DT Anthony Bates* - A mid-semester transfer from Phoenix CC (Arizona), Bates was the only recruit able to participate in Spring drills. Tabbed as too small (he's 6'1") coming out of high school, Bates decided to go to the Junior College ranks to prove his critics wrong. Two years later Bates, who grew up in Wichita before attending high school in the Phoenix area, is back in Kansas and prepared to make some noise for the Cats. Look of him to play both DT positions this fall. Bates also received interest from Boston College, New Mexico, and Brown.WR LaRoy Bias - A visit from Bias on the last official weekend of the recruiting period gained the Wildcats another bluechip commitment. Bias pledged to Colorado early in the recruiting year, however the coaching change there led him to open back up and look around. LaRoy split time his senior year at RB and WR on offense , rushing for over 600 yards and added about 300 yards receiving with 11 TD’s. Also he had 3 interceptions this past year at DB. He should play WR in college, where The National Recruting Advisor ranks him as one of the top 30 wideouts nationally, and PrepStar has LaRoy as one of their top 50 midlands bluechip prospects. Bias is also a great track athlete, he was state runner-up in the 400M (48.0 seconds) and 200M (21.7 seconds) dash (Note: Bias ran one of the top 5 HS time in the 200 last year: 21.39 seconds). LB Josh Buhl - The hard hitting Buhl chose K-State over Nebraska, Syracuse, Baylor, and others. He signed in Febrauary along with teammates LB Bryan Hickman and DL Corey White from North Mesquite High School in the Dallas area. Buhl was a top 100 pick in-state by both The Dallas Morning News and Houston Chronicle. He was also a Fab 55 pick bt the Austin American-Statesman, and was a finalist for the Lone Star state defensive player of the year in Class 5A. Nationally he’s ranked the #19 LB prospect by PrepAmerica, and is considered a top 15 weak side LB recruit by The National Recruiting Advisor and Max Emfinger. Buhl tallied 156 tackles his junior year (including 3 games with at least 20 tackles), and had 128 tackles as a senior. DL/OL Jason Cedeno - A teammate of fellow signee Ell Roberson at Baytown, Texas Lee High School, Cedeno was a surprise name to show up on K-State signing days list. Along with Ell he was a 3 year starter who was honored by the Greater Houston Touchdown Club as a member of their All-Greater Houston team. The big lineman will not be suiting up in a Wildcat uniform next year however. "Mongo" as his teammates call him has not qualified academically and will placed at Navarro, Texas Community College later in the year in hopes he signs with the Cats again in 2001.WR Derrick Evans - Considered one of the top 10 receivers in the Big 12 region, Evans was a pre-season All-American pick by PrepStar as a senior. A '98 K-State summer summer camp participant, Derrick had 39 catches for 556 yards and 5 TD's his senior season. One of his coaches at Montbello HS was former Denver Broncos cornerback Louie Wright who raves about Evans, saying if there's a better receiver in the nation, he would like to see him. Derrick also played basketball and ran track for Montbello and led his 400M relay team to the State Championship in '99. Current Wildcat Da’Von Brame is also from Montbello. Evans chose K-State over Colorado, Colorado State, Arizona State, Washington State, and Michigan. DT Mario Fatafehi - Named a 1st team Junior College All-American by both the NJCAA and JC Gridwire at Snow Community College in Ephraim, Utah...Mario originally pledged to BYU. Howver an Decemeber official visit to Manhattan changed his mind. He was recruited by BYU, Nebraska, Arizona State, Washington, and Washington State amoung others. Fatafehi (pronounced FOUGHT-A-fay-he) has 3 years to play 2, but the coaches are looking for him to come in and make an immediate impact with the possibility of stepping in for Damion McIntosh at DT (McIntosh will move to the OL).OL John Gardner - From Dodge City via Olathe, John is considered to be one of the top 5 offensive line prospects in Missouri-Kansas region according to MO-KAN Football. A stable, dependable lineman with good footwork, Gardner gave up just 1 sack in his final 2 years of high school. John's also been a stellar special teams player for Dodge City, blocking 8 field goals and extra points in just his senior season. He says he will reshirt next season to add some more bulk to his 6’10" 280 pound frame. Gardner will major in Engineering, and he chose between the Wildcats over Kansas, Colorado, Colorado State, and