Winners and Losers: Kansas State's Ish Massoud finds new home
We wrap up the week was in the world of Kansas State sports and college athletics.
WINNERS
1) BAT CATS: Another week and another series win for Pete Hughes and Kansas State. Yes, they fell to Wichita State, but they did come out on top against Southeast Missouri State over the weekend before a major series next weekend versus Oklahoma State in Stillwater. K-State is firmly in the NCAA Tournament field according to some projections.
2) TANG AND KANSAS STATE: Although it feels like an eternity, it was just five days ago when Jerome Tang and Kansas State landed one of the best transfers in America in Tylor Perry.
3.) KU: Respect when it is due. Although it may be receiving more hype than I personally would give it, Kansas did land one of the better transfers on the market in Michigan big man Hunter Dickinson. They took down the likes of Kentucky, Villanova and Maryland for his services. He was listed as the top transfer by multiple outlets.
4.) ISH: Everyone is happy that K-State transfer forward Ismael Massoud found a new home at the high-major level after he committed to Georgetown during the week.
5) CYCLONES: Recruiting versus Chris Klieman and Kansas State has not been a fruitful endeavor for Matt Campbell and Iowa State for the better part of the last 18 months. But they landed a punch over the weekend when they landed Joplin, Missouri offensive lineman Dontrell Holt.
LOSERS
1) ALABAMA: Weapons charges, murder, gambling, game-fixing and racketeering? Just another year in Alabama athletics.
2) THE ATHLETIC: Once again, The Athletic (via David Ubben) wrote another controversial article about the Big 12 that didn’t land well. Maybe they just wanted to fire everyone up for clicks, but railing against the league’s recruiting prowess (such as K-State) when it has trended up each of the last two cycles, right after TCU defeats Michigan in a national semifinal and on the heels of a very successful draft (Kansas State included) that was not directly a result of Texas or Oklahoma is something else. At this point, their angle is not a coincidence. Remember, they once wrote that Big 12 members would be picked off by the AAC.
3) SEC: Surprisingly, giving everything else, the SEC seems very determined to eliminate field-storming as their giant crusade this year. Instead of fines, they are discussing potentially stripping teams of a home game or even forfeiture of a game as punishment.
4) CFP: Dates and locations have been released for the new College Football Playoff format. Although I think more on-campus games could dampen travel concerns, my major alarm bell in the near term is that they will be competing with NFL games. The idea to consider moving the college football season up a week to alleviate that, is a good one, in my opinion.
5.) ROYALS FANS: Not to single you all out but the Kansas State football season can’t come soon enough. The offseason is officially here, where it is a little more quiet (but not by much), and the Kansas City Royals solidified themselves as being the worst team in baseball by losing a home series to the Oakland Athletics. In fact, it is May 7 and the franchise has still only won two home games this season.
