State of the Union: Kansas State
14 comments so far
January 25, 2007 by
The fourth in a twelve-part series on the state of the Big 12
The Wildcats exceeded expectations in 2006 by upsetting Texas and returning to a bowl game for the first time since 2003. Despite the relative inexperience of the coaching staff, KSU managed to have a decent year without great talent. With a promising young quarterback in Josh Freeman, you'd think the Wildcats might parlay the early success under head coach Ron Prince into a strong recruiting class.
If you thought that, you'd be wrong however. The Wildcats aimed low and secured early commitments from a lot of two-star athletes. It leads you to wonder whether head coach Ron Prince and company have an eye for diamonds in the rough or simply wanted to get done with recruiting as quickly as possible. It's one thing when Texas has a whole class of blue-chippers locked in before the season starts. It's quite another to lock in the kinds of kids that would be available late in the recruiting season.
Still, as woeful as recruiting is at some other Big 12 schools (see Iowa State), the 'Cats have done enough to remain a bowl-eligible team for the foreseeable future. Ron Prince had better hope so. By raising expectations in year one in Manhattan, he risks being run out of town that much sooner if KSU falls short of a bowl the next couple of years.
All-in-all, the 'Cats have weathered the transition better than expected and that gives KSU fans hope for the future. Year one was positive in terms of results and neutral in terms of recruiting. The Wildcats need to raise the bar on recruiting in year two or else they'll remain a middle-of-the-pack team for years to come.
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Katie Jan 25 07
I hope we beat them for the next 50 years!
gregory Jan 25 07
Prince isn't too worried about bringing in Quarterbacks, I wouldn't think. Might as well not even try, for a couple of years. He can nab a JC, any time he wants.
I'm glad we have them in Lincoln this year. Sometimes, a bright light burns too briefly.
Another team, sans a legend. I think they'll fare better than Iowa st.
jacob Jan 25 07
It's called Talent development, clownahan can recruit all the 4 and 5-star talent he wants, because he can't develop and coach it!
dallas Jan 25 07
kansas st. will always b kansas st. > nebraska will beat them again next year n years to come since our talent level is more improved than theirs> KSU will never match our level since high school players would rather come to the big red instead cuz of all the tradition n championships that we have n were goin the rite direction towards more
Katie Jan 25 07
You're right Jacob.....Kansas State is a great program to look to for talent development! I think you have PERFECTED the JuCo Transfer program.
You really must be a true PURPLE CATBACKER if you believe that 4 and 5 star recruits don't matter...
by the way your STAR recruit CARRIED your team to a bowl..not much talent development there!
Go Big Red!
darren Jan 25 07
Jacob, I've heard your argument about player development many times...from Husker fans who we're trying to justify some of our not-too-good recruiting classes from 2000-2004. ;-)
And while players can and do develop physically and better understand the game mentally as they get older...there simply is no substitute for God-given talent.
Fella, you can't teach speed.
Brad Jan 26 07
It's sad to watch Prince waste what Snyder built out of nothing. It's also sad to watch Freeman waste any chance he had of going to the NFL under Prince--how many turnovers did he have? 15 or so? Yeesh.
Prince is, in short, a huge waste.
fatty4ksu Jan 29 07
Pretty decent writeup. I think you should give Prince a few years to see if
1)His recruiting improves
2)If he knows what he's doing with recruiting.
All I know is we had no buisness going .500 in League play and he managed to do it. He is a pretty good game coach.
Randy Jan 31 07
Congrats to Prince for taking his team to a bowl and orchestrating a win over Texas. Other than his stellar coup in recruiting Freeman, he seems to lack in this area with his mediocre 2007 verbals. Freeman won't have a win against the Huskers in his career.
The gap will again be widened between the Huskers and Cats.
Ben Feb 14 07
I can't believe all the trash talking that is going on. Nebraska had the 13th best recruiting class this year. Last year it was 20th. That is not that impressive, especially when you consider the resources that the U of Neb can offer that less storied programs cannot. Nebraska needs to win more before the talking starts (i.e. bowl game).
Steve Feb 14 07
Ben,
So is the 41st best recruiting class somehow better than 13th or 20th? If the other Big 12 schools were ranked 1-11, then we'd be nothing but upset at being 13th or 20th. But when you outrecruit the rest of your division three years in a row, as a fan you kind of like that.
ben Feb 14 07
The reality is that KSU is forced to do more with less. U of Neb should always outrecruit KSU and ISU and KU and Mizzou. It's a simple matter of money (I'm not implying that Neb pays its players). The facilities, stadium, and fanbase (who else are Nebraskans going to cheer for, UN-Omaha?) all favor Neb. I guess someone could gloat about that, but why would you? Some schools will always have to do more with less. Look at Boise State this year. 2007 will be the true test for Callahan. The 2005 class was ranked 5th in the nation. If he doesn't produce this year, what good is all of this recruiting talk good for anyway? If they don't have a dominant year (winning the north isn't being dominant), go 11-2 or, at worst, 10-3, who cares who out-recruited who? I have degrees from both KSU and Auburn, and in the SEC because Auburn outrecruits Arkansas or even South Carolina doesn't make them any less of a threat.
Steve Feb 14 07
Ben,
I would love to see Nebraska always outrecruit KSU, ISU, KU and MU. The fact of the matter is, that wasn't happening a few years ago and the results speak for themselves. If you don't think recruiting matters than say with a straight face that Switzer was the smartest man in college football. You know you can't do it!
Talent matters. Recruiting rankings have their flaws but the teams like USC, Florida, and Texas that perennially outrecruit the rest of the country also perennially win 10+ games a year.
joe nelson Mar 06 07
How the hell would anyone know how relevant these recruiting rankings are? Which ones do you agree with Rivals, Scout Espn's all rank these exact same players differently. And as to the past with recruiting how do any of us know since this cottage industry of recruiting ranking is really only about 7 or 8 years old.So Save the chest puffing at star rankings until these kids do something on the field.