Northwestern.RB Joe Hall - Hall is a big, bruising running back who many teams recruited as a blocker or move to the defensive line. Joe wanted nothing of that however, saying he didn’t want to be "a glorified offensive lineman". A JUCO All-American at Palomar (CA.) College, Hall gained over 18-hundred yards in the California JUCO ranks this past season. He also averaged over 25 touches a game (and an average per touch of over 5 yards) on what is considered a pass-happy offensive attack for Palomar. A pretty good baseball player as well, Joe was drafted by the Detroit Tigers coming out of Artesia High School in Lakewood, California. Joe was recruited by teams such as UCLA and Colorado as a fullback, but chose KSU over UNLV, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Utah. LB Bryan Hickman - One of 3 commitments from North Mesquite HS in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, Hickman is a Dallas Morning News Texas 100 and Houston Chronicle Top 100 pick and is listed as one of the top 35 Inside Linebackers by The National Recruiting Advisor. Bryan tallied 147 tackles (10 of those for a loss) and 7 sacks his senior season for the Stalions. Following the season his team chose Hickman as their defensive MVP. He chose the Wildcats over Missouri, Syracuse, Arizona State and Texas A&M among others.TE Thomas Hill - An early commit to the Wildcats, Hill has been playing organized football for just the past 2 years, but during that time has made a big impact. That impact includes being named All-State and All-American by Prep Star following his senior season. His senior season he had a team leading 20 receptions for 375 yards and 5 touchdowns for Tulsa's Hale High School. Hill has very soft hands, and possesses great blocking skills. Also letter in high school in Baseball, Basketball and Tennis at Hale. Hill was a partipant in the Oil Bowl All Star game, where he had a TD catch.DE Cliff Holloman - A JUCO All-American, and considered one of the top 5 junior college propsects by SuperPrep, Holloman will follow his former head coach at Garden City CC (Jim Gush) to K-State. He's a cousin of K-State signee RB Rashad Jackson, and is originally from Wichita. K-State's coaches call Cliff, who once picked up 6 QB sacks in a Garden City-Hutch JUCO game, a difference maker on the defense. He was also recruited heavily by Kansas, Tennessee, Purdue, and Houston. Cliff enters K-State with 3 years to play 2. OL Oshin Honarchian - "Big Oshin" as his friends and teammates call him was a 2nd team JUCO All-American this past season at Pasadena CC (California). He chose the Cats over South Carolina in what was one of the more humorous recruiting stories of this year. After visiting South Carolina the weekend before, Oshin later commited to coach Snyder over lunch, while Lou Holtz was outside waiting to talk to Honarchian. Oshin is considered one of the top 100 JUCO player and a top 10 O-linemen by to SuperPrep. While currently listed at just 280, K-State coaches expect Honarchian to tip the scales at 300 pounds when arriving in Manhattan this fall. His coach at Pasadena also coached former Wildcats Cody Lee Smith and Gavin Peries.DL/LB/FB Thomas Houchin - Houchin visited Manhattan on the last weekend before the signing day dead period and commited that weekend. Originally a Tulsa commit, Houchin is listed as a top 100 Dallas Area recruit by the Dallas Morning News. Over the past two years he’s been named a All-Area and All-District selection at three positions (DE,LB, and FB). At Fullback last year he averaged an impressive 11.5 yards per carry, and wasn't bad on the defensive side of the ball either, tallying 107 tackles (13 per game) and 4 sacks. He's the first player from the Sanger program to sign a Division 1 scholarship. Thomas is expected to start out in the program at DE, but could just as easily move to the other positions. Besides Tulsa, Houchin had Miami and Rice near the top of his list. Thomas was chosen to play for Texas in the 1999 Oil Bowl High School All Star game.RB Rashad Jackson - Jackson is considered to be the top Running Back prospect in Kansas rushing for over 27-hundred yards over the past two seasons at Wichita Northwest and a high school is Biloxi, Mississippi. While in Mississippi he was rated as one of the best backs in that area while rushing for over 13-hundred yards. His senior year he came back the Wichita, and to show that was not a fluke added nearly 14-hundred yards and over 20 more TD's to his resume. The PrepStar All-American was named team MVP his sophomore, junior and senior years.
