Luke Smith was the first Kansas State men's basketball assistant coach to arrive in Manhattan. He pulled open the doors to the Ice Family Basketball Center at around 4:30 p.m., met head coach Casey Alexander in his office, and the two got to work.
Kaleb Patterson is the oldest player in a Kansas State cornerback room that features a pair of talented returners in juniors Zashon Rich and Donovan McIntosh, and that includes promise for the future with three redshirt freshmen and two true freshmen.
After dinner had been devoured and the outgoing Kansas State football senior class had been formally indoctrinated into the Golden Cats fraternity, and after a few outgoing senior speeches, and after a six-minute video of players from the seven-year Chris Klieman era thanking and praising their former head coach for making them better men, the teary-eyed 58-year-old native of Waterloo, Iowa, donned in a purple quarter-zip and gray slacks crept from the shadows inside the Shamrock Zone on Friday night, and stood in front of a podium, as more than 100 former players from across the country and spanning different decades stood, applauded and cheered.
A lot can happen in a year. Just ask Kansas State junior running back Joe Jackson. This time a year ago, he was battling, fighting, stretching himself to the limit in spring workouts for the chance to contribute to the Wildcats' backfield in the fall. As a freshman, he rushed for 277 yards. But he had dreams and carried confidence. All he wanted was to earn a chance his sophomore season. Here's what happened next: As fate played out and patience paid off, Jackson earned All-Big 12 Third Team honors with a team-high 911 rushing yards and eight touchdowns while his 75.9 rushing yards per game to rank fifth in the Big 12.
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