The 2000 Kansas State Football Recruits

P/K Jared Brite - When Jared commited to K-State the Wildcats essentially got two athletes in one.  From Centennial High School in Bakersfield, California Brite is looking foraward to playing both football and baseball for the Wildcats.  Considered by many not only one of the top punters in the nation, Jared is a top pitching prospect as well who has received some major league attention. College will be his first priority though.  A PrepStar All-American, Brite averaged over 45 yards per punt this last season and was impressive at a summer camp at UCLA.  There his punts were regularly timed at over 4.4 seconds of hang time, and his best pooch punt had a hang time of nearly 5 seconds.  For the season he had 87% of his kickoffs go for touchbacks and he tied a local record with 11 FGs in 1999.  Brite is also ranked the No. 48 baseball prospect in the country by Baseball America and features at 90+ MPH fastball.

DE Alax Carrier - Touted by his coach as a "pass rushing terror", Carrier commited to the Wildcats on his January 14th weekend visit.  A key part of one of the best defenses in the Houston area at Cypress Falls High School, Alex added 25 pounds without losing his speed (a 4.5 40 yard dash) in between his junior and senior season.  Golden Eagles coach Wayne Hooks says he has a good frame to put on more weight in college.  Carrier had 54 tackles, including six sacks, with four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries on defense... and 21 receptions for 370 yards and four TDs as a tight end his senior season.  A all-region and Team MVP selection after his senior season, Alax was recruited by his future position coach for the Wildcats, Bob Fello.  He also had offers from Texas Tech, TCU, Iowa State and Texas A&M.

DB DeMarcus Faggins - DeMarcus should be a welcome addition to K-State's defensive backfield in the years to come.   It is thought he could come in and make an immediate impact despite the availability a redshirt season.   Coming out of Irving (Texas) High School in 1997, DeMarcus was coached there by Jim Bennett, is the brother of the Wildcat assistant Phil Bennett. For the Tigers DeMarcus was a two time all-district selection and 2nd team all-state selection as a senior.   His ties to the K-State program run deeper than the Bennett connection though, he's also good friends with current Wildcat cornerback Alan Walker, who signed in the 1999 class out of Irving's McArthur High School.  Faggins made his official visit to Manhattan early on the Novemeber 20th weekend.    The pre-season junior college All-American pick chose the Wildcats over Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas among others.

DE/LB Ken Greene - Ken commited to K-State on his visit during the December 10th weekend.  An Independence Community College (Kansas) product, Greene started every game for the Pirates as a freshman at defensive end, but was injured a good portion of his sophomore season when he moved to linebacker.  When he did hit the field Greene was a solid contributor, earning 2nd team All-Jayhawk Conference honors in limited action (just 5 games).  For the year Greene tallied about 50 tackles.   He will graduate in the spring and join the Wildcats for fall practices.  Ken was an all-state selection cming out of high school in Omaha, Texas.  Before making his decision, Oklahoma State, South Carolina and Minnesota were also under consideration.  Bob Fello recruited Greene for the Wildcats.

DE Mike Johnson -  One of three players from Boulder (CO.) Fairview High School to get a division-1 scholarship for football...Johnson had to wait the longest of the three to get his college choice finalized.  A participant in coach Snyder's summer camp in 1999, Mike had his eye on the K-State program long before that.  During his spring break last year Mike visited Manhattan, and during that time he spent more than an hour in Coach Snyder's office about K-State football and came away impressed.  He played the waiting game and it paid off, as the recruiting coordinator Greg Peterson (who also recruits the Colorado area) called with and offer in early January and Johnson jumped at the move.  While he could play on either side of the line in college, most project him as a defensive end.  He was an all-league pick on both sides of the line, but an all-state selection at defensive end. He's the first two way starter in the Fairview program since Tony Boselli, current Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman.  K-State was chosen over Colorado, Colorado State, Arizona State and Wyoming.

