Kansas State has been hard at work on the junior college recruiting trail over the past few months. They continued that trend yesterday offering 3 JUCO prospects in the 2015 class.

Kansas State extended an offer to New Mexico JC guard, Malique Trent.  K State has been recruiting Trent, a 6’2 guard, for several weeks and gave him an official offer last night. He is a strong guard with a good frame who is able to take a hit around the rim and score the ball.  Trent is also a 40% shooter from the three point line and has made 73 three pointers on the year (41st in NJCAA D1 in three pointers made). Trent, a 2013 high school grad, sat out last season at Norfolk State and is now a red-shirt freshman at New Mexico JC. He will have three years of eligibility remaining at the next level, which is very appealing to high-major programs. They are able to get an incoming sophomore who is two years removed from high school and has college playing experience. As we’ve noted before, these are ideal prospects for mid and high-major programs. Trent is averaging 16.4 points, 3 .1 rebounds and 2 assists per game. He also averages more than 2 steals per game. Along with the Kansas State offer, Trent has offers from Tennessee, Creighton, Hofstra, Houston, TCU and NC Central. Expect more high-major offers to come his way soon.

Kansas State also offered John A. Logan College teammates, Russell Woods and Martavian Payne. Both Woods and Payne are JC sophomores and will have two years of eligibility at the next level.

Woods is a 6’8 forward who can score in the low-post with his back to the basket. He isn’t a face up four or a stretch four, but more of a true low-post forward. He is very strong and knows how to set up/seal in the low-post and hold position. Woods has several solid back to the basket post moves that he utilizes on the low block. He is averaging 14 points and 7 rebounds per game while shooting 62% from the field. Woods has offers from Kansas State, DePaul, Murray State, East Carolina and Houston and interest from Missouri, SMU, Oregon, South Carolina and Cal. Look for plenty of those schools showing interest to pull the trigger with an offer soon.

Woods’ teammate Martavian Payne is having a very good year as well for John A. Logan (23-5 record this season). Payne, a 6’2 guard from St. Louis, MO, is leading John Logan in scoring at 16 ppg. He also has a good frame and should transition well to the next level. Payne does a nice job rebounding the ball from the perimeter (4.4 rebounds per game) and can distribute when needed as well. He is shooting 44% from the field and 37% from the three-point line.