Another Liberty star picks K-State

LIBERTY, Mo. – There's a big freeze heading to Manhattan, Kan.

The Kansas State Wildcats secured commitment No. 5 on Monday evening from Liberty, Mo., offensive lineman Colten Freeze. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound offensive tackle/offensive guard committed to Wildcat assistant coach Tim McCarty around 7 p.m. this evening, picking the Wildcats over interest from Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and several other schools.

"I just talked to coach McCarty and I told him I was ready to be a Wildcat," Freeze said. "He said he was really excited. He gave me Ron Prince's number, and I'm about to call him and tell him the news myself."

Feeze is the second commitment in two days from Liberty for the Wildcats. On Sunday, the Wildcats landed a pledge from defensive end Payton Kirk. Freeze, like Kirk, was at the K-State Junior Day this past Saturday.

"I got a full ride offer from K-State on Saturday like Payton, and he committed last night," Freeze said. "I really like what they have going on there with the new coaches. I like how they're building from the ground up.

"I like that it's a new staff and a fresh start. Everybody is starting out level, and they're going to build it up from there."

Freeze admits he grew up a K-State fan and that he wanted to study agriculture, so the fit was perfect for him.

"I like the agriculture program, and that's what I'm going to major in," he said. "They have a really nice program. I've been fond of their program for some time, and I'm really happy that's where I'm going."

Even though Freeze's name hasn't been talked about a lot by recruiting fans up to this point, he's hardly a project. His coach Pat Hansen thinks the Wildcats landed a player with unlimited upside.

"He's another young man that genetically looks great," Hansen said.

"It's surprising to a lot of people, but he's one heck of an athlete. He doesn't play anything but football, but when you see him bend and see his hips you know he's going to be special. He's got such high hips. His hips go almost all the way to my chest, and I'm 6-foot-3."

Freeze said his strengths are pass blocking, something which he does a lot of in Liberty's wide open spread offense.

"I'd say my strength is in pass pro and pass sets," he said. "I'm good at protecting the passer. I like to also get out there and pull a lot. That's always fun to do. I think pass blocking all the time helps me out a lot because it's a higher level of play. I think I'm more prepared for what's going to happen in college because I've been pass-blocking for such a long time."

Freeze said you won't have to worry about him changing his mind. He said he's 100 percent Wildcat and plans on staying that way.

"I've always been a man of my word," Freeze said. "I can't wait to get up there and be a Wildcat now."