Elijah Lee didn’t trust his eyes or ears when Kansas State linebackers coach Mike Cox approached him at the beginning of a preseason practice and instructed him to take the field with the Wildcats’ starting defense.
The freshman linebacker was so surprised by the request that he didn’t immediately oblige.
“I was like, ‘Me?’” Lee said. “He said, ‘Yeah, you. Get out there. It’s your turn.’ I just skyrocketed from there.”
Lee arrived at K-State from Blue Springs, Mo., over the summer with modest expectations, but you wouldn’t know it based on what he has accomplished in his first seven games. The 6-foot-3, 214-pound defender has done more than emerge as a pass-rush threat, entering the game on third-and-longs to provide pressure on opposing quarterbacks. He has thrived.
