‘I’m not going anywhere’: Many have tried (and failed) to poach K-State’s Deuce Vaughn
There are certain people in college football who have been trying to lure Deuce Vaughn away from Kansas State since the moment he committed to the Wildcats as a high school recruit.
Coaches began calling to see if he might consider flipping colleges before he arrived in Manhattan. Then all sorts of characters emerged from the woodwork to gauge his interest in potentially transferring to a new destination after he lit up Big 12 defenses as both a freshman and a sophomore.
Vaughn’s father, Christopher, says every offseason has been the same.
“There are always feelers,” he said. “In this new world of NIL and the transfer portal, people will ask, ‘What is he making? And is he happy at Kansas State?’”
Perhaps that is to be expected. The NCAA transfer portal is more prevalent than ever before, and the promise of lucrative NIL deals has led to even more movement. Players used to switch schools because they weren’t happy and wanted more playing time. Now, some players view transferring as a business decision.
For example: The thought of a star player like Pittsburgh receiver Jordan Addison transferring to USC the season after he won the Biletnikoff Award seemed outrageous a decade ago. But it happens today.
Expressing interest in another team’s player, or tampering, is technically against the rules in college sports, but few are naive enough to think it doesn’t happen.
Vaughn actually seemed surprised by the amount of people who reached out to him about a change in scenery this offseason. He thought it would be more.
“Of course, I heard from agents that (direct message) and text you about leaving early for the NFL,” Vaughn said. “My thought on that is, if I keep working hard that will take care of itself. As far as transferring, though, there wasn’t much. There was nothing really serious.”
He has a theory on why.
“I feel like everybody knows that Kansas State is a pretty good fit for me,” Vaughn said. “Whenever I did hear something about that, I let them know that this place gave me an opportunity. Personally, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I’m not going anywhere.”
Which schools used back channels to express interest in Vaughn? How many agents are already pushing him to declare early for the NFL Draft after his junior season is complete? Vaughn and his family would rather not get into that.
But just about any college football team would love to add Vaughn to its roster right now. The 5-foot-6 running back is the focal point of K-State’s offense after amassing 3,093 yards and scoring 31 touchdowns over the past two seasons.
Some have speculated that there might be a small chance Vaughn would have interest in playing somewhere closer to his home in Round Rock, Texas. That clearly isn’t the case.
Vaughn’s father shares a story that he thinks will help illustrate why.
When Vaughn was coming out of high school, the two colleges he primarily considered were Arkansas and K-State. He visited Arkansas first and liked the school. He was born in Fayetteville and his father was once an assistant coach with the Razorbacks. It was a good fit. He could see himself there.
But he thought he was a better match with the Wildcats and loved the plan their coaches had for him. Unlike other teams, they wanted to use him as a traditional running back despite his size. K-State won Vaughn over on his visit, and he committed the following week.
He told K-State coach Chris Klieman that meant he wasn’t going to take any more visits or consider switching allegiances, no matter what.
“Coaches we had never heard from before started calling at that point, but Deuce understood what his commitment meant,” his father said. “He was locked in. The best players always are. In my experience, players who commit and stay committed and never waver and stay at one school the whole time they are in college seem to be better than the ones that don’t.”
There is one more reason why Vaughn’s father also politely tells people who send feelers his son’s way to stand down.
“He is as happy as he can possibly be to be a Wildcat,” Vaughn’s father said. “The experience he has had with this coaching staff and the way his college career has gone ... You really couldn’t write up a story better than the way it has happened. Because of that, there is a sense of loyalty. He knows that there isn’t a better place out there for him.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘I’m not going anywhere’: Many have tried (and failed) to poach K-State’s Deuce Vaughn."