The 2000 K-State Football Walk-ons
Spring
| DB | Cliff Martin | Hutchinson Community College | Leavenworth, KS. | 5-10 | 195 |
Fall
| Clint Absher | Permian High | Odessa, TX. | 280 | Fr. | ||
| Eric Blevens | Seaman High | Topeka, KS. | 235 | Fr. | ||
| Kelly Condray | Minneapolis High | Minneapolis, KS. | 200 | Fr. | ||
| Austin DeGarmo | Garden City CC | Rolla, KS. | 217 | Jr. | ||
| Lee File | Beloit High | Beloit, KS. | 255 | Fr. | ||
| Huston Harms | Blue Valley NW High | Overland Park, KS. | 215 | Fr. | ||
| Ben Hesse | Moses Lake High | Moses Lake, WA. | 270 | Fr. | ||
| Ben Hunter | Roosevelt High School | San Antonio, TX. | 275 | Fr. | ||
| Braden Irvin | St. John High | St. John, KS. | 190 | Fr. | ||
| Jerad Johnson | Colby High | Colby, KS. | 205 | Fr. | ||
| Jason Lembright | Dodge City CC | Dodge City, KS. | 185 | Jr. | ||
| Rob Mamula | West Linn High | West Linn, OR. | 235 | Fr. | ||
| Chris Post | Garden City CC | Hugoton, KS. | 200 | Jr. | ||
| Ryan Rose | Lyons High | Lyons, KS. | 185 | Fr. | ||
| Henry Thomas | Dulles High | Missouri City, TX. | 185 | Fr. | ||
| Mike Trehey | Bishop Ward High | Kansas City, KS. | 270 | Fr. | ||
| Russ Vanover | Newton High | Newton, KS. | 185 | Fr. | ||
| Chris Wheatley | Free State High School | Lawrence, KS. | 180 | Fr. | ||
| Vernon Wiley | Belleville High | Belleville, KS. | 180 | Fr. |
Profiles on just a few of the players...
OL Clint Absher - Absher is a '99 graduate of Permian High School, and was an all-district and 2nd team All-State pick for the Panthers. He later signed with Abilene Christian, but did not end up playing for the Wildcats.
DB Kelly Condray - Kelly is the brother of current Wildcat TE Joel Condray.
FB Austin DeGarmo - Austin was an honorable mention All-Jayhawk Conference selection as a sophomore for the Broncbusters.
DL Lee File - Lee was a '99 Kansas Shrine Bowl participant and All-State Class 3A pick who was to walk-on at Nebraska last year, instead he'll be walking on for the Wildcats this season.
LB Huston Harms - Huston was born and grew up in South Africa before moving to the Kansas City area at age 11. As a senior at Blue Valley Northwest he was named the East Kansas League defensive player of the year and was also an All-Metro Kansas City and all-state pick at linebacker. Before the season MO-KAN Football selected Harms to their High School Super 35 list, and he was ranked as one of the top 10 defensive end/linebacker recruits in the two state area. Harms also punted for Northwest, averaging over 32 yards per kick. His talents go far beyond football though as he is also a standout in swimming (All-Johnson County) and track. Huston was selected to participate in this summer's Kansas Shrine Bowl All-State Game. While Huston will not be on scholarship for the 2000 season, he will be starting in 2001.
OL Ben Hesse- From Moses Lake, Washington...Hesse was an honorable mention all-league selection in 1998 before moving up a classification (Class 3A to Class 4A) in '99. In the Big 9 League in '99 Moses Lake finished with a 4-5 record. Hesse not only gets the job done on the field, but in the classroom where he had a 1300 SAT score.
DL Ben Hunter- An All-State Class 5A pick by the Texas Sports Writers and Associated Press as a senior, Hunter had the stats to back up that lofty award. Ben was a force for the Roosevelt Rough Riders on their way to a 9-2 record with 95 tackles (53 solo-18 for loss) and 3 forced fumbles. That follows a junior season where he had 53 stops and was an all-district pick. Hunter was also a top wrestler in Texas in the 275 pound class last season, losing in the state finals to fellow Wildcat Nick Leckey from Grapevine. The Texas High School Coaches Association also honored him by choosing Hunter as an honorable mention pick to their academic All-State team.
