Kaelen Culpepper achieved a Kansas State baseball first during last week's 2024 Major League Baseball Draft, and so did the Wildcats as a team.
Culpepper, the Wildcats' junior shortstop, became the school's first-ever position player to be selected in the first round when he went to the Minnesota Twins with the No. 21 overall pick. The only previous K-State first-rounder was current Major League pitcher Jordan Wicks, who also went at No. 21, to the Chicago Cubs in 2021.
"When you look back at the journey that I’ve been through, all those hard times and all the adversity, I've been through it. It just means so much,” Culpepper told ESPN after his selection. “This is all the result of it.”
On the second day of the draft, right-handed pitchers Tyson Neighbors and Jackson Wentworth came off the board, Neighbors in the fourth round to the San Diego Padres with the No. 118 overall pick, and Wentworth to the Toronto Blue Jays at No. 158 overall in the fifth round.
The three players chosen in the first five rounds were a school record, and second baseman Brady Day's 10th-round selection by the Philadelphia Phillies marked just the second time four Wildcats were picked in the first 10 rounds.
A fifth Wildcat, centerfielder Brendan Jones, was picked in the 12th round by the New York Yankees on the third day, which gave K-State five collegiate draft picks in the same year for the first time since 2011.
The draft capped a successful season in which K-State advanced to the NCAA Tournament and the Super Regionals for the first time since 2013 with a 35-26 record. The Wildcats won the Fayetteville Regional before falling to host Virginia in the Charlottesville Super Regional, falling two victories short of their first-ever College World Series.
Here is a breakdown of K-State's 2024 Major League Draft picks.
Kaelen Culpepper, shortstop, first round, Minnesota Twins
Culpepper capped a stellar K-State career as a junior in 2024 by being named to the D1 Baseball All-America second team and the Big 12 second team while leading the Wildcats in hitting with a .328 average, home runs with 11 and runs batted in with 59. He also led the Big 12 with six.
Culpepper, who made the switch from third base to shortstop, was especially effective in the NCAA Tournament, hitting .474 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and 10 RBIs. He was the most valuable player in the Fayetteville regional, where he became the fourth player in school history to hit for the cycle in a 19-4 rout of Louisiana Tech.
Following his junior year, he became the third player in school history selected to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
Tyson Neighbors, pitcher, fourth round, San Diego Padres
Neighbors, the Wildcats' closer the past two seasons, made 22 relief appearances as a junior in 2024, finishing with a team-high nine saves. He had a 1-2 record while striking out 61 batters and walking 19 in 38⅔ innings.
In 2023, Neighbors — a two-time All-Big 12 pick — was a finalist for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award as he became the second Wildcat in school history to earn consensus All-America status. In three seasons at K-State, he finished third all-time with 20 career saves.
Jackson Wentworth, pitcher, fifth round, Toronto Blue Jays
Wentworth did a little of everything for the Wildcats as a redshirt sophomore in 2024, serving as the closer early in the season when Neighbors was injured, and then joining the weekend starting rotation. His 115 strikeouts were the second-most in program history and ranked fourth in the Big 12.
Wentworth had a 5-6 record with a 4.24 earned run average with eight saves in 28 appearances, which included eight starts.
Brady Day, second base, 10th round, Philadelphia Phillies
Day, a first team All-Big 12 pick, led the Wildcats in hitting for much of the year before finishing second to Culpepper with a .318 average, plus nine home runs and 56 RBIs. He also stole 16 bases in 18 attempts.
Day chose to return for his redshirt junior year after being drafted in the 12th round by the Atlanta Braves at the end of the 2023 season.
Brendan Jones, center field, 12th round, New York Yankees
Jones had a breakout junior year for the Wildcats in 2024 with a .303 batting average after hitting .238 the year before. He also had career highs of 13 doubles, three triples, nine home runs and 35 RBIs.
Jones led the Bit 12 with 40 stolen bases and was third in runs with 69 runs. He also was a Gold Glove finalist, committing just two errors in 149 games over the past three years.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
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