WR Ricky Lloyd - A last minute signee in the 1999 class, Lloyd hails from West Los Angeles Community College and will more than likely redshirt the 1999 season. Out of Fremont High School in Los Angeles where he graduated in 1996, Lloyd initially did not attend college. Now, following two stand out seasons at the junior college level he'll attempt to make it at division-1. He's a burner who runs a 10.5 100 Meter and 21.2 200 Meter. Arizona State was the only other school to look at Lloyd for a D-1 scholarship. Ricky visited the K-State campus this summer and commited shortly after.
OL Matt Martin - Martin was one of a trio of signees who visited Manhattan on the weekend of January 29th. At 6’6" and 260lbs., Martin may appear small for an offensive line position, but while he was considered small in size he’s picked up some pretty good credentials along the way. The Huntington Beach, California native started all 22 games of his career for Long Beach City College and was this past year named an all-district and honorable mention All-American. During his high school career he never gave up a sack. Martin does have a redshirt year available, so look for him to sit out this year while putting on some extra weight to battle in the Big 12 trenches.OL Kale Miller* - While this is not a name I have been listing this entire recruiting season, it should be noted that Kale is currently enrolled at K-State. He signed with the Cats coming out of Fort Osage, Missouri (same HS as Eric Everly) on Signing Day 1998, but injured himself in two a days early on this past season and decided to enroll in the Spring so that he could have a true redshirt year to get bulked up (rather than recovering from the injury). He's listed a 6'7" 290.FB/LB Justin Montgomery - Justin, who's a cousin of Mark Simoneau, also a former standout at Smith Center High School, continues the tradition of great linebackers from that school coming to K-State. Originally plans were for Montgomery to walk-on at Nebraska, but following an impressive performance in the 1999 Kansas Shrine Bowl and a re-evaluation by K-State's coaches he was offered a scholarship in early August and accepted. Last season Montgomery played mostly at fullback, rushing for over 12-hundred yards and 28 TD's while playing very little at LB. He could play a few positions for the Wildcats, also including some action on the defensive line.
RB Danny Morris - from Tulsa Union HS, the same school as current Wildcat Chris Claybon, Morris is believed to be the top RB prospect Oklahoma, and was ranked as one of the top 10 RB's in the nation before his senior season. He broke nearly every rushing and scoring record in his 3 year varsity career at Union. Morris amassed over 23-hundred yards and 32 TD’s this past season alone while leading Union to the state finals. Following that great effort Max Emfinger listed Morris as the #12 RB in the nation. However, some believe he may not line up behind the QB in college, pointing out he could be an excellent WR, as shown by his 9 receptions for 230 yards and 3 TD’s to go along with those impressive running numbers. Morris was also recruited heavily by Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Colorado State. LB Terry Pierce - An original commit to Missouri, Pierce changed his mind after new defensive coordinator Phil Bennett convinced Pierce to take an official visit towards the end of January. Apparently Bennett's new D and some slick salesmanship from Dr. Welfald convinced Terry Manhattan was the place to be. Pierce is considered on of the top 100 prospects in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro-Plex by The Dallas Morning News, and was also named a member of the Waco Tribune-Herald's Lone Star 100+ his senior year. A team MVP his sophomore, junior