Bill Snyder says ex-K-State WR Corey Sutton failed two drug tests
— -- Kansas State coach Bill Snyder defended his decision to deny a scholarship release to wide receiver Corey Sutton and said Thursday that Sutton failed two drug tests in his time at the school, which Sutton denies.
In an interview this week with The Wichita Eagle, Sutton, a sophomore from Charlotte, North Carolina, said he asked Kansas State recently for a release to 35 schools as potential landing spots after announcing his decision to transfer.
The list, Sutton said, included programs at lower classifications and no Big 12 schools or future K-State opponents.
According to Sutton, Snyder denied every option.
Sutton also issued a series of tweets, since deleted, that were critical of Snyder, a legendary figure at K-State for whom the stadium is named.
"Can you stop being a slave master and give me my release?" read one Sutton tweet.
Snyder, speaking to media at a booster event Thursday night in Overland Park, Kansas, said "it doesn't make sense to not try to prevent" Sutton from leaving school.
"If you're a No. 2, you probably want to be a No. 1," the 77-year-old coach said. "If you have the option to leave, and you have 22 No. 2s on your team leaving, you don't have much of a team left."
Sutton enrolled at Kansas State in the spring of 2016 and played in 10 games last year as a true freshman, catching four passes for 54 yards. K-State did not release a depth chart this spring, but Sutton was projected to enter preseason camp as a backup to fellow sophomore and Cal transfer Carlos Strickland.
"I've been around there for 28 years," Snyder said, "and the young man was in our program for less than two years. I think our fans know what I'm about. They know what our program is about. I think they trust that."
Snyder then said Sutton had twice tested positive for drug use at K-State.
"I've never kept a player in our program who's tested positive twice," Snyder said. "We have some rules in the athletic department that allowed that to happen this time."
When reached on Friday by ESPN, Sutton said that Snyder's assertion he failed two drug tests is false. Sutton told ESPN he would have no additional comment at this time.
The coach did not elaborate on the connection between Sutton's test results and the decision to deny his scholarship release. Sutton may enroll at another school in 2017, although he would not be eligible to receive a scholarship for his first year on another campus without receiving a release from Kansas State.
"I don't have enough money for that," Sutton told the Wichita newspaper.
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