Purple Power!

7-foot-3 Bennett signs with K-State

By HOWARD RICHMAN The Kansas City Star
The first piece of the recruiting puzzle at Kansas State has been solved. And it’s a big piece.
Jason Bennett, a 7-foot-3 center from Arlington Country Day High School in Jacksonville, Fla., signed a letter of intent to play for coach Bob Huggins’ Wildcats. He chose K-State over Auburn.
“It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make in my life, but I’ve always wanted to play for coach Huggins,” Bennett said. “I had to go with my heart and who I think will get me to the NBA.”

At Arlington Country Day, purple-clad students attended Bennett’s signing ceremony.
“We have a dress code. But students were encouraged to wear purple today,” a secretary who answered the phone at the school said late Wednesday morning. “They were told if they wore purple, they would not get into any trouble.”

Bennett becomes the tallest player in K-State history. The Wildcats had two players 7-1: Nick Pino (1966-68) and Joe Leonard (1998-2001).

A year ago, when Huggins still coached Cincinnati, Bennett made an oral commitment to play for him there.

Bennett averaged 12.5 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks in leading Country Day to back-to-back Class 2A state championships.