47 Days To K-State Football: Myles Copeland Player Preview
By Dave Thoman
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Good Sunday folks, we’re now only 47 days away from kick-off against North Dakota State and today’s countdown is devoted to #47 Myles Copeland, a linebacker from Wichita Collegiate.
Copeland will be a redshirt freshman in 2013 and is a bit of a mystery as to what sort of production can be expected of the young man. Playing on the second team during the spring game, he registered one solo and one assisted tackle. The linebacker position for this team should be more stacked than the media acknowledges, and any hope of playing time this season would almost certainly be on special teams where graduation left multiple holes. However, there’s strong potential for good production when Copeland becomes an upperclassman.
Copeland received interest from several schools but appeared to have a difficult time receiving offers from the BCS club. This is a common story among kids coming from small schools, and is where Snyder often finds his gems. He has decent size at 6’1″ and 225 pounds and was an All-State pick in the Kansas 3A division as both a linebacker and offensive lineman (smaller schools require more versatility). However, ESPN still rated him as a three-star player as the 37th best inside linebacker in the nation and the fifth best player in Kanas.
Copeland had a very successful high school career, racking up 122 tackles his senior year and 90 his junior year. He graduated with 407 tackles in high school, and was an all-league player all four years at Wichita Collegiate and helped the school to a state championship in 2009. He’s also apparently brilliant, with the anticipation of double-majoring in accounting and finance and was looking to potentially play at a few Ivy League schools before deciding to remain in Kansas for college.
Copeland was a preferred walk-on when he arrived on campus in 2012, and will likely see time on the scout team this year. However, there’s a lot of potential here and Wildcat fans should expect to start hearing his name called in 2014 and beyond.
To work backwards in our countdown, visit day 48, where we preview redshirt freshman Glenn Gronkowski.