Kansas State linebacker Reggie Walker has agreed to a free-agent contract with the Arizona Cardinals, the organization has announced. Walker, a 6-0, 238-pounder, appeared in 12 games last season with six starts and recorded 46 tackles (28 solos), two sacks, one fumble recovery and one blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown. A native of Sacramento, Calif., Walker played and lettered four years and appeared in 46 career games (31 starts) and collected 163 tackles (82 solos), five sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, six passes defended with one fumble recovery. Walker joins Josh Freeman, who was selected in the first round of the NFL Draft over the weekend, and Ian Campbell and Brooks Rossman, who agreed to free-agent contracts on Monday, as the latest Wildcats to join the league.
Kansas State broke open a two-run game with six runs in the eighth inning, propelling head coach Brad Hill to his 600th-career victory as the 16th-ranked Wildcats downed North Dakota, 10-2, Tuesday evening at Tointon Family Stadium. With the win, the Wildcats improved to 32-11-1 this season, just three victories shy of tying the single-season school record. The Fighting Sioux fell to 10-24 overall in their first transition year into Division I. With Kansas State holding a 4-2 lead going into the eighth, the Cats plated six runs on five hits to run away with the game. Jordan Cruz led off the frame with a walk before back-to-back singles by Rob Vaughn and Dane Yelovich produced a run. Adam Muenster was next and hit his second triple in as many games, driving in two more before he scored on a wild pitch to push the Cat lead to 8-2. Following a walk, consecutive doubles from Nick Martini and Justin Bloxom drove in a pair of runs and capped the scoring.
Former K-State All-Big 12 standout and Chargers running back Darren Sproles has signed the $6,621,000 million contract he was tendered as the team’s franchise player. Sproles had been scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent before the Chargers tagged him as their franchise player. His pay is the average of what the top five running backs in the league are paid. Sproles made $1.1 million in base pay last year.
Fresh off an unbeaten series against Texas, the K-State baseball team has their highest ranking in school history. The Cats are up seven spots to # 16 in the latest Baseball America poll. K-State is 31-11-and-1 after taking the first two games this weekend from the Longhorns, and settling for a 6-6 tie on Sunday after Big 12 travel restrictions ended the game after ten innings. Texas is down three spots to # 8 according to Baseball America, Oklahoma is # 9, Baylor is right behind K-State at # 17, and Texas A & M is # 20. Arizona State is rated # 3. The Cats are also up four spots to # 21 in the Rivals.com poll. K-State hosts North Dakota in a mid-week series, first pitch on Tuesday is at 6:30 pm at Tointon Family Stadium. Pregame coverage starts at 6:00 on KMAN.
The St. Louis Rams signed former K-Staters Ian Campbell and Brooks Rossman to free agent contracts. Campbell, a three time all-Big 12 defensive end, finished with 20 and a half career sacks, which is fifth in school history. Campbell had 4 and a half sacks this past season, and blocked a school record three field goals. Rossman, a two-time all-conference placekicker, is sixth in school history with 31 field goals made and third in field goal percentage at 77.5%. K-State had one NFL Draft selection, quarterback Josh Freeman at # 17 overall in the first round to the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman was selected with the No. 17 pick in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft Saturday by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Freeman, who will play for former Wildcat defensive coordinator and current Bucs head coach Raheem Morris, joins four other Wildcats who have been taken in the first round of the draft (Veryl Switzer, Terence Newman, Clarence Scott and Chris Canty) and becomes the fourth-highest draft pick in school history. Switzer was taken fourth overall in 1954 by Green Bay, Newman fifth in 2003 by Dallas and Scott 14th overall by Cleveland in 1971. Canty was also taken in the first round by New England back in 1997 at No. 29 overall. In three seasons at Kansas State, Freeman became the school’s most prolific passer as the Grandview, Mo., native set new school career marks for pass completions (680), attempts (1,151), yards (8,078), touchdowns (44) and total offense (8,421). In 2008, Freeman threw for 2,945 yards on 224-of-382 passing with 20 touchdowns. Freeman also ran for 404 yards and 14 scores in 2008. The 14 rushing touchdowns were the fourth-most in a single season by a Wildcat quarterback.
A defense bad enough to make NFL history got all the attention on Kansas City’s first three draft picks under the command of Scott Pioli and Todd Haley. Then the team’s new brain trust turned to offense. Pioli said he was satisfied. After taking LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson with the overall No. 3 choice on Saturday, the Chiefs went for Purdue defensive lineman Alex Magee in the third round. Then the Chiefs selected Ohio State cornerback Donald Washington in the fourth. With their fourth pick yesterday, the Chiefs took Missouri tackle Colin Brown. They stayed with offense and drafted wide receiver Quinten Lawrence in the sixth round. With their seventh-round pick, the Chiefs selected running back Javarris Williams of Tennessee State. As the draft drew to a close, the Chiefs traded their seventh-round pick for next year to Miami and took tight end Jake O’Connell of Miami of Ohio late in the seventh round. Then they took Ryan Succop, who handled place-kicking, kickoff and punting duties for South Carolina.
Brandon Belt doubled and then scored on a double by Cameron Rupp in the bottom of the ninth to give Texas a 6-6 tie with Kansas State. The game was called after neither team scored a run in the 10th inning. Kansas State (31-11-1, 10-7-1 Big 12) took a 4-1 lead before the Longhorns (29-11-1, 12-8-1) got four runs in the bottom of the sixth as Belt doubled and scored on a single by Kevin Keyes. Kevin Lusson scored on a fielder’s choice and Keyes on an error. Brandon Loy scored on a sacrifice fly. A two-run single by Drew Biery gave Kansas State a 6-5 lead in the eighth. Biery homered in the second. Loy went 4-for-5 with two runs. Belt went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs. Michael Torres went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Adam Meunster and Carter Jurica each had two hits for the Tigers.
# 23 Kansas State baseball has arguably their toughest series of the season starting Friday night at # 5 Texas. The 29-11 Cats are coming off dropping off two of three games to Missouri in Manhattan last weekend. K-State coach Brad Hill says they played well against the Tigers despite the losses Friday and Saturday. Hill says K-State must be aggressive against the excellent Texas pitching staff. Senior shortstop Drew Biery says the Cats can’t let up, especially against the Longhorns. Hill says the K-State pitchers also must concentrate on getting the first out every inning against Texas. K-State baseball starts a three-game set at Texas on Friday night at 6:00 pm in Austin. SportsRadio 1350 KMAN will have the 5:30 pm pregame show with Brian Smoller and Ryan Lackey.
K-State volleyball concluded their spring competition schedule by defeating Missouri State in four out of five games in a scrimmage Thursday afternoon at Ahearn Fieldhouse. The Cats won 25-18, 25-17, 24-26, 25-19, and 25-17. K-State coach Suzie Fritz says the hustle plays on defense against the Bears were nice to see, and the Cats handled plays in transition pretty well. K-State was led by Julianne Chisholmwith 20 kills, Isabella Grot had 17 kills, Kelsey Chipman had 16, and Sarah Allison added 13. Fritz says the Cats are a lot better now than they were in January, but they’re not quite Big 12 ready yet. After having five seniors last season, K-State has a pair of seniors this year, Kelsey Chipman and Sori Pacheco. Fritz says the leadership duties will be spread around. K-State has one final week of spring practice, and will get back together in the summer to prepare for the season, which begins on August 28th and 29th at the AVCA/Runza Showcase at the Qwest Center in Omaha against Minnesota and Michigan.