It's good to be the king.

Bill Snyder still has it.

Although he is just past 70 and the game has supposedly passed him by, Snyder still connects with kids across the state.

I, for one, am shocked. How can a man who wears Nike Cortez shoes, has a wired headset and is nearly 50 years older than his players connect? Does winning really cure all? Is it really possible that these current players took notice of what Snyder did during the 90s and early 2000s?

These questions are obviously rhetorical and done in a tongue-in-cheek manner.

Snyder is a legend among these current players, and his reach goes far beyond the borders of Kansas.

When I spoke to sophomore receiver Chris Harper, native of Wichita, he said people may have never heard of K-State, but they have heard of Bill Snyder.

Brodrick Smith, sophomore receiver and former all-state player from Garden City, joined Harper at K-State last year.

Both Harper and Smith had to sit out per NCAA transfer rules and will be joined next year by brothers Arthur and Bryce Brown.

At Miami and Oregon, respectively, Arthur and Bryce failed to meet expectations. The elder of the two Wichita siblings, Arthur, never found a groove with the system and only registered 13 tackles during his two seasons at Miami.

Suffice it to say, Arthur's numbers were paltry at best for a former high-school All-American.

Bryce fared better at Tennessee. He carried the ball 101 times for over 400 yards but was parked behind second-rounder Montario Hardesty.

However, there is something to be said about coming home. Home can re-energize a person's passion.

Home is about being around family — a word that is passed around by Snyder's players like a turkey at Thanksgiving.

It is this family-like atmosphere that generated the "greatest turnaround in college football." It's not a word that should be taken lightly.

The Brown brothers and Harper discussed the possibility of playing together coming out of high school.

Now, this holy trinity of football talent that put Wichita high school football back on the map can help put K-State football back on the national scene.

Snyder's first tenure was filled with turning in-state kids in to All-Americans. Mark Simoneau, Terence Newman and Darren Sproles come to mind immediately.

It is unlikely Snyder will be able to woo anymore "ones that got away" back to Manhattan, but he does not seem to have much competition for in-state prospects from in-state roomie Kansas.

Kansas University head coach Turner Gill has too many pieces to pick or pray up to worry about locking down the borders after Mark Mangino's tumultuous exit.

Snyder showed his reach by grabbing four-star running back DeMarcus Robinson (Wichita) and Kansas State 6A High School Champion linebacker Tre Walker (Olathe) last year.

Snyder still has a lot of work to do to rebuild his tarnished kingdom, which was destroyed by a jester during his absence.

But it is good to be the king. Maybe a minion should send out an e-mail reminding Gill.

- Paul Harris is a senior in mass communications. Please send comments to sports@spub.ksu.edu.