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Hour 1

Seg. 1 – K-State’s goal of a Big 12 regular season title is over

Seg. 2 – Sounds like Travis Kelce is playing next season

Seg. 3 – Jabroni of the Week

Hour 2

Seg. 1 – Interview with QB coach and new OC Matt Wells

Seg. 2 – Is K-State WBB in danger of not hosting March Madness?

The post The Game – 2/25/25: Interview with Matt Wells, K-State’s Big 12 title hopes over & Jabroni of the Week appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

By Zach DeLoach

Ayoka Lee, the 14th-ranked Wildcats’ leading scorer and rebounder, has been sidelined since Jan. 19 when she suffered a fracture in her foot against Arizona State. However, Mittie said he’s still hopeful Lee will play Saturday when K-State hosts rival Kansas.

“There’s been nothing that would indicate anything differently than that,” he said.

Coaches have been optimistic about Lee’s return before the end of the regular season since they first announced the injury. Mittie said Lee has been ramping back up to where she was before getting hurt, including an individual workout before the Wildcats’ game at Cincinnati on Wednesday. Now, she’s running, jumping and doing agility training as well as “basketball stuff,” according to Mittie.

To view the full article visit theMercury.com.

Click here for more K-State sports.

The post Mittie expects Lee to return Saturday for K-State women appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (K-State Athletics) – Luke Wells, a veteran offensive coach who has worked for three prior Big 12 programs over the course of his career, has been hired at Kansas State to work with the Wildcat tight ends, head coach Chris Klieman announced Monday. His hiring is pending a successful background check.

“Luke brings an extensive amount of coaching experience and recruiting energy to our tight end room, which of course has been a big piece to our recent offensive success,” Klieman said. “I have known Luke for quite a while and even visited with him during previous position openings, and we are thrilled to have him and his family in our program.”

Wells, a 2002 graduate of Oklahoma who both played and coached for the Sooners, most recently coached in college at Tulsa in 2022, while he has also spent time coaching receivers and tight ends at Iowa State and Texas Tech during his career.

“I am grateful for the opportunity from Coach Klieman to help this staff and be a part of the winning culture at K-State,” Wells said. “I can’t wait to get to work with our talented group of tight ends.”

While at Texas Tech, Wells all but built the tight end position from scratch while helping three players from his position room earn All-Big 12 accolades in tight end Donta Thompson and inside receiver Dalton Rigdon in 2019 as well as inside receiver KeSean Carter in 2020.

Prior to arriving at Texas Tech, Wells served as Utah State’s co-offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator from 2013 to 2016, working with the tight ends the first three years and then the quarterbacks in 2016. He shifted back to overseeing Utah State’s tight ends and inside receivers his final two years in Logan where the Aggies boasted one of the nation’s top offenses. It was the first time he worked under his brother, Matt, K-State’s current offensive coordinator who was the head coach at both Utah State and Texas Tech.

Wells mentored one of the top tight ends in Utah State history in Wyatt Houston, who tallied 86 receptions for 933 yards and nine touchdowns over the 2013 through 2016 seasons, as all three of his marks ranked second in school history among tight ends. Houston earned All-Mountain West Honorable Mention accolades as a senior in 2016.

Prior to Houston, fellow tight end D.J. Tialavea thrived under Wells’ direction before signing a rookie free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2014. Tialavea went on to join the Falcons’ organization a year later and was a member of the franchise when Atlanta played in Super Bowl LI. Another Wells pupil, Jefferson Court, joined the professional ranks in 2015 as he was the 37th player selected in the CFL Draft by the Ottawa Redblacks.

Offense was a prevalent theme of Utah State’s success during Wells’ final two seasons as the Aggies averaged 47.5 points per game in 2018, which trailed only Oklahoma for the top spot in the country. The Aggies racked up 618 points on the season, snapping the Mountain West and Utah State single-season records in the process.

Utah State scored at least 40 points in 13 different games over his final two seasons, including 10 times with 50 or more points. The Aggies reached the 50-point mark a school-record seven times in 2018 alone en route to breaking almost every offensive record in Utah State history.

In Wells’ first season, the Aggies set school records for completions (297), total plays (1,073), touchdown passes (30) and first downs (310). Utah State scored 445 points that season and attempted 481 passes, which both ranked second in school history. Utah State’s tight ends also set the single-season school record for touchdown receptions with nine, topping the previous record from 1993.

Prior to his time at Utah State, Wells was the wide receivers and tight ends coach at Iowa State from 2009 through 2012, helping the Cyclones advance to three bowl games in four years.

Wells arrived in Ames following six seasons at Louisiana-Monroe where he began as an offensive graduate assistant in 2003 before being promoted to tight ends coach for the 2004 through 2006 seasons and then tutoring the Warhawks’ wide receivers in 2007 and 2008. He coached first team all-conference tight end Joey Trappey in 2005 and second-team honoree Zeek Zacharie in 2006 before producing an honorable mention wide receiver in Anthony McCall a year later. Wells also served as ULM’s recruiting coordinator over his final two seasons, helping Monroe sign its highest-rated class in school history at that time.

Wells earned his first full-time coaching position managing the wide receivers at Denton (Texas) High School in 2002. He began his collegiate coaching career as a student assistant at Oklahoma from 1999 through 2001, helping the Sooners claim the 2000 Big 12 Championship and BCS National Championship.

