When Oklahoma travels to Manhattan, Kansas, this weekend to play the Wildcats, it will be a reunion for at least three different players.
OU tight end Carson Meier and wide receiver Jeffery Mead both graduated in the same high school class as Kansas State running back Justin Silmon. Hailing from Union High School in Tulsa, the trio won a pair of Oklahoma 6A state championships together.
Mead and Meier both say they’ve kept the trash talking to a minimum so far this season, but they do have a strong relationship off the field.
“We’d hang out twice a week or so, and every time we got together we would just laugh,” Mead said.
On the field, Silmon posted 1,149 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior. An injury during his senior season limited his playing time and, potentially, his scholarship offers.
Silmon didn’t let the recruiting process phase him. “You deal with the hand you’re dealt,” Silmon would always say, according to Mead.
Silmon decided to walk-on at Kansas State, where he is now the Wildcat’s leading rusher as a redshirt freshman. Through five games, he has 282 yards on just 57 carries and a pair of touchdowns.
Anytime a walk-on contributes at a big program like Kansas State, it’s surprising. But his ex-teammates insist they saw it coming.
“It surprised me, but it also doesn’t, because I know what kind of kid he is, and he’s not going to quit working until he gets what he wants,” Meier said.
Mead even tried to get the coaches at Oklahoma to recruit Silmon.
“Actually I’m disappointed he’s not here,” Mead said. “He’s a great athlete; he could play anywhere.
“I thought he should have had offers. And as you can see, he can play at the D1 level. To me it’s not a surprise, it’s just a matter of when it would happen."
