Kansas State football: 15 best wide receivers in Wildcats history
By John Buhler
Greatest wide receivers in Kansas State football history: 7. James Terry
James Terry is another excellent Kansas State wide receiver that ended up going the junior college route. Terry originally played quarterback in high school in his native Florida, where he began understanding the route concepts he’d eventually run for Bill Snyder at K-State.
After playing his junior college ball at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas, Terry would make his way to Manhattan in 2002. Terry had at this point converted to wide receiver. He played in 12 of 13 games for the 2002 Wildcats where he had 28 catches for 561 yards and five touchdowns. The Wildcats went 11-2 that season, defeating the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Holiday Bowl to finish as the No. 7 team in the country.
Though the Wildcats would not finish ranked in the top 10 of the final AP Poll in 2003, that was a massively important season for K-State football. This because the Wildcats would win the Big 12 outright for the first time in the Snyder era in Manhattan. Terry took his receiving skills to an even higher level in what was his senior season with the program in 2003.
He had 64 catches for 1,232 yards and 13 touchdowns that season. Kansas State went 11-4 that season, as they were one of only two teams up to that point to play a 15-game season. This is because back in 2002 and 2003 teams could play a 12-game regular-season schedule, plus a kickoff game. K-State opted to play Cal in a kickoff game, went 6-2 in Big 12 play, defeated Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game, but then lost to the Oregon Ducks in the Fiesta Bowl.
Overall, Terry finished with 92 catches for 1,793 yards and 18 receiving touchdowns. Despite not having 100 catches in his K-State career, Terry ranks fifth all time in touchdowns and ninth all time in receiving yards. What gives him a huge boost on this all-time list is that he ranks second in yards per catch (min. 90 reception) in Kansas State history with 19.5.
When looking at Terry’s overall body of work, it is right up there with the very best in the history of the Wildcats program. Given that these impressive totals only came in two years gives him a nod over a few guys who played for the team longer. Add in that Kansas State went 22-6 (12-4) during his two years with the program and never finished worse than No. 14 proves that Terry was a key part in K-State winning in the early 2000s as an electrifying receiving talent. And to think he used to play quarterback in high school…