The Wildcat recruiting has been as hot as the late June weather, and Drew has the details.
The Kansas State coaching staff has mirrored the sweltering late June weather on the recruiting trail. They continue to prioritize speed and athletic potential over recruiting rankings and have landed some impressive athletes from out-of-the-way locations. Despite the transfer portal, Chris Klieman and the Wildcats are still a developmental program at heart. Based on the recent recruiting results, he’ll have plenty of talent to develop over the next several seasons.
In short, the haters are in shambles.
Nick McClellan – 6’0”, 170 – Defensive Back
High School: Christian Brothers College (St. Louis, MO)
Recruiting Industry Rating: 3* (85.44)
The first thing you’ll notice about Nick McClellan’s highlight reel is that it mostly features him playing quarterback. This is in line with the coaching staff’s “get the athletes and sort them out later” recruiting strategy. McClellan committed to the Wildcats over multiple listed Power 4 offers, including Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Iowa State.
The obvious comp for McClellan on the current K-State roster is former high school quarterback turned safety Wesley Fair. McClellan seems like a guy who could benefit from a year focusing solely on playing defensive back, but I’m always a fan of converted quarterbacks playing safety.
Lawson McGraw – 6’4”, 220 – Athlete
High School: Blue Valley West (Overland Park, KS)
Recruiting Industry Rating: Not currently rated
The last name Mcgraw should look familiar. Lawson’s father Jon McGraw played for Bill Snyder from 1997-2001. He started his career as a walk-on and finished his career as a second-round pick. Lawson chose Kansas State over an offer from Rice, but this feels like one of those “the writing is already on the wall, so why bother?” situations.
He fits perfectly with the theme of this class. I have no idea what position he’ll play at Kansas State. He’s currently listed at 6’4”, 220. Maybe he stays at that weight and plays strong safety. Maybe he adds a little weight and moves down to linebacker. Maybe he adds a little more weight and moves down to rush end. Maybe he plays tight end. McGraw is a football player, and he’s going to do football player things wherever you put him on the field. He’s also the type of player with deep ties to the program, which, in theory, should help with retention as he develops.
HD Davis – 6’0”, 205 – Running Back
High School: Wolfe City (Wolfe City, TX)
Recruiting Industry Rating: Not currently rated
The directions to Wolfe City High School involve turning left at the old gas station and right at a house that burned down twenty years ago. The fact that a school with an enrollment of 225 can field a full football team is impressive. Davis chose Kansas State over listed offers from Tulsa, UTEP, Navy, and Yale.
HD is the type of player I refer to as “a dream ender.” Mr. Davis has extinguished an untold number of small-town college football and NFL dreams. Sometimes you don’t understand what an elite-level athlete looks like until you see one up close. You can almost see guys having realizations on the field as HD runs past them like traffic cones.
His stats from last season are absurd to the point that I’m not sure how much they tell us other than “Davis is always the best athlete on the field and it’s never particularly close.” He put up 2900 total yards and 33 touchdowns last season and was shut down early in multiple games. I’m looking at a game from last season where he put up 245 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. In his team’s only district loss last season, he ran for 347 yards and five touchdowns on 25 carries in a 54-43 loss. It’s almost not fair.
The problem with guys like Davis is that it’s hard to judge how good they are because the competition is lacking. HD assuages some of those fears by having a legit, verified track speed. He doesn’t look fast because everyone else is slow; he looks fast because he’s fast.