Kansas State’s Braden Wilson was born in 1989, the same year Bill Snyder came to Manhattan and began resurrecting the Wildcats’ football fortunes.
Growing up in Smith Center, Wilson became a die-hard Kansas State fan by the time he was old enough to talk. As a youngster, he was witness to the Wildcats turning themselves into national contenders during the 1997 Fiesta Bowl season and on into the 1998 campaign, where they were ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time in school history.
“We are the generation that grew up watching those teams through the 1990s being dominant,” said Wilson, a 6-foot-4, 254-pound bruising senior fullback, who hails from the same hometown as former Kansas State star linebackers Mark Simoneau and Brooks Barta. “We’re just striving and doing everything we can to try to get the program to where it was back then and we feel like we’ve taken great strides to get there.
“We feel like we can possibly become one of those top teams that Kansas State has ever had.”
The Wildcats finished 10-3 last season, capped by a berth in the Cotton Bowl against Arkansas.
“The thing is, we were very underrated last season,” Wilson said. “We understand that this year, we’re not going to surprise anybody. There are some teams that are really upset with the way we beat them.”
In Kansas State’s spring game, Wilson scored three touchdowns — two on 1-yard runs and the other on a 10-yard scoring pass. Snyder commented after the game that as much as anything, Wilson has been underused in the Wildcats’ offensive playbook.
“It almost reminded me of high school,” Wilson said of the spring game. “It wasn’t just block, block, block.
“I had a lot of fun at the spring game and what made it even better was seeing how well the rest of the offense was playing, especially the new players … knowing that the new offensive linemen are replacing the guys that left us and doing as well as they are, that’s phenomenal.”
Wilson played in every game last season, including five starts. He had minimal carries, serving primarily as blocking back. He’s the changeup to jitterbug running back John Hubert and the elusive Collin Klein, who took a beating despite tying the Big 12 and NCAA record for rushing touchdowns for a quarterback with 27 last season.
“I do feel a little pressure to step up and help them out, maybe take a few carries off of Collin and help him out so he doesn’t get beat up as much," he said. “We’ll see if that actually ends up happening, but that’s what I’m working for.”
Braden’s parents, Meg and Chuck Wilson, live in Great Bend after moving here from Smith Center. Meg is the principal at Hoisington High School.