K-State basketball recruiting heats up with important visits as football begins

Football season is an important recruiting time for Bruce Weber and the Kansas State men’s basketball team, so it should come as no surprise that two important prospects are visiting this weekend.

Luke Kasubke and Davion Bradford will both begin official recruiting visits to K-State on Friday.

They interestingly have a lot in common. They are each from St. Louis and play as teammates for MOKAN Elite during the summer AAU circuit.

Luke Kasubke

Kasubke is a 6-foot-4 wing with a three-star rating on most recruiting sites. Rivals ranks him as the No. 144 recruit in the 2020 class.

K-State coaches have shown interest in Kasubke for quite a while. He was in attendance when the Wildcats clinched a Big 12 championship by beating Oklahoma last season and is familiar with Bramlage Coliseum.

But he has been busy on other recruiting visits lately. Kasubke recently took visits to Loyola Chicago and Saint Louis.

K-State seems to be in good shape with Kasubke, but he is also getting looks from Creighton, Illinois and Missouri.

Davion Bradford

Bradford is a bigger recruiting target, both in size and reputation.

The 7-foot center checks in at No. 133 in the 2020 class, per Rivals, and boasts 17 scholarship offers. Arizona State, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Saint Louis and Missouri are some of the other schools interested in his services.

Bradford plans to visit Missouri in two weeks, but K-State will get the first opportunity to woo him with an official visit.

The Wildcats will have a lot to show both Bradford and Kasubke.

Former players Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade are expected to be in attendance for K-State’s football game against Nicholls on Saturday night when the Wildcats honor the entire basketball team for winning a conference championship last season.

If Bradford and Kasubke both leave Manhattan impressed they could decide to return as teammates next year.

K-State is expected to have three available scholarships to use in its 2020 class. The Wildcats secured their first pledge of this recruiting cycle from Indianapolis point guard Nijel Pack over the summer.

On the football front

With 18 commitments already secured for the 2020 recruiting cycle, Chris Klieman isn’t desperate to land any more pledges this weekend.

His first game as K-State football coach is actually expected to help build relationships with younger players that might be on the team’s recruiting radar next year and beyond.

The Wildcats are expected to have around 25 recruits on the sideline for the Nicholls game, but the only prospects on official visits have already committed. K-State will try to remind them why they chose the Wildcats and make a good impression on the rest of the group.

A strong showing, along with some new gameday excitement, could help build a foundation with future recruits.

This story was originally published August 30, 2019 at 12:43 PM.