OL Nick Leckey - The Grapevine, Texas prospect set up a visit early with the Wildcats on the December 10th weekend.  Leckey wamted to commit to K-State, but left Manhattan with no offer.  That suddenly changed as soon as he was back home as K-State coaches called that Sunday night with an offer, and Leckey accepted. Nick has been an anchor on the Mustangs O-Line for the last 3 seasons playing at guard, two of those as an all-district selection. Was also an honorable mention all-state pick in '99.  Pre-season he was named one of the top 10 linemen in that state RecruitingNow (now Rivals100.com) Texas Super Team.  First Down recruiting lists him as the #5 OL in the state, and PrepStar tabs him as an All-American and their #13 OL in the midwest region .   In the post season Nick made nearly all of the top 100 lists in-state from the Houston Chronicle to the Dallas Morning News.  He plans to major in either engineering or business in college. Besides Kansas State, Leckey also had trips scheduled for Texas Tech, Texas and Missouri, those were cancelled following his verbal commitment. Nick was not only one of the top football players in the state as a senior, but also was an undefeated and state champion wrestler in Class 5A.

OL Ryan Schmuecker - The Wildcats reached into the heart of Husker country to sign Schmuecker (pronounced Shoe-mucker).  From Lincoln's Southeast High School, Ryan commited to the Wildcats on the official visit the December 17th weekend.   A starter since his sophomore year, Ryan has played nearly every position on the line for the Knights.  K-State recruited him to play center though, and possibly replace Randall Cummins after redshirting this season.   Shmuecker was an honorable mention all-state selection as a junior and moved up to all-state as a senior in Nebraska's largest high school classification (Class A). He's been singled out by many scouts for his run blocking technique.   The Wildcats, Colorado State, Iowa State and Nebraska were all involved with Ryan previous to his commitment.  He attended summer camps with the Cornhuskers and Rams before his senior season.

RB Josh Scobey - Was the only early commitment and signee for the Wildcats.  Scobey is originally from Del City, Oklahoma and signed with K-State out of high school in the 1998 class, but was placed at NEO due to academic problems.   As a freshman he led the Norsemen in rushing with nearly 12-hundred yards.   He came back as a sophomore and tacked on another thousand yards on his way to becoming the all time leading rusher and scorer for the Northeastern Oklahoma.   At Del City High Josh had over 19-hundred yards and 24 TD's his senior season.  He was considered one of the top dozen RB's in the nation coming out of high school by Max Emfinger, and was one of the top backs in the J.C. ranks in 1999 (Emfinger ranks him #3).  He's currently enrolled and will participate in spring work-outs.

LB Maurice Thurmond - A Fort Worth Dunbar High School Wildcat, and future K-State Wildcat...Maurice is a 3-time all-district selection in District 9-4A.  After a 53 tackle effort at LB in 1997 Thurmond was chosen the sophomore of the year in the district.  He then made the grade again as a LB in 1998 with 95 tackles.  However with Dunbar looking to establish a solid running game he was asked to move to running back as a senior. There he finished the season with 1,259 yards (averaging 7.5 yards/carry) and 18 touchdowns.  He did manage some time at linebacker though, and had 33 tackles and 5 sacks.  Maurice visited on the January 21st weekend and had said beforehand he planed on commiting to the Wildcats.  He left Manhattan without and offer, but was called by the coaching staff Tuesday night with an offer and he accepted.  K-State was chosen over Syracuse, Iowa State, and Texas Tech. Thurmond is from the same district as Wildcat LB Terry Pierce who is from Fort Worth's Eastern Hills High.

DT Jerry Togiai - Following a 2 year Mormon mission Togiai resurfaced at Ricks Community College and had a great sophomore season.   The 23 year old may have an age advantage on his opponents, but according to Ricks coach Ron Haun does not have an advantage when it comes to experience.   The speedy (4.85 40 yeard dash) 6-foot-4 295-pound defensive is fairly new the the game, he started playing at Roosevelt High in Honolulu where he was a four year starter. There he was also an all-state pick as a senior, and went on to be an second team all-region pick for the Vikings both his freshman and sophomore years at Ricks.  His stats were solid though, 83 tackles and 5 sacks this last season. Togiai took official visits to San Diego State, Oregon State, and UNLV before visiting Manhattan and later commiting.  Jerry will have 3 years to play 2 for the Wildcats, but may play right away.