and senior years at Western Hills HS, Terry had 3 games his with over 20 tackles his senior year, and averaged 14 tackles per game in his career. Pierce was the lone K-State representative in the CALTEX Shrine All-Star game. Ell Roberson was also named to the team, but did not play.FB Brandt Quick - Brandt is the first Wildcat recruit from Louisiana to sign with the Cats since running backs coach Michael Smith started recruiting the area hard the past 2-3 seasons. Brandt tallied over 17-hundred yards his senior season for Jesuit HS (the alma matter of Smith as well). His top game his senior year was a 260 yard 2 TD effort for Jesuit. Recruiting guru Max Emfinger lists Brandt as one of his top 20 selection at the FB position. Quick was also recruited by Tulane, Michigan State, Northwestern and LSU.OL Ben Rettele - A Bill Snyder signing day suprise, Rettelle was an All-state selection for Sabetha High School his senior year after being receiving an honorable mention all-state award his junior year. A 3 year starter and participant of Coach Snyder's summer camps, Rettele will be a participant in this years Kansas Shrine Bowl All-Star Game. He was also a 4 year track letterwinner at Sabetha.QB Ell Roberson III - Where do we start with Ell? Well, he's ranked as a top 25 QB prospect by nearly every national recruiting organization (PrepAmerica, National Recruiting Advisor, Max Emfinger)...and picked up a whole trophy case of awards his senior season. He was named the top offensive player in the Lone Star State by the Houston Chronicle, Texas Sportswriters Association, and Touchdown Club of Houston after accounting for over 68-hundred yards in total offense and 80 TD's as a 3 year starter for Baytown Lee High School. Ell was a participant in Bill Snyder's football camp this past summer and has been on the Wildcats short list for some time. Still, as with almost every great athlete there was quite a recruiting battle. K-State won out over Arizona, Notre Dame, and Missouri. Ell was selected to participate in this years CALTEX Shrine High School All-State game, but chose to not play. DE/TE Andrew Shull - An early commit to the Wildcats, Shull is one of the most heralded defensive linemen in the Midwest region. He's been named the state's top DE the past 2 years. Shull, who was named a high school All-American by PrepStar, is from the same high school as former Nebraska All-American Grant Wistrom, and broke nearly all of his records at Webb City High School. His senior year totaled 120 tackles and 12 sacks, and he had 122 tackles his junior year while helping his team to a perfect 14-0 record and the state title. Also knows how to handle the ball on the offensive side, as a TE he had 9 receptions for 150 yards and 5 TD's as a Junior.CB Alan Walker - "He runs like a deer and he'll also knock the heck out of you" is the way an assistant coach at Irving's MacArthur High School describes Alan Walker. Walker originally commited to TCU early in January, feeling the need to stay close to home because his father's health problems. That pledge however did not stop teams from calling, and about 2 weeks later he took an official visit to Manhattan. At 6'1", Walker add some much needed size to the cover corner position. He was a 4 year starter for MacArthur HS and a team captain this past year. Besides TCU, Walker was also taking a serious look at Iowa, Colorado, and Ohio State. S/ATH Rashad Washington - Perhaps the most versatile athlete of this class, Washington played RB and CB at Wichita's Southwest High School, but is projected to move to either Safety of Wide Receiver in college. It's easy to see why MO-KAN Football named Washington the top player overball in the two state region. Last year he rushed for over 13-hundred yards and 20 TD's, but his defensive