Daily Archives: Aug. 27, 2012

Basketball recruits Jeff Carroll, Marcus Foster, Wesley Iwundu and Jordan Mathews ready to visit Kansas State

Aug. 27, 201211:48 p.m.

The start of football season brings with it the start of official recruiting visits in other sports. That means Kansas State basketball coaches are lining up as many visits as possible over the next few weeks.

After working the phones for a few hours Monday, I confirmed four official visits that are taking place in the next two weeks. Four-star guard Jordan Mathews and shooting guard Wesley Iwundu will be in Manhattan this weekend for the Wildcats’ season-opening football game against Missouri State. Three-star small forward Jeff Carroll and his Dallas Mustangs teammate Marcus Foster will visit Manhattan the following week.

Here is a look at all four players:

Jeff Carroll, 6-foot-6 small forward, Rowlett, Texas

Jeff Carroll has no idea what to expect during his official visit to Kansas State next weekend, and not just because the three-star prospect who plays AAU basketball for the Dallas Mustangs has never been to Manhattan.

“I’m just really excited to go on this visit,” Carroll said. “This is going to be the first college visit I have ever been on.”

He has received plenty of interest from college coaches, though. Carroll has scholarship offers from K-State, TCU and Oklahoma. He is also expecting an offer from Oklahoma State and is actively talking with Texas. Right now, he says he is considering all five, but …

“If I had to narrow it down to a top three,” Carroll said. “Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas would be my top three.”
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By Kellis Robinett | Filed under Basketball | Comments Off

The Royal Sampler: Depth chart predictions, Jacob Pullen’s buzzer beater and links

Aug. 27, 201212:18 p.m.

Before we get started with the debut offering of “The Royal Sampler,” allow me to explain what it is. The Internet is filled with cool stuff, and some of that cool stuff is dedicated to Kansas State athletics. It comes out every day and it is always new and different. Sometimes you find great stories to share. Other times you stumble across an entertaining video. After big games pictures are always worth an extra look. Sure, you can find all that on Google or on Twitter, but from now on you can also find it here.

“The Royal Sampler” will feature the best K-State offerings the Internet has to offer, sprinkled in with a few thoughts and predictions of my own. I can’t promise it will always be the same or even a daily feature. Hey, sometimes there isn’t much out there. It might be random and won’t always match, but I hope “The Royal Sampler” turns out the same way it did for Homer Simpson. When he played poker with the Stonecutters. Enjoy!

DAILY TAKE
Kansas State released its weekly game notes leading up to the season-opener with Missouri State in traditional fashion. On the page labeled depth chart, there are only three letters to be found: TBA.

Wildcats football coach Bill Snyder waits until his first weekly news conference to release his depth chart to the public. That comes Tuesday, so check back here for updates on who ended up where. In some years the first depth chart is a big deal. When Snyder first came out of retirement, everyone wanted to know who the starting quarterback was going to be. Last year, everyone wanted to know who won the starting running back job.

This year, there aren’t nearly as many compelling position battles. I guess that’s what happens when you return 17 starters, and most of them are skill players. Collin Klein will start at quarterback, John Hubert will start at running back, Chris Harper, Tyler Lockett and Tramaine Thompson will be the main guys at receiver. The only big questions remaining are on the offensive and defensive lines, and a few spots on defense. I suppose the backup quarterback battle could have been compelling, too. But now that Snyder has confirmed Tavarius Bender is gone, that job will belong to Daniel Sams.

Here’s how I predict a few of the positions will shake out:

Starting offensive line: Cornelius Lucas OR Tavon Rooks at left tackle, Nick Puetz at left guard, B.J. Finney at center, Keenan Taylor at right guard, Cody Whitehair OR Tavon Rooks at right tackle.

Starting defensive line: Meshak Williams and Adam Davis at defensive end, Vai Lutui and Hakeem Akinola OR John Sua at defensive tackle.

Starting safety: Jarard Milo will win the job opposite Ty Zimmerman

Starting linebacker: Justin Tuggle will start as the third linebacker next to Tre Walker and Arthur Brown.
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By Kellis Robinett | Filed under Football, The Royal Sampler | Comments Off