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Shawnee Mission South basketball standout Will Spradling never wavered after making an oral commitment to Kansas State before his junior season, and he made it official Wednesday, signing a national letter of intent to play for K-State next year.
"Even since I've been committed, it's just grew even more that I wanted to go there," Spradling said following an after-school signing ceremony in the SM South library.
A nearly 6-foot-3 point guard, Spradling has been a fixture on the court for the Raiders since his freshman season while emerging into one of the top players in the Kansas City area over the last couple of years.
He scored 23.2 points per game as a junior, while being limited to 11 games last season because of a calf injury, and averaged 17.2 points and 4.9 assists as a sophomore.
K-State was the first Division I program to offer a scholarship to Spradling, who also took visits to Virginia, Virginia Tech and UNLV, his father Shannon Spradling said.
"We're excited to have Will as part of the program," K-State coach Frank Martin said Wednesday afternoon. "He raced in and pledged his oath to us a long time ago, and those are the kind of guys we want here at K-State."
Spradling, who is a skilled outside shooter and demonstrates excellent court vision, believes he could have the opportunity for early playing time at K-State. That's one of several factors that appealed to him.
"I like the coaches, and then I like how the team's just like a family down there," Spradling said. "I go down and visit a lot, and they've actually already pretty much put me in the family, and I feel real comfortable."
By early Wednesday evening, K-State had not receive a letter from Shane Southwell, a 6-6 guard from New York who said he would sign with K-State.
Woolridge signs with KU — In the euphoria after the Kansas Jayhawks won the 2008 national championship, KU coach Bill Self was on the phone with a high school sophomore from Phoenix who really wanted to play for Self starting in the fall of 2010.
Self hadn't seen Royce Woolridge play, but KU assistant Kurtis Townsend had. Townsend liked what he saw in Woolridge, a 6-foot-3 combo guard, and hey, life was good, so why not? Self offered Woolridge a scholarship, Woolridge accepted, and for the last year and a half, neither side has budged on their mutual interest.
"That one was easier than most," Self said. "He's been loyal and certainly has done everything we asked him to do from a loyalty standpoint. He was the first one to jump onboard, and we have a lot of appreciation for that."
Woolridge, the son of former NBA player Orlando Woolridge, has had plenty of time to think about what he wants to accomplish at KU on and off the court.
"I'm gonna major in business," Woolridge said. "I want to have my own clothing line. That would be real cool. I want to look towards opening my own shop."
As a player, Woolridge has great range on his outside shot and is able to create off the dribble. He is rated a three-star recruit and the No. 31 shooting guard in the country and the No. 117 overall player by Rivals.com.
"But you watch," Self said, "when the rankings come out at the end of the year, he'll be one of those guys that has a chance to be a top-50 player."
Self said he hopes to sign two more players in this class.
