Sports : Officially a Wildcat: Viking senior Wiley signs with K-State

VS coach Jim Womochil and former Viking line coach Andrew May celebrated with Drew Wiley his signing with Kansas State on Wednesday. Drew Wiley made official on Wednesday morning, the first day of February, the commitment he had announced before the start of his senior football season: He will accept a scholarship at Kansas State, where he will study Agriculture Science and play defensive tackle for Bill Snyder's team. It is the first time in decades that a local athlete has received a Division 1 scholarship. Wiley announced in August that he would accept the KSU offer from Snyder, but NCAA rules do not allow official signing until Feb. 1, which is called "Signing Day" among those involved in athletics. Wiley, the son of Todd and Denise Wiley, joined his family and coaches at VSHS early this morning to sign his National Letter of Intent. A few days after graduating from high school, he will head to Manhattan, Kan. Football team members are scheduled to arrive June 6, and will take some classes during the summer while also beginning football workouts. Also, says Todd, Drew expects to receive from KSU coaches a workout plan that includes cardio exercises as well as a weight room routine. "Something special has taken place here and we want you to be... a very special part of a very special football program," Snyder wrote to Drew last year. Shortly later, Drew announced on Twitter is "extremely excited and incredibly blessed"� to announcethat he accepted the KSU offer. Drew Wiley's parents, siblings and paternal grandparents joined him as he signed with Kansas State. The Viking senior will play defensive tackle for the Wildcats. He played both offensive and defensive line for the Vikings and was named to the Class 3A 2nd Team All-State Team as a junior. He earned All-State honors again his senior season. Wiley also received an offer from South Dakota, and had visited a few other colleges before deciding on K-State. The four-year FFA member and current FFA President said both the Ag program and football program at KSU were the main reasons for his choice. Both his high school coaches and future college mentors praise Wiley's work ethic and athleticism. "Drew is a kid who has all the physical tools obviously,"� says Andrew May, who coached Wiley his sophomore and junior seasons. "He also does the simple things lot of kids don't do. He has rarely missed workouts and even then it was because he was involved in other events."� As a sophomore, Wiley earned a starting spot on the varsity line. Seniors Warren Rouse, Eric Studer and Stevie Henry took him under their wing, and taught him the basics and the importance of the weight room, says May. Early this school year, Wileyset a new VS weight room squat record. "Drew is very big and very explosive,"� says May. "When he was a sophomore had one of the best vertical jumps and his agility time was one of the best. Also, we ran a pretty complex offense and Drew always graded out the highest for doing assignments and doing them well - he always knew what his assignment was and was able to do it."� May said there is another thing that VS coaches noticed about Wiley while watching game film: He was as fast at the end of each game as he was on the first snap; a tribute to his strength and conditioning commitments. "Drew really bought into our system and into staying in shape year-round ready to be for the fall,"� says May. VS assistant football coach Aric Chvala agrees. At Kansas State, the online publication devoted to Football says of Wiley: "At 6'4 and 290 lbs, Wiley is a force to be reckoned with due to sheer size as well as his quickness. Wiley played well as a nose guard and was credited with over three sacks last year, very solid for a position that is primarily blocking so the linebackers can get the tackles. Not only was Wiley a second team all-state defensive lineman in Class 3A, he had 60.5 tackles and led his team in sacks with three on the season. With his obvious agility at nose guard, Wiley will have the opportunity to work with some very talented coaches that can help Wiley get to the next level of play." Although May is now coaching at Linn-Mar, he made the trip to Vinton to celebrate Wiley's milestone. "Drew is the kind of kid that's so fun to coach and anyone who has the chance to work with him will really enjoy it,"� says May.