Ashton “The Baby Machine” Moore arrives in Manhattan with a reputation built on production, versatility and some serious family ties.
The Louisburg High School linebacker, born May 22, 2006, redshirted and did not see game action during the 2025 season, and Kansas State projects him as a scout teamer in 2026. He is majoring in general health and human sciences.
Moore came out of Louisburg, where he played under head coach Andrew Harding and was ranked by ESPN as the 50th-best inside linebacker in the Class of 2025. His high school résumé was loaded on both sides of the ball.
As a junior, he piled up 125 tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack while also rushing for 947 yards and 14 touchdowns. As a senior, he again posted 125 tackles, added eight tackles for loss, two sacks and four forced fumbles for the Wildcats.
That kind of production brought plenty of hardware. Moore earned first-team all-state honors at linebacker as a sophomore, junior and senior from Sports in Kansas and The Wichita Eagle.
He also won the 2024 Bobby Bell Award, given to the best offensive lineman, defensive lineman or linebacker among the smaller high school classes in the Kansas City metropolitan area. On top of that, he was a two-time Simone Award nominee, was named the 2024-25 Louisburg Sports Zone Male Athlete of the Year, and took part in the 52nd annual Kansas Shrine Bowl.
Moore’s athletic profile stretches beyond football. He lettered four years in wrestling and finished fourth at the state meet, then added three years in track. In track, he helped Louisburg’s 4x100 relay team place third at state and set the school record.
A three-star linebacker prospect, Moore picked Kansas State over offers from Illinois State, Old Dominion and Pennsylvania, while also drawing strong interest from Kansas and South Dakota State. The family connection runs deep, too: his older brother, Austin, was a six-year linebacker for the Wildcats, and his sister, Alyse, competed in track and field at the University of Kansas.
In Other News...
Colorado Recruiting Trend Under Deion Sanders Suddenly Looks Very Different
Colorados 2027 recruiting picture is starting to look a lot more like a traditional class than the portal-heavy approach that defined Deion Sanders early years in Boulder. According to Rivals, the Buffaloes already sit near the top of the Big 12 with five blue-chip commitments, and the overall group has enough depth to stand out in a conference where roster building has become increasingly competitive.
For Kansas State, the more interesting part is how the numbers stack up around the Wildcats. Colorado is still chasing Texas Tech in the league hierarchy, but it has moved ahead of several familiar contenders in average recruit rating, with Kansas State among the teams sitting above it in that category. The bigger question now is whether Colorados shift toward high school prospects can keep pace as the class keeps filling out. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas State Is Counting On Jaden Schutt In This New Era
Jaden Schutts arrival gives Kansas State another experienced guard as first-year coach Casey Alexander begins shaping the roster for a new era. The Yorkville, Illinois, native has already played at Virginia Tech and Duke, and he said the move felt like a return to the Midwest, a place that brings him closer to family in Nebraska and into a setting that fits what he wants next.
For the Wildcats, the timing matters because the program is trying to build momentum around a fresh staff and a reshaped backcourt. Schutts comfort level and fit will be worth watching once the season gets going, especially with Kansas State still sorting out how its new pieces will come together after a summer that also ended with the Purple Reign, the alumni-heavy TBT team, falling out of the bracket in Bramlage Coliseum. [Read more 🡒]