numbers are just as good. Also named an honorable mention All-USA pick by USA Today. K-State and Arizona were in a huge recruiting battle until Washington pledged to K-State. He credited the recruiting efforts of assistant coach Mo Latimore and his wanting to stay close to home as the reasons for his commitment. Should be noted he's also considered one of the top basketball prospects in the Sunflower State. DL/LB Corey White - Corey chose the Wildcats over Missouri and Oklahoma State. However, due to grade problems he will not be able to attend K-State right away, instead coaches placed him at Navarro Community College in Corsicana, Texas in hopes he will sign again in 2 years with the Cats. Corey's rated as one of the top 20 "Quick" Defensive Tackles in the nation by Max Emfinger. WR George Williams - Another one of those late January visitors to commit, Williams caught 46 passes for over 1,100 yards and 17 TD's for Butte CC (California) last year, those numbers top his freshman season of 49 receptions for 1,036 yards and 13 TD's. A day after making his original commitment he said he was waivering a bit because Pittsburgh was putting on the press, and he liked the idea of being able to play closer to home (he's originally from Connecticut). However, a day later he said he was solidly in the Wildcats camp and was looking forward to continuing the stong tradition of Wildcat wide receivers. Also a great track athlete, he set a national age group record in the 800M in high school (1:51.6 seconds) :Has been confirmed player has signed letter of intent. | WR | Ricky Lloyd | West Los Angeles CC (California) | 5'10" | 160 | 4.40 |
| DL | Justin Montgomery | Smith Center, Kansas | 6'1" | 231 | 4.70 |
| DE | Cliff Holloman | Garden City CC (Kansas) | 6'4" | 275 | 4.75 |
| DT/LB | Corey White | Mesquite, Texas (North) | 6'3" | 265 | 4.80 |
| OL | Matt Martin | Long Beach City College (California) | 6'6" | 257 | 4.90 |
| DE | Thomas Houchin | Sanger, Texas | 6'3" | 233 | 4.80 |
| WR | LaRoy Bias | Aurora, Colorado (Smokey Hill) | 6'0" | 161 | 4.40 |
| WR | George Williams | Butte CC (California) | 6'1" | 181 | 4.38 |
| RB | Joe Hall | Palomar CC (California) | 6'2" | 265 | 4.59 |
| LB | Terry Pierce | Fort Worth, Texas (Western Hills) | 6'3" | 250 | 4.60 |
| OL | Oshin Honarchian | Pasadena CC (California) | 6'5" | 290 | 5.20 |
| QB | Ell Roberson III | Baytown, Texas (Lee) | 6'0" | 190 | 4.50 |
| DB | Alan Walker | Irving, Texas (MacArthur) | 6'1" | 175 | 4.50 |
| FB | Brandt Quick | Mandeville, LA. (New Orleans Jesuit) | 6'1" | 233 | 4.70 |
| S/ATH | Rashad Washington | Wichita, Kansas (Southeast) | 6'4" | 200 | 4.40 |
| RB | Danny Morris | Broken Arrow, OK. (Tulsa Union) | 5'11" | 200 | 4.40 |
| SS/LB | Josh Buhl | Mesquite, Texas (North) | 6'0" | 182 | 4.40 |
| DL | Mario Fatafehi | Snow CC (Utah) | 6'3" | 307 | 4.95 |
| RB | Rashad Jackson | Wichita, Kansas (Northwest) | 5'10" | 188 | 4.40 |
| DT | Anthony Bates* | Phoenix CC (Arizona) | 6'1" | 280 | 4.80 |
| OL | John Gardner | Dodge City, Kansas | 6'10" | 305 | 5.00 |
| WR | Derrick Evans | Denver, Colorado (Montbello) | 5'11" | 160 | 4.40 |
| LB | Bryan Hickman | Mesquite, Texas (North) | 6'2" | 205 | 4.60 |
| DL/TE | Andrew Shull | Webb City, Missouri | 6'5" | 228 | 4.79 |
| TE | Thomas Hill | Tulsa, Oklahoma (Hale) | 6'5" | 256 | 4.80 |
| OL | Kale Miller* | Fort Osage, Missouri | 6'7" | 290 | 5.00 |
| OL | Ben Rettele | Wetmore, Kansas (Sabetha High) | 6'7" | 282 | 5.00 |
| DT | Jason Cedeno | Baytown, Texas (Lee) | 6'4" | 295 | 5.10 | Navarro CC (Texas) |
| DT | Corey White | Mesquite, Texas (North) | 6'3" | 275 | 4.80 | Navarro CC (Texas) |
| DB | Errick Wilson | Houston, Texas (Madison) | 6'0" | 170 | 4.55 | Ranger CC (Texas) |
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