KSU nabs talented junior

Kansas State coach Ron Prince hosted a good crew of seniors on campus this weekend for official visits, but he also played host to one of better juniors in the state of Kansas and by the time the weekend was over he secured his third commitment already for the class of 2008.

Garden Plain, Kan., running back/safety Logan Dold took an unofficial visit to Manhattan with his family. He was offered a scholarship by Prince and offensive coordinator James Franklin on the visit. He went back home to think about the offer and he called the coaches back this morning to let them know he wanted to be a Wildcat.

"We went up there yesterday on a visit, and we talked to all the coaches and the guys on the team," Dold said. "We talked to them for about 30-40 minutes. They said if I wanted a scholarship, then I would have a spot on the team. So I went home to think about it. I always wanted to go to K-State, so I called them this morning and told them I was ready to commit.

"I talked to coach Prince and coach Franklin. They were really excited and glad I made the decision to play for them."

Dold is a 6-foot-1, 200-pound class 3A all-state selection. Despite missing three games with a broken thumb, he led his team to the state championship game this season after rushing for 1,538 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Dold pulled off a rare hat-trick of touchdowns in the state championship game against undefeated Silver Lake – scoring on a 53-yard interception return, a 41-yard run and a 96-yard kickoff return.

Dold, who also earned all-league and all-metro honors this past season, is also a standout in track. He won the class 2A state championship in the long jump with a leap of 22.05 feet and also has a personal best in the 100 meters of 10.9 seconds.

He said he was also timed at 4.55 seconds this past summer at the Tulsa summer camp, has a 275-pound bench press and had a 31 ½ inch vertical leap at Kansas' summer camp.

"K-State recruited me as a defensive back, most likely safety," he said. "I think the best thing I do on offense is that I read the hole. I'm both an inside and an outside runner. But I really like playing defense, too. At safety you get to be back and then come up and make the play after the line occupies the blockers."

K-State was Dold's first offer, but he said he was getting mail from "everybody in the Big 12" along with Iowa and Georgia Tech. He said even if other schools were to offer or had offered, it might not have mattered because he always wanted to be a Wildcat.

"I've been a fan of K-State as long as I can remember," he said.

"I went to about all of their home games this season. I think they're getting better and coach Prince has the program going in the right direction. It definitely was something I wanted to be part of."