Kansas State making push for high-profile football transfers from Penn State, Alabama
A pair of high-profile transfers from big-time college football teams are on Chris Klieman’s radar as he works to upgrade Kansas State’s roster heading into next season.
The Wildcats are making a push for former Alabama wide receiver Malik Benson and former Penn State wideout Dante Cephas.
Wide receiver is a position of need following the departures of Phillip Brooks, RJ Garcia, Xavier Loyd and Wesley Watson. So it makes sense that Klieman is working to bring in new talent at that spot quickly after K-State closed out the year with a victory at the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Both would be welcome additions to the K-State passing attack for quarterback Avery Johnson.
It seems like K-State is closest with Cephas. The Penn State transfer is currently in Manhattan for a recruiting visit this weekend, according to On3, and he has a strong tie to K-State wide receivers coach Matthew Middleton.
Cephas started out his college football career at Kent State and Middleton was his position coach in the MAC.
He is a 6-foot and 187-pound senior who has caught 167 passes for 2,385 yards and 14 touchdowns as a college receiver. The bulk of his production came during four seasons at Kent State, but he grabbed 22 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns for the Nittany Lions this past season.
K-State has more work to do with Benson, but the Wildcats could also convince him to visit Manhattan in the near future.
Benson is a 6-foot-1 and 195-pound junior who is originally from Lansing. He started out his college football career at Hutchinson Community College and caught the eye of Alabama while he was there by grabbing 97 passes for 2,152 yards and 21 touchdowns over two seasons.
He caught 13 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown this season at Alabama.
The Wildcats recruited him out of high school and could sell him on playing close to home as he looks to finish out his time in college.
This story was originally published January 6, 2024 at 2:54 PM with the headline "Kansas State making push for high-profile football transfers from Penn State, Alabama."