DB Braden Irvin - It's hard enough to get big time college attention while playing small school football in Kansas, then add on playing for a team that doesn't win a game all year long. Braden Irvin was a bright spot for the 0-9 Saint John Tigers in '99. He did a little bit of everything for the Tigers, leading his team in both rushing and tackles (119 as a senior). His future at K-State appears to be in the secondary. This Hutchinson News article about Irvin is a suggested read.
DB Jerad Johnson - It's unclear where Johnson will play for the Wildcats...he was all over the field this past season for Colby. An All-State Class 4A pick at QB for the Wichita Eagle and at LB for the Topeka Capital-Journal...he also saw some action at TE and RB for the Eagles. Behind center Johnson was 88-of-194, throwing for 1,220 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also topped the team in tackles with 114 tackles on defense. Jerad was the 4A state champ in the Javelin (193'-10") in his senior year as well. Look for him in this year's Kansas Shrine Bowl playing for the West squad. The Hays Daily News recently had a good article about Johnson and the Shrine Bowl.
WR Jason Lembright - A '94 Dodge City High School graduate, Lembright spent four years in the Marines and two at Dodge City CC before finding his way to Manhattan. While in the Marines Jason wrote to coach Snyder asking if he could walk-on for the Wildcats, and Snyder suggested some junior college experience first. Now, at age 23 Lembright is getting his chance to follow his father who played for the Wildcats in the 70s. On a Conquistadors team that was only able to put up one win last year Jason had 14 receptions for 195 yards.
FB Rob Mamula - Oregon's defensive player of the year in class 4A (the state's high classification), Mamula's future at K-State appears to be at Fullback. A starter both ways for West Linn since his sophomore season, Mamula was also a third team all-state pick following his junior year when he tallied 110 tackles and four sacks at linebacker. He's also a devastating blocker though, with 40 pancake blocks at fullback. Rob was getting some big time division one looks following an impressive summer recruiting combine, and picking up top linebacker honors at the Indiana Hoosiers summer camp...but scholarship offers never materialized. He's a state champion in the shot put and had the best distance in the state for both the shot and discus in the 2000 track and field season. Mamula is originally from Lewisville, Texas.
DB Cliff Martin - Martin was one of three players to walk on in the spring, but is currently the only one who it appears will stick around for the opening of the season. With a couple of players in front of him on the depth chart banged up and unable to play in the spring scrimage Cliff saw a lot of time on the field and made an impression with the fans. He finished second in tackles on the 2nd team defense with 7 (2 unassisted, 5 assists).
DB Henry Thomas - While he'll be playing defensive back for the Wildcats, Thomas made the most noise at running back in high school. As a junior and senior for the Vikings Thomas had over 2-thousand yards and 20 TDs in total offense.
LS Russ Vanover - Russ was an All-Ark Valley and Honorable Mention Class 5A pick at DL as a senior. A very good track athlete, Vanover finished 5th in the 110m high hurdles and 2nd in the Javelin at the state meet. Russ was also the long snapper for the Railers.
RB Chris Wheatley - Wheatley was a 2nd team All-Sunflower league selection at running back following a senior season with 744 yards (averaging 6.4 yards per carry) and 8 TDs. First team selections included K-State 2001 commit Darren Sproles (Olathe North) and Wheatley's teammate Jake Lawrence, who signed with defending JUCO National Champion Butler County. As a junior Chris had 96 carries for 566 yards 4 TDs. He was chosen to play in the Kansas City Metro Classic, but was unable to due to off-season toe surgery.
WR Vernon Wiley - A 4 year starter for the Buffaloes, Vernon has piled up some pretty impressive numbers all over the field. His sophomore season he had over 12-hundred yard at 8 TD's while starting at WR, then as a junior he moved to RB and has virtually the same results with just under 12-hundred yards and 13 TD's. He also managed had 5 INTs playing defensive back. Last year Vernon moved over to play QB and excelled there too, rushing for 1,163 yards and 13 TDs and completing 20 of 40 passes for 386 yards, 5 TDs and 2 INTs. Add to that 5 more INTs and 55 tackles on defense as a senior. His skills don't stop with the pigskin though, he's also a very good basketball player who averaged nearly 20 points per game while leading his team to the state championship as a junior. Wiley was an All-Class 3A pick in both football and basketball his senior season, and will participate in the Kansas Shrine Bowl for the West team. Wiley was the focus of a recent Salina Journal article.
Who am I missing? Do you know of a walk-on who is not listed? Let me know. Also, should any of the information be wrong, or you have something to add, please don't hesitate to E-Mail me. Enjoy!
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Last Updated: 8/8/00
