K-State Q&A: Detroit transfer Antoine Davis, Maize QB Avery Johnson, Big 12 and more
An important recruiting decision is looming for the Kansas State men’s basketball team.
Antoine Davis, a 6-foot-1 Detroit transfer who averaged 23.9 points last season, is ready to announce his next destination on Monday. He is considering BYU, Georgetown, K-State and Maryland or a return to his previous school. Jerome Tang and K-State fans will be waiting until his announcement, because his choice could determine how much the Wildcats are able to improve next season.
With an elite scorer like Davis on the roster, K-State might be able to push for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats will need the right mixture of big men and role players to go along with him. But they would at least have a chance.
Without him, they may struggle to fill the scoring void left by Nijel Pack.
That’s not to say there aren’t other recruiting options out there for the Wildcats. They have also been linked to Missouri State transfer Isiaih Mosley, Wichita State transfer Dexter Dennis and Oklahoma transfer Umoja Gibson. Top 50 high school recruit Shawn Phillips is considering K-State, too.
Those would all be good additions, if K-State can land them.
But the Wildcats are approaching the finish line with Davis and he has been very complimentary of the Wildcats on social media. This is probably K-State’s best shot to add an impact player for next season.
It’s hard to project what the Wildcats will look like next season with only Markquis Nowell, Ismael Massoud, Dorian Finster, Nae’qwan Tomlin, Taj Manning, Cam Carter and Jerrell Colbert on the roster. But things would start coming into focus with Davis in the fold.
K-State fans originally hoped that Tang could build something good around Nowell and Pack in Year One. Perhaps he could do something similar around Nowell and Davis. But things will get harder if Nowell is the only proven scorer in the backcourt.
That’s why Monday is an important day for K-State basketball recruiting.
With that, it’s time for another K-State Q&A. Thanks, as always, for providing the questions.
It’s fair to say that K-State is the current favorite to land Avery Johnson.
The Wildcats have done a good job recruiting him from the very beginning, and the Maize quarterback seems to like the idea of playing for Collin Klein at the college level.
Most of the other schools Johnson was seriously interested in have picked up commitments from other 2023 quarterbacks by now, which leaves K-State with less competition for his services.
I would put the odds of Johnson ultimately signing with K-State at 70%.
But 70% is not 100%.
Oregon entering the mix this week complicates things for the Wildcats. The Ducks are coached by Dan Lanning, who knows this region well after growing up in Kansas City and playing linebacker at William Jewell College.
Kenny Dillingham is also Oregon’s offensive coordinator. That is significant because he was one of the first coaches from outside the Midwest to offer Johnson last year when he called plays at Florida State.
They have a good relationship.
Johnson has already been on an unofficial visit to Oregon. He clearly has interest in playing for the Ducks.
Notre Dame is also thought to be a factor. Perhaps it’s worth mentioning that Kansas is recruiting Johnson hard, too, but I highly doubt he ends up playing for the Jayhawks.
K-State is still the favorite, because he is the top quarterback on the Wildcats’ wish list. He feels like more of a backup plan for both Oregon and Notre Dame.
When I first began speaking to Johnson and his family about his recruitment, they gave me the impression that he would be perfectly content signing with K-State. But if a national power (like Oregon or Notre Dame) wanted him that option would need to be considered.
For now, K-State is in good position. But the Wildcats have competition to worry about now that Oregon is involved.
I’m not even sure the Big 12 will split into divisions, anymore.
The NCAA is considering new legislation that would allow the Big 12 to continue holding a conference championship between its two best two teams without first splitting into divisions, even with 12 or 14 teams.
I am in favor of no divisions if that gets passed.
Even though the league would have unbalanced scheduling, the best two teams could settle things on a neutral field at the end of every season. That sounds fair to me.
You could still schedule things out the same way as divisional scheduling could work. The Big 12 could make sure that K-State plays KU and Iowa State every year for football and twice a year for basketball, and then plays the rest of the league sporadically. Baylor could play more games against Houston, TCU and Texas Tech than West Virginia, for example.
Things may not be as cut and dry as with divisions, but at the end of the season you wouldn’t risk an undefeated team going up against a team with four losses for the title.
If the Big 12 decides to stick with divisions, I would be in favor of a North/South split.
North: BYU, Kansas, K-State, Cincinnati, Iowa State, West Virginia.
South: Baylor, Houston, TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, UCF.
But I’m also flexible. I would be just as happy with East/West or Original Big 12 members/Newcomers.
Big 12 athletic directors were presented with multiple options in March and couldn’t select a favorite. No divisions is sounding like a better idea already.
What to do with Oklahoma and Texas? Well, if they don’t bolt for the SEC early, they will likley need to be placed in opposite divisions for the sake of convenience. No one wants to re-write the divisions again after they leave.
They’re going to want to play each other. It’s possible the Big 12 could give them the ultimate middle finger and refuse to schedule the Red River Shootout, but that wouldn’t make ESPN and Fox very happy.
Ultimately, the Longhorns and Sooners will be able to share their thoughts on everything the conference does as long as they are members. But it will be up to everyone else to actually decide which way to go.
Unfortunately, no one at the Big 12 or the NCAA has contacted me about their vacant leadership positions ... yet.
I assume they are both saving the best candidate for last.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have much desire to run the NCAA other than the enormous paycheck that comes along with the job. What does the NCAA president do other than take blame for everything that goes wrong under his/her watch. Maybe there is more to it than that. But that’s all I ever knew about the tenure of Mark Emmert.
Big 12 commissioner is more my cup of tea, even if the pay isn’t quite as good.
If I could change one thing about both organizations ...
NCAA: Modify the First Four so that only at-large teams participate in the play-in event. Any team that earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament deserves a spot on the main bracket. Furthermore, very few people enjoy watching a pair of No. 16 seeds play each other in Dayton, Ohio every year. Give us four fun games between eight at-large teams, instead.
Big 12: Create a task force to identify and develop an elite crop of officials for both men’s basketball and football. Nobody thinks their conference has good officials, but pretty much everyone in the Big 12 footprint is convinced they have bad ones.
E-MAIL QUESTION: Two Kansas State football players were selected in the NFL Draft last weekend. What are the chances that Skylar Thompson and Russ Yeast heading to the league is the start of a new streak in which multiple Wildcats are getting picked every single year? - Andrew B.
Well, there is a good chance that K-State once again produces multiple draft picks in 2023.
Daniel Green will likely be ready to make a run at a pro career as a linebacker by then, unless he wants to return as a “super senior.” Other star players including Deuce Vaughn and Felix-Anudike Uzomah will be eligible to declare for the NFL Draft, if that is what they choose to do.
Then you’ve got other promising players like Julius Brents, Eli Huggins and maybe Malik Knowles.
Here’s guessing the streak reaches at least two.
I’m just glad you asked about a streak of “multiple draft picks.” The old streak that K-State championed for all those years included just one pick in a lot of those drafts. Sorry to those who loved it, but I thought that streak was overrated.
Producing one draft pick a year isn’t impressive.
Quick aside: It is better than not having a single NFL Draft selection like Texas this year. How the heck does that happen? Talk about embarrassing.
Georgia sent 15 players to the NFL this year. Fifteen!
That’s the same number of draft picks K-State has produced since 2013. Closing the talent gap on teams like that should be the priority for Chris Klieman. Not trying to send one player to the league each season.