K-State Q&A: Big 12 football, Bramlage Coliseum naming rights, transfer hunt and more

How much money would you pay for Kansas State to slap your name on the side of its basketball arena?

That is a question we all must ask ourselves now that the Wildcats are seeking to sell the naming rights to Bramlage Coliseum in exchange for a lucrative paycheck.

Personally, I don’t love the idea of changing the name of a college arena for money. But I don’t absolutely hate it, either. I understand why athletic director Gene Taylor is exploring this possibility. K-State is coming off one of its best years ever, Chris Klieman and Jerome Tang are getting hefty raises and it’s going to take more money to pay for continued success.

Many other college venues have chosen this path (United Supermarkets Arena at Texas Tech, State Farm Center at Illinois and KFC Yum! Center in Louisville are three that come to mind) and those sponsorship arrangements didn’t do anything to detract from the basketball played inside them.

If K-State can secure an extra $1 million per year by taking Fred Bramlage’s name off the building and replacing it with, say, Varsity Donuts then I get it.

My only question is why K-State is OK doing this but still won’t sell beer throughout the football stadium on Saturdays.

I do wonder which companies will be interested in partnering with K-State. Dillon’s Grocery Store Coliseum would make a great rival for Texas Tech. Varsity Donuts Coliseum could fill the void left by Dunkin Donuts losing the naming rights to the arena in Providence, Rhode Island. What about Vista Burger or John Deere or the Kansas Beef Council?

Better yet, what if Jacob Pullen put some money together and got his name on the arena. His jersey still wouldn’t be retired, but maybe that would no longer be necessary if K-State was playing inside Pullen Coliseum.

The possibilities really are endless. For enough money, any fan could conceivably secure the naming rights.

If I put in a bid, I would want my Twitter handle on the side of the arena — @KellisRobinett Coliseum. Sadly, I looked into sponsoring my son’s little league baseball team this summer and balked at the price tag. So I probably can’t make a competitive offer.

But maybe you can.

I say go for it!

Now, let’s move onto your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.

I get it.

Big 12 media members gave Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors to a KU football player and that doesn’t sit right with anyone in this state who likes to wear purple.

But I’m not so sure Will Howard got snubbed earlier this week.

Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy was the only unanimous selection on offense for the preseason All-Big 12 team. In hindsight, it seems like he probably deserved to win the award.

A case could also be made for Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel. When a loyal reader asked me to rank Big 12 quarterbacks a few weeks back, I had him ranked ahead of both Daniels and Howard.

I don’t necessarily think he’s a better player, but I do think he will put up better stats this season.

Let’s also cool it with the whole “Jalon Daniels is a fraud” argument. He led all of college football in the QBR stat least season. Maybe he did peak in Game 5 before he got hurt, but he’s clearly not a hack.

The argument for Howard is that he helped the Wildcats win a Big 12 championship last season while throwing for 1,633 yards and 15 touchdowns in just seven games.

Not too shabby. By comparison ...

Daniels had 2,014 yards and 18 touchdowns in nine games.

Gabriel had 3,168 yards and 25 touchdowns in 12 games.

Worthy caught 60 passes for 760 yards and nine touchdowns in 13 games.

I would probably lean toward Gabriel, but there isn’t an obvious choice for the award. That led us to an unusual selection from the Jayhawks.

Too bad it didn’t give us a truly contrarian pick ... like Cooper Beebe.

Sadly, no one is in an uproar about Beebe here. In all seriousness, a case could also be made for the K-State offensive lineman to receive the honor. I know he doesn’t play a skill position and at least one person out there left him off their ballot. But he’s an All-America talent and the defending Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year.

He’s also the best player on the Big 12 champs.

Maybe we should be asking why Beebe wasn’t named Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in the Big 12.

Daniel Green is the first name that jumps out at me.

He has been playing at an All-Big 12 level for several years now. If he can stay healthy as a “super senior,” there is no reason why he can’t be one of the best linebackers in the conference.

The more I think about it, Austin Moore is also a strong candidate. The Wildcats have some quality linebackers.

Will Howard can’t be ignored, either.

If Kansas State has another strong season on offense then that could open the door for Kaitori Leveston, Christian Duffie or Hayden Gillum to join Cooper Beebe on the offensive line.

Khalid Duke is the other player I will be watching. If he can pile up some big numbers as a pass-rusher I can also see him becoming a candidate for the all-conference team.

You didn’t ask this, but I want to answer the opposite version of this question while we are digging into this topic.

