Kansas State Once Again Among Finalists For Nation's No. 1 Tight End
The Kansas State Wildcats football program is in the running for the nation's No. 1 tight end for a second straight year.
After landing Linkon Cure last spring, the Wildcats are now in contention of reeling in four-star recruit Ian Premer of the 2026 class. He recently announced K-State is among his five finalists.
The others are Michigan, Notre Dame, Kansas and Iowa State.
THANK YOU to all of you who tuned in tonight but especially to our guest @IanPremer who continues to represent @GBHS_Athletics and the state of Kansas in unbelievable fashion. 👏
— Verbal Commitment Podcast (@VerbalCommit_KC) April 24, 2025
Eager to continue our coverage of his recruitment and beyond! Exciting weeks ahead. pic.twitter.com/XYCpWnIgBC
Premer stars at Great Bend (Kan.) High School. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound rising senior visits Manhattan the weekend of June 20, the last of his officials.
Premer is intrigued by the possibility of following Cure, who is the first five-star recruit in K-State history. Premer also said he's developed a relationship with tight ends coach Luke Wells.
"The more good players you have in the room, the more competition gets brought up," Premer said on the Verbal Commitment Podcast. "Competition just makes everyone better and I have a great relationship with him, I've talked with him multiple times, multiple occasions, and he knows that anytime I have a question I'll shoot it over to him and he'll respond back to me real quick, so I'd say that was definitely a positive that he ended up staying with K-State."
Kansas State has two hard commits in the class of 2026: Lamarcus Barber, a three star (247 sports) interior offensive lineman from Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, Kan, and Brandon Ford, a three star (247 Sports) cornerback from Crowley High School in Texas.
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Seth Kunz is a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at sethkunz988@gmail.com
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Seth is a journalism student at the University of Missouri. He is a big follower of Big 12 athletics, especially football and basketball. He is also part of the student-run radio station, KCOU 88.1 FM. He is a native of Williamsville, Ill.
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