This is a Christmas Day column.

What that means, for starters, is the homer in me is going to come out.

If you want to read a critical, analytical piece about the challenges facing Bruce Weber and Chris Klieman there will be plenty of chances to do so, but not on this day.

So, if that's what you are hoping for this to be, maybe head back to the gifts, NBA on Christmas Day and hanging out with your family. This site can wait.

If you want to have some fun and dream big, however, read on, as I play Santa Hall and give out gifts to the leaders of K-State's football and basketball programs.

If you haven't noticed, K-State's basketball team is showing some signs of reverting back to last year's Elite Eight bunch without Dean Wade.

The Wildcats turned a late three-point deficit into a 14-point lead on the way to a win over likely NCAA Tournament team Georgia State just minutes after Wade's injury. In K-State's next outing Kam Stokes helped the Wildcats erase a 16-point second-half deficit to Southern Miss in what felt like roughly two minutes. And, most recently, K-State earned its best win of the season over a good Vanderbilt team, a game in which it led by 20 points in the second half.

Weber's team is one of the elite defensive groups in all of college basketball and should head into Big 12 play 10-2 overall and back in the Top 25, even without Wade, after a match-up with George Mason on Saturday.

What if the Wildcats - most notably the likes of Xavier Sneed, Makol Mawien, Cartier Diarra, Mike McGuirl and Austin Trice - grow (again) in Wade's absence, only to make K-State stronger whenever Wade does return?

And, what if this unfortunate break was just what Wade needed to get out of his own head and place the proper urgency back in his head in what will be his last season of college basketball?

If those two things happen the Wildcats could suddenly find themselves back in a good spot well in time for the NCAA Tournament and better suited to make a deep run in March than they were a season ago.

No, this won't come easy.

However, it's far from impossible.

The four-star rated Turner Corcoran of Lawrence Free State (and teammate of K-State signees Jax Dineen and Keenan Garber, which I think by law has to be mentioned in every reference of Corcoran from now until he signs) is now the No. 46 rated prospect in the entire country for the Class of 2020 by Rivals.com.

If K-State were able to earn Corcoran's pledge, perhaps even early in the process, it could put the Wildcats on path to sign their highest rated recruiting class since, uh, 2004?

Chris Klieman will get to sign a full class of 25 in his first full year recruiting to Manhattan, and adding Corcoran as his centerpiece could help the likes of Ky Thomas, Matthew Roberts, Malik Berry, Daniel Jackson (we're dreaming here, okay!) and a number of other highly rated prospects find their way to the Little Apple, too.

Just think of how many high-level targets the charismatic Corcoran will interact with at national camps and all-star games over the next year or so, opportunities for him to potentially lure stars from outside the state of Kansas to his preferred college destination.

And, shoot, one big year could easily turn into two, when Jaeden Roberts (the younger brother of the previously mentioned Matthew) follows his family to Manhattan in this scenario, providing the building block for the Class of 2021.

Sounds to me like the gift that just keeps on giving...