Wells earned his bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma in secondary education in 2002. He and his wife, Coby, have a son, Walker, and a daughter, Kinsley.

THE LUKE WELLS FILE
Hometown: Sallisaw, Oklahoma
College: Oklahoma – Bachelor’s in Secondary Education (2002)
Family: Wife: Coby; Children: Walker, Kinsley
Playing Career: Oklahoma (Quarterback), 1997-99

COACHING CAREER TIMELINE
1999-2001, Oklahoma (student assistant)
2002, Denton [TX] High School (wide receivers)
2003, Louisiana-Monroe (graduate assistant)
2004-06, Louisiana-Monroe (tight ends)
2007-08, Louisiana-Monroe (wide receivers/recruiting coordinator)
2009-10, Iowa State (wide receivers)
2011-12, Iowa State (tight ends)
2013-15, Utah State (co-offensive coordinator/tight ends/recruiting coordinator)
2016, Utah State (co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks/recruiting coordinator)
2017-18, Utah State (inside receivers/tight ends)
2019-21, Texas Tech (inside receivers/tight ends)
2022, Tulsa (tight ends)
2023-24, Bixby [OK] High School

The post K-State hires Luke Wells to coach tight ends appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

On this episode of The Game, we discuss whether K-State basketball’s winning streak will continue through their upcoming road trip to Utah. Plus, don’t miss interviews with new K-State football offensive line coach Brian Lepak and BYU insider Mitch Harper, as they provide insights into the latest developments with the Wildcats and the Cougars. Tune in for all the sports analysis, updates, and expert commentary!

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Hour 1

Seg 1 – Bad start for Bat Cats / How long does KSU’s win streak last?
Seg 2 – Interview with BYU Insider Mitch Harper
Seg 3 – Meet K-State O-line transfer Amos Talalele

Hour 2

Seg 1 – Interview with K-State offensive line coach Brian Lepak
Seg 2 – MitchPom vs. BYU / Ask Us Anything

The post The Game 2/14/25 – How long does KSU’s win streak last & interview with KSU O-line coach Brian Lepak appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

By Tim Everson

The question is inescapable for the Kansas State men, especially now that they’ve won six straight games after downing No. 13 Arizona Tuesday evening: What switch has flipped that’s turned the Wildcats from looking like one of the worst teams in the country into what is statistically the best team in the nation over the last three weeks.

No one knows the full answer. In fact, head coach Jerome Tang has joked several times that if he and his staff knew exactly what’s led to the Wildcats’ recent uptick, they would’ve done it sooner.

Some of it’s fairly basic. K-State assembled a roster that most agreed was loaded with talent. They had one of the top transfer portal classes in the country. With 10 new players on the roster and only one returner with significant playing time from previous seasons, the Wildcats needed time to gel and now, roughly two and a half months into the season, it’s happened.

To view the full article visit theMercury.com.

Click here for more K-State sports.

The post K-State point guard Dug McDaniel has been the catalyst for the Wildcats’ turnaround appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

By Toby Hammes

Long before Kansas State men’s basketball hit the floor at Bramlage Coliseum for the first time this season, the success, or lack thereof, of the “Manhattan Project” would loom beyond the Little Apple.

It’s been declared a new age of college athletics countless times across the country with the explosion of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals, coupled with looser transfer portal restrictions.

Many have compared the new landscape of collegiate sports to the free agency of professional leagues.

“The lack of leadership at the NCAA and some of the decisions that were made with people way above my pay grade have put us in a vacuum where we have no direction, and we’ve thrust all this upon these young kids,” K-State head coach Jerome Tang said following Tuesday’s three-point loss to Drake in overtime in the Wildcat Classic game held at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

To view the full article visit theMercury.com.

Click here for more K-State sports.

The post K-State hoops ‘feeling the pressure’ of the NIL era appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

By Zach Deloach

ST. Joseph, Mo. — After the No. 13 Kansas State women beat Middle Tennessee State 74-48 after a second-half blitz by the Wildcats on Saturday, Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Insell, a women’s basketball hall-of-famer, said he thinks K-State is one of the top squads in the country and that the Wildcats have a chance to go far in the NCAA Tournament.

“I’ve said this all along, and I’ve been doing this for 50 years: It’s not necessarily the best team that wins the national championship,” Insell said. “It’s the team that’s playing the best in that period of time. If Kansas State can put together a six-to-eight-game series there where they’re running their offense, playing their defense, switching it up, they’ve got a chance.”

To view the full article visit theMercury.com.

Click here for more K-State sports news.

The post Middle Tennessee HC says No. 13 K-State women have shot at NCAA title appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

By Tim Everson

Saturday was an offensive rejuvenation for Kansas State in almost every phase of Kansas State’s 41-15 win over Cincinnati.

In a sport like football where there are so many moving pieces at any one time, it’s impossible to say that only one decision made the difference between the Wildcats flailing on offense like they’ve done for the past month or soaring like they did Saturday night.

However, a slight coaching change may have been the spark that reignited the Wildcat offense Saturday evening.

To view the full story visit theMercury.com.

The post Offensive shakeup sparks K-State’s offense in Cincinnati win appeared first on News Radio KMAN.