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Earlier this week, Joseph Graves went viral when a video from his official visit at Kansas State made its way around the internet.
Five days later, he committed to the Wildcats, choosing the Big 12 program over N.C. State and more than 20 other offers.
The hulking, 6-foot-2, 285-pounder took his OV to Manhattan the weekend of May 29 before visiting the Wolfpack the following weekend. The Wildcats emerged as the favorite following that trip, but got him back on campus again for an unofficial visit this past weekend. And that trip sealed the deal.
He becomes the 24th commitment of the cycle for new head coach Collin Klein — and is the sixth new Wildcats pledge in as many days. K-State’s class now ranks among the top 30 in the country and No. 2 in the Big 12 a year after finishing No. 8 in the league.
A Tulsa (Okla.) native, Graves starred at nearby Booker T. Washington as a sophomore, where he was the 5A-3 District Defensive Player of the Year. A dominant force on the interior, he finished that season with 82 tackles (52 for loss), 18 sacks and four forced fumbles.
Ahead of his junior season, he transferred to national powerhouse IMG Academy. Last fall, he had 26 tackles and three sacks for a loaded Ascenders squad. He’ll be back there for his senior season before heading to Kansas State.
Graves’ commitment comes after viral video at K-State
Despite taking his official visit more than two weeks ago, Graves’ trip didn’t gain much attention until last weekend when a video of his mom tackling him during his uniform photoshoot draw 10s of millions of social media impressions.
He and his mom Megan Morris didn’t intend to go viral. They simply wanted to do something unique, she told Rivals’ Adam Gorney.
“Joe had all these ideas about how he wanted to take his pictures and his videos and he said, ‘You have to tackle me in one of them,’ so I tackled him. He’s like, ‘You didn’t do it right, you have to tackle me again.’ So I guess on the second one I did it right.”
Morris’ second attempt knocked Graves to the ground in a hilarious moment.
“I expected her to barely tap me. I didn’t expect her to put me on the ground,” he said. “I was trying to flop a little bit but she came and knocked my head off. It was fun. It was a great visit.”
From then, it felt like destiny that he would end up in K-State uniform. And with Thursday’s commitment that’s exactly what will happen.
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