When Jake Waters heard his cell phone ring Wednesday afternoon, his first instinct was to let the call go to voice mail. He was eating lunch in a noisy cafeteria at Iowa Western Community College, and he figured it would be too difficult to talk to anyone in that environment.
Even though Kansas State co-offensive coordinator Del Miller was calling, likely with good news, Waters was hesitant to answer. Fortunately, he did at the last possible moment.
“My head coach came up with a smile on his face and said, ‘Answer it.’ So I did,” Waters said. “I’m really glad I did, because they offered me a scholarship. I’ve been talking to them for a while, and I was hoping they would pull the trigger. I told my friends and they started yelling and chanting and letting everyone know. It got really loud and I was just sitting there and put my head down. It was cool to see everyone so happy for me.”
Waters, a junior college quarterback from Council Bluffs, Iowa, has been waiting a long time for moments like that. Coming out of a tiny high school, he wasn’t offered a scholarship at any level. This week, he has been offered four — all by Division I programs, with Kansas State sticking out.
Akron offered first, then came North Carolina State, next was Florida Atlantic and most recently K-State.
Waters took an unofficial visit to Manhattan in June, and was impressed by everything the Wildcats had to offer. He is a big fan of Bill Snyder, he liked the facilities and he enjoyed talking with Collin Klein at the end of a practice.
“I know more about Kansas State than the other schools and it is the only school I visited, so in that way I guess you could call them the favorite,” Waters said. “But I’m going to do my homework. I’m happy that these schools are interested me. I am going to give them all a chance.”
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