakota will serve as an excellent opportunity for Adrian Martinez to get his feet wet as Kansas State’s starting quarterback.
It’s honestly the perfect warm-up game for him. Unlike last season when he played his first game on the road against Illinois, no one will be expecting perfection from the Nebraska transfer on Day 1 in Manhattan. Make a few nice throws, get the ball in the end zone, avoid turnovers, win comfortably and move on.
The Missouri game will be a test. I have heard from some K-State fans who think the Tigers are going to be a cupcake, too. But I don’t buy that. The Wildcats will probably be favored at home, but that’s going to be a challenging game. If Martinez is as good as his teammates have talked him up to be, he needs to help K-State win that game.
Then he can try to really put everything together against Tulane.
That’s a long way of saying, K-State fans will be hoping that he can guide the Wildcats to an early 3-0 record while playing like a healthy Skylar Thompson.
I wrote a story on beer sales at college sporting events a few years back and discovered that K-State fans buy Michelob Ultra more than any other light beer. Bud Light was next. Coors Light barely cracked the top five.
Michelob Ultra is presumably what they would continue drinking during a national championship celebration. Natural Light would be appropriate, though, because of the name.
Sadly, the Wildcats are one of the few Division I schools (I believe Virginia Tech is the other) that has never won a “Natty” in any sport. So we can’t base this answer off history.
My hope is K-State fans would opt for something a tad nicer than light beer, though. At the least, they could pour pineapple juice into it and make a Nancy.
I like your prediction. However, the Camping World Bowl has seemed less than interested in inviting K-State to its Orlando game in the recent past.
What if it’s simply not meant to be?
Give me the Alamo Bowl against Oregon. Winner gets to decide the fate of Big 12/Pac-12 expansion.
Odds are we end up with the status quo.
The most likely scenario, in my eyes, is that the Pac-12 stands pat or invites a pair of teams like San Diego State and Boise State to join its ranks from the Mountain West.
Oregon and Washington will keep trying to make a move to the Big Ten, but they will remain in the Pac-12 with the promise of uneven revenue sharing and no long-term commitment while they wait.
That should be enough to convince the rest of the league to stay together for at least a few years.
But that’s not a fun answer. So let’s say Arizona and Colorado leave for the Big 12 in 2025. If history has taught us anything about realignment, it’s that Pac-12 teams will have wandering eyes.
Missouri and Texas A&M left the Big 12 a year after Colorado and Nebraska bailed on the league.
Something similar could happen out west.
I know there has been much speculation about Arizona State and Utah coming aboard, too. But the Big 12 will already lay claim to those media markets with Arizona and BYU. Does the conference really need two more mouths to feed, unless they are Oregon and Washington?
Arizona basketball would be a great addition to the Big 12. Colorado used to be part of the Big Eight. It could definitely happen.
If I could remove any school from the Big 12 it most certainly would not be Kansas. No offense to the good people of Morgantown, but West Virginia is the school I could live without.
The Mountaineers are great and all, but they’re so far away from the rest of the conference. That trip gets old mighty quick, even though you get to eat Primanti Bros.
But I digress ...
If I could add any four schools from the ACC/Pac-12 they would be:
- Miami - Now that’s a long trip that won’t bother anyone.
- Florida State - The Sunshine State would suddenly be Big 12 country with UCF and the Hurricanes also on board.
- Oregon - I’m sick of the Pac-12. I’m sick of reporters who live on the west coast trying to undercut the Big 12 at every opportunity with questionable data it presents without proper context. Might as well destroy the league by poaching its most valuable members.
- Washington - Read above.
And if I can send West Virginia to the ACC to make up for taking two of its teams I would also be very interested in Colorado or Louisville.
1. The value your school can bring to a conference.
2. Football brand.
3. Football TV ratings.
4. Media Market.
5. Basketball brand ... or maybe academics.
The list seems to be always changing after No. 1. Earlier this week Big 12 and Pac-12 Twitter users got in a heated debated about football attendance. What’s next? Parking spaces?
This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: Dylan Edwards, Adrian Martinez expectations, Pac-12 nonsense and more."