KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2010 / SPORTS
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BIG 12
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Kansas State will try to replace 2009 leading receiver Brandon Banks with a trio of unproven players. Banks is in training camp with the Redskins.
K-state tests new receivers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Brandon Banks is gone now. Kansas State's electrifying kick returner and wide receiver has taken his quick feet and dazzling speed to the NFL and a tryout with the Washington Redskins.
Just who will wind up replacing him may be anybody's guess because no fewer than seven candidates headed into preseason drills with a chance.
Tramine Thompson and Aubrey Quarles were listed No. 1 at the two wide receiver positions on the depth chart for Saturday's season opener against UCLA. But several others, including Chris Harper, Adrian Hilburn and Sheldon Smith, were also competing.
All are bigger than the 5-foot-7 Banks, who was fifth nationally in kickoff returns last season. Probably none is as quick. But all have promise and one — Harper — can boast the advantage of playing quarterback in the Pac-10.
"All of them are basically new in regards to playing time, but I'm pleased with the progress they have made," coach Bill Snyder said.
Only three have any experience with Kansas State - Quarles, Smith and Torrel Miller.
But Harper and Brodrick Smith played at other universities in 2008 before redshirting as Wildcats last season. Hilburn, Quarles and Sheldon Smith also have junior college experience.
"This is a little different type of receiving corps." Snyder said. "They're bigger, more physical guys."
Wide receivers coach Michael Smith likes the thought of having more heft in his pass-catchers.
"I think people think that a lot of receivers are finesse guys, but there's a great deal of toughness that people don't see because we're not in the trenches like the O-line or D-line," he said. "But it takes courage to go across the middle and lay your body out, knowing that you're going to get hit."
The coach said the group takes instruction well. He said he just tells them to be consistent, be the hardest-working group of guys on the team, and have fun.
Quarles said while the group is definitely different from last year, he feels they will bond and that they are ready for this season.
A senior, Quarles redshirted in 2009. He played in all 12 games in 2008 and started four times, totaling 34 catches for 407 yards.
"I feel that I have a great set
of hands and I run good routes," Quarles said. "I mean I am not afraid to go across the middle and catch the ball. Not that anybody was afraid, but that is something that I bring to the table."
Like Quarles, Harper redshirted during the 2009 season. A coveted recruit out of high school, he played at Oregon his freshman year. After five games as a quarterback, he switched to wide receiver and became Oregon's first player in eight years to score a touchdown running, passing and receiving.
At 6-feet-1-inch and 234 pounds, the Wichita native presents the biggest target for Carson Coffman, who won the quarterback job in competition with Collin Klein and Sammuel Lamar.
"He is really smart coming from the quarterback position," Quarles said of Harper. "He is just an athlete out there. He is just another big body and big target to throw the ball to out there as well."
The youngest contender is Thompson, a redshirt freshman.
So how effectively will the Wildcats' receiver corps wind up being?
"Ask me in December and I probably could give you a decent answer," said Snyder.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Georgia Tech uses Dos Equis spoof to promote Nesbitt for Heisman
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
ATLANTA _ Dashing, debonairly dressed and surrounded by young women from Georgia Tech's dance team, a suave Joshua Nesbitt is proclaimed "the most interesting player in college football."
Welcome to the 21st century of Heisman Trophy campaigning.
On Tuesday, moments after the conclusion of Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson's first weekly news conference, officials at the institute unveiled a web-based promotion to recognize the senior quarterback's potential as a candidate for the race for college foot ball's most coveted award.
The promotion is headlined by a video that is a comedic takeoff on beer label Dos Equis' currently popular ads heralding the "most interesting man in the world" a classically-dressed, sophisticated-looking gray-haired gentleman who sits in clubs surrounded by attractive women. Featuring music markedly similar to the Latin flair that make the Dos Equis commercials memorable, Nesbitt's creative promo is designed to give voters a
To see the complete campaign, log on to www.nesbitt4heisman. com.
unique look at a player whose runs an offense that is different than what most past Heisman winners ran.
"I don't often get thirsty," Nesbitt says at the end of the video, "but when I end, I thirst for success.
"It's catchy, it's good; he's certainly deserving." Johnson said of the promotion. "Hopefully he'll have his best year."
The closing line is a tribute to the Dos Equis commercial which ends with the protagonist always saying: "Stay thirsty, mv friends."
"Vote for me, my friends."
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Mountain West loses BYU and gains two programs
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
BYU, which had been considering joining the Western Athletic Conference, had until Sept. 1 to announce its intention to leave the Mountain West.
Aug. 31-Brigham Young University is leaving the Mountain West Conference, going independent in football and joining the West Coast Conference in 11 other sports.
The WAC schools -- in an attempt to entice BYU -- agreed earlier this month to a deal that called for a penalty of $5 million if a school were to leave the league.
It's not clear if Fresno State will be forced to pay the exit fee.
Fresno State and Nevada announced Aug. 18 that they were leaving the WAC for the Mountain West -- five days after agreeing to that resolution.
WAC commissioner Karl Benson today would not address the clause in the resolution that seemed to give Fresno State an
out. That clause states: "In the event that no written agreement is executed by BYU [to join the WAC] on or before Sept. 1, 2010 this resolution is termi-
... then this resolution is terminated."
On Monday Benson said the WAC would take "legal recourse
it necessary to obtain the money."
Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said his conference will continue to look for ways "to position
"We look forward to the future with great excitement -- particularly welcoming recent additions Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada."
The West Coast Conference said BYU will begin competition in its league next fall, compet-
"We look forward to the future with great excitement -- particularly welcoming recent additions."
CRAIG THOMPSON Mountain West Commissioner
itself at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics"
"This includes conversations with our television partners to address issues of mutual importance, as well as determining the optimal configuration for the conference and investigating the possibility of various collaborative alliances," Thompson added.
en's volleyball.
ing in baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, and wom-
BYU has scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. PDT Wednesday to announce the move.
West Coast Conference members are: Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Portland.
Sand-tastic serve
Amanda Albers, senior from Cunningham, serves the ball outside of Robinson Center Monday evening. Intramural Sand Volleyball started night night. Albers is a part of the team "I'd Hit It."
Karlie Brown/KANSAN
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