Which K-State player that made the preseason All-Big 12 team is most likely to miss out on the postseason team?

I’m going to go with Phillip Brooks on that one.

As much as I like Brooks as both a receiver and as a return specialist, I think he is being over-hyped as the league’s presumptive top kick/punt returner.

He had one unforgettable game against Kansas in which Les Miles gift-wrapped two touchdowns for him on punt returns and left the door open for him to score a third time.

Other than that, he has been good but not great.

He averaged 10.5 yards per punt return in 2021 and then 12 yards per punt return last season. He only has one touchdown since that epic game against the Jayhawks.

His kick return average was 15.5 in 2021 and then 18.2 last year.

He will need to do more to earn a spot on the postseason team.

We should see Kansas State’s backfield look more like what we saw during the early Chris Klieman years ... before Deuce Vaughn emerged as one of the best running backs in school history.

It has long been Klieman’s preference to share the ball between a rotation of running backs, not just one workhorse. With two or three ball-carriers sharing the load, you always have fresh legs on the field.

Vaughn was so good that he hogged most of the work for himself.

We should see more of an even split between DJ Giddens and Treshaun Ward.

Giddens should operate as the primary early down runner and handle most of the work between the tackles. He is a bruising rusher who knows how to gain difficult yards.

Ward is closer to a scatback. I see K-State letting him run stretch plays and trying to get him the ball with short passes that put him in space.

Neither one of them can replace Vaughn, but that doesn’t mean they can’t form a dynamic running back duo.

I’m guessing they see a fairly equal workload, but they will gain yards in different ways.

I have interviewed Christian Duffie before.

I am sure I will interview him again.

He is, no doubt, a valuable member of Kansas State’s offensive line. Hopefully the foot injury he has been dealing with this offseason (he has worn a walking boot in photos that have been shared by K-State’s social media team) won’t slow him down when the fall arrives.

I will have to get back to you on your first question.

But other than maybe not knowing exactly where the visiting fan section is located inside the stadium, that really shouldn’t prevent you from planning Saturday road trips in the fall.

Ranking K-State’s football road trips in 2023:

5. Oklahoma State — The game is on a Friday, which automatically makes this the worst road trip of the year.

4. Missouri — Renewing an old Big Eight rivalry in September should be fun. Only problem is there isn’t anything all that exciting about Columbia and this wasn’t much of a game last year in Manhattan.

3. Kansas — Jalon Daniels and Will Howard will settle this Sunflower Showdown QB debate once and for all.

2. Texas Tech — The Red Raiders should be one of the best teams in the Big 12 this season. So this could be a fun and important game. Lubbock isn’t the easiest trip to make, but the town itself is far better than its reputation.

1. Texas — The Wildcats will play the Longhorns for the final time as conference rivals. This is your last chance to visit Austin for a football game. I suggest taking advantage while you can.

E-MAIL QUESTIONS: After Jerome Tang struck out with the West Virginia transfers last week, is it fair to assume the Kansas State men’s basketball team won’t have a full roster of 13 scholarship players next season? - Roger F.

The July 4th weekend was filled with sun, fireworks and a roller coaster of developments for K-State basketball recruiting.

At one point, when Tang and his coaching staff were flooding Twitter with celebratory commitment signals (for Mohamed Wague), it looked like the Wildcats were a lock to land at least one new transfer.

At another point, when Joe Toussaint announced that he was no longer considering West Virginia, Gonzaga or Miami, it seemed like the Wildcats were going to get both players.

But recruiting isn’t over until it’s over. Alabama convinced Wague to visit Tuscaloosa before publicly announcing his commitment to K-State and he ended up choosing the Crimson Tide. Texas Tech swooped in late and got Toussaint.

When the dust settled, K-State struck out on both of them.

It was a frustrating development, to be sure. But I don’t think it put an end to Tang’s transfer search. The Wildcats have two open scholarships remaining, and I expect them to fill at least one on a guard. They would also like to add a big or a wing, but that will depend on who is available.

Tang waited all the way until August to get Keyontae Johnson last year. It was practically September by the time they lined up 13 scholarship players. I’m not about to doubt his patient approach to the transfer portal.

Even if K-State moves forward with just 11 scholarship players, I think the Wildcats will be fine next season. They kept three players on the sideline with redshirts last year and still found a way to win 26 games and reach the Elite Eight.

They should be just fine with 11 active players. Tang already has enough dudes to get back to the NCAA Tournament. Adding two more will help the cause, but they aren’t essential.