Monday Musings: Recruiting and stumbles

IN-STATE JUNE COMMIT(S): It doesn't even have to be Nick Herzog. In fact, it is more likely that it is an in-state player, currently without an offer, that camps and earns one and commits soon afterwards. That could be someone like Tai Newhouse of Free State or Tobi Osunsanmi of Wichita East.

TRANSFER PORTAL: In both sports, football and basketball, it is going to be common for Kansas State to look to it to supplement the current roster. The basketball side was a bit more hesitant to embrace it, and probably still is to an extent, but Bruce Weber and company will utilize it at least in some form nearly every cycle. Chris Klieman certainly will, too. It was said that he may take up to 10 per cycle, which sounds high, but there's plenty Power Five teams that have taken a double-digit number this year. Look at Tennessee and Michigan State.

TRACK AND FIELD: While nearly every program in the athletic department has seen a world of struggle in the 2020-2021 school year, the outdoor track and field team produced some Big 12 champions over the weekend. Tejaswin Shankar won the High Jump for the second consecutive season and Taylor Latimer claimed the women's shot put title.

CHESTER FRAZIER: Not to judge, but it was a little shocking for Brad Underwood to go from the likes of Orlando Antigua and Ron Coleman to Chester Frazier. Of course, the connection is that Frazier played at Illinois, but also coached at Underwood's alma-mater - K-State. He is qualified to do the job but my impression was that the Illini boss would be able to land someone with a little bit more name recognition.

MUDIA'S OFFER SHEET: We could be walking into a Ronnie Bell situation all over again. The Park Hill wideout was under-recruited throughout his entire cycle, despite being good enough to play at the Power Five level. So, he was committed to play basketball but about to flip and commit to North Dakota State. That was until the last week of his process and the stream of offers came his way and he ultimately ended up at Michigan and had a fine career in Ann Arbor. Like Bell, Mudia Reuben's offer sheet makes little sense to me. He's not a burner but players with his upside aren't often ignored or slept on in this way. But it's happened to kids in Kansas City before, so it's nothing new.

BLUESHIRTS: Bill Snyder loved the gray-shirt philosophy. Although, to be fair, some of them ended up arriving sooner than anticipated, anyways. Chris Klieman seems to love the blue-shirt tool. Sam Shields and Felix Anudike were signed in that way. In the past cycle, we're going to see the same done with Damian Ilalio, Desmond Purnell and perhaps DJ Giddens. Don't be surprised if it is used again in some form for the Class of 2022 as well.

REGGIE STUBBLEFIELD: I'm certain we know who he is, but we may not be 100 percent confident on what kind of numbers he produced in his career at Prairie View A&M. That still has some questions with all the discrepancies of what he has put on the field, but also in the many ways that his name has been spelled. I would also have some trepidation if he was expected to be a starter. There needs to be more to supplement him for me to feel super about the addition.

GENE TAYLOR: I alluded to it above, but it has been a less than stellar year of athletics at Kansas State, and it comes in a year where athletics director Gene Taylor received an extension that also included a raise to elevate his salary to market value in the Big 12. It also came at a time where he was less than understanding of the money being tossed around by programs like Iowa State and Texas in the middle of a pandemic. To say the timing was poor, is an understatement. The fact that none of the Wildcat athletic teams really mounted any level of respectable success is not flattering at all. He has a great vision for facility improvements, generous with his time and has a very competitive personality, but ultimately, his hires and his teams need to be more productive.

ANOTHER DEFENSIVE BACK: Players will return to Manhattan and begin summer workouts in two weeks. Will we see another defensive back added before then? The clock is ticking. Three should be more than enough, but Stubblefield is more of a depth addition, and it still doesn't repair some of the attrition at the spot. Akayleb Evans would be just what the doctor ordered, but he also may be the most sought-after transfer, overall, in the entire market at the current time.

NON-CONFERENCE SLATES: Interestingly enough, both the football and basketball teams have their hands full in non-conference play. On the football side, Southern Illinois defeated North Dakota State in the spring (I know it was an inferior squad this year). Nevada is a regular bowl team under Jay Norvell and Stanford, despite some down years, has most of everyone back outside of Davis Mills at quarterback. The basketball side has two games against Illinois, Cincinnati or Arkansas, a tilt with Wichita State in Intrust, a road contest against Nebraska and that doesn't include showdowns with an SEC and Big East program, either.

PETE HUGHES: In a year where they had a top-end pitcher that was drawing some first round buzz and had promise of making the NCAA Tournament, they may finish last in the league and just finally defeated archrival Kansas after losing to them in Pete Hughes' first six meetings with the Jayhawks. That isn't exactly sparkling.

NEBRASKA QB HUNT: The Huskers are still in search of a quarterback commit, just like Kansas State. It matters because they have some mutual targets. Nebraska landing MJ Morris would be advantageous for the Wildcats. Instead, there is some chatter that he could be picking Georgia Tech. That may push Scott Frost and company towards pursuing Richard Torres of San Antonio, just like K-State.