Tanner West arrives at Kansas State as a young back with plenty of versatility and a résumé that stretches beyond just carrying the ball. The Katy, Texas native, born Oct. 22, 2007, plans to major in finance and is expected to redshirt, though he could still carve out snaps on special teams and possibly work his way onto the depth chart.
West came out of Jordan High School in Fulshear, Texas, where he played for head coach James Rabe and drew national attention as a recruit. ESPN ranked him as the 46th-best running back in the Class of 2026, while Rivals listed him as an athlete and put him at No. 54 nationally. He’s also described as quicker than he might look at first glance.
His production backed up the recruiting buzz. As a junior, West earned honorable mention all-state and first team all-district honors as an all-purpose player, and VYPE named him second team All-Houston as an athlete.
A year earlier, he was a third-team all-district running back and all-purpose player. Over the final three years of his prep career, he piled up 2,511 all-purpose yards and 27 touchdowns.
The numbers show how much he could do in different ways. West ran for 694 yards and 10 touchdowns while adding 534 receiving yards and three more scores as a junior. As a sophomore, he topped 400 yards both on the ground and through the air and scored four touchdowns in each phase of the offense, and he also logged 100 kickoff return yards.
His senior season was shortened by injuries, limiting him to six rushing touchdowns in just four games. Even with that setback, he remained active in multiple sports, competing in track and soccer during high school.
West chose Kansas State and signed with the Wildcats over a long list of offers that included Air Force, Arkansas State, Colgate, Dartmouth, Georgia Southern, Harvard, Kansas, Memphis, Navy, New Mexico, North Texas, Pennsylvania, Rice, San Diego State, SMU, Tulsa, UTEP, UTRGV and Yale.
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