Here we are, Day No. 110 since Collin Klein was formally introduced as Kansas State head coach for a football program that has been so dear to him for nearly two decades. The 36-year-old former 2012 Heisman Trophy finalist, who returned "home" after two ultra-successful seasons as Texas A&M offensive coordinator, sweeps into the team theater room on the third floor of the Vanier Family Football Complex on Wednesday wearing a lavender hoodie, greets sports writers by name, and slides into the head coach's chair for his first 30-minute news conference on the eve of the Wildcats' first spring practice.
Cadyn Karl remembers the at-bat so perfectly, as you'd expect from a guy who had never reached such heights before in his three seasons as centerfielder on the Kansas State baseball team. It was the bottom of the third inning against Arizona State last Friday on a gorgeous evening at Tointon Family Stadium, which featured a sellout crowd, and that on the mound featured one of the nation's best pitchers in Arizona State junior left-hander Cole Carlon, a 6-foot-5, 230-pounder who came off an All-America season and had allowed just five home runs in six starts in 2026, and who is currently the No. 39-rated prospect for the 2026 MLB Draft.
Once a walk-on defensive end from Emporia, Kansas, who turned into a fan favorite and eventual star on some of the nation's most powerful defenses in history, Joe Bob Clements, after a journey south to coach, is back at Kansas State.
The final page of the final chapter of this unique Kansas State women's basketball story featured fight. In the end, the Wildcats, who began this season as the third-youngest team among all Power 4 Conference schools — a squad that grew and grew some more — was charged with clawing back from a 20-point deficit in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter against California. Some teams might've shriveled.
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