#21 Drake Cheatum — The graduation of Drake Cheatum (21) left a void among the safety positions, which fellow transfer Nickendre Stiger can help to fill in the two-deep.

In which BracketCat counts down the 12th day until the 2024 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State safety Nickendre Stiger.

NOTE: Kansas State has elected to advance players’ classification even though the 2020 season did not affect eligibility. Those who wish to take advantage of this extra year will be listed as a (“super”) senior again after their original eligibility would have been exhausted.

Goal No. 12: NO SELF-LIMITATIONS. Expect more of yourself.

#12 Nickendre Stiger

Redshirt Senior | 5-11 | 187 lbs. | Wichita, Kansas

Position: Safety
Previous College: Butler Community College
Projection: Third-String
Status: Preferred Walk-On

Nickendre Stiger (b. Nov. 14, 2001) is a JUCO transfer defensive back who is majoring in communication studies. Because he played in 2020, he has two more years to play two.

He played in three games during the 2022 Big 12 Championship season as he retained his redshirt, recording single tackles against South Dakota, Missouri and West Virginia.

Stiger saw action in a pair of games in 2023, including the TCU contest when he recorded a tackle and a pass breakup, and he also saw time as a reserve defensive back against both Texas Tech and Houston.

With Tobi Osunsanmi, he prepped under head coach Ene Akpan at Wichita High School East, where he was named the team’s Most Valuable Player and defensive Most Valuable Player, in addition to being named to the all-conference team, and competed in baseball.

At Butler Community College, Stiger played two seasons under head coach Tim Schaffner.

He posted 84 career tackles to go along with four interceptions, 13 total passes defended, four tackles for loss and a sack.

Stiger earned second team all-conference honors as a sophomore after recording 49 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss (TFLs), a sack, an interception and six passes defended.

He had a career-high eight tackles at Dodge City, which included his first career sack.

Stiger tallied an interception and fumble recovery the week prior at Hutchinson, and he was an honorable mention all-conference pick as a freshman in the spring of 2021, a year in which he registered 35 tackles, three interceptions, seven passes defended and 1.5 TFLs.

He returned his first career interception 34 yards for a touchdown at Coffeyville, a game that also featured a career-high 1.5 tackles for loss.

Stiger had two picks the next week against Highland and he was named the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

He played at Butler with current K-State defensive tackles Malcolm Alcorn-Crowder and George Traglia, as well as linebacker Zach Wittenberg.

Prior to his transferring to K-State, Stiger enrolled at Butler over offers from Alabama A&M, Incarnate Word, Middle Tennessee State, North Texas, Stephen F. Austin and Troy.