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Goal No. 6: SELF-DISCIPLINE.Do it right; don’t accept less.

#6 Sterling Lockett

Redshirt Senior* | 5-10 | 170 lbs. (+1) | Leawood, Kansas

• Position: Wide Receiver
• Projection: Scout Team/Special Teams
• Remaining Eligibility: 1 year
• Status: On Scholarship

Sterling Lockett (b. Oct. 8, 2003) is a shifty, smooth wide receiver with a famous name from Blue Valley High School who graduated from K-State in December 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in business management and is currently working on his master of business administration degree. He redshirted* and did not play in 2022.

Lockett played in two games in 2023, seeing time as a reserve wide receiver against Baylor and as a punt returner in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against NC State.

In 2024, he played in 12 games as both a reserve wide receiver — seeing time on 33 offensive snaps — and as a kick returner; returned one kickoff for 11 yards against Cincinnati and one punt for 10 yards in the season opener against UT Martin; and earned Academic All-Big 12 honors.

Last season, Lockett saw his most significant playing time yet as he played in all 12 games as a reserve wide receiver and the primary punt returner, logging time on 105 offensive snaps. He recorded three receptions for 39 yards, while he returned 13 punts for 56 yards and two kickoffs for 44 yards.

Lockett finally tallied his first career reception at K-State against UCF — a 13-yard catch on a touchdown drive just before halftime — in a contest in which he was active for a career-high 30 offensive snaps.

He also had two catches for 26 yards — including a long of 19 — against Colorado; returned three punts against North Dakota, including one for a career-long 22 yards; returned a kickoff 23 yards against Kansas and another 21 yards against Colorado; and finished as an Academic All-Big 12 performer for the second straight seasons.

“I try to not limit myself on specific goals,” Lockett said in May. “By the end of the year, I just want to make sure I did everything I could to help the team in the best way I could, and truly left the biggest impact I could on K-State football. K-State means a lot to me and my family, so to do everything I can to support that means a lot to me.”

Lockett looks to continue in both roles in 2026 and, for a guy who has recorded only three catches, continues to improve as a route runner. For instance, here’s last year’s assessment from former head coach Chris Klieman:

We have to keep pushing Sterling Lockett so we can use Jayce (Brown) outside and inside, and Sterling can play the slot because Sterling has done a good job. We’re trying to move more guys around, which sometimes will stunt their growth from a mental standpoint in having to learn multiple positions, but we probably need to do that so that if the fourth-best guy is only playing one position and someone else gets hurt, we have to be able to move him to another position to get the best players on the field. That has helped us there.

His former position coach, Matthew Middleton, also sung Lockett’s praises prior to last season:

Sterling has been working his butt off. He’s gotten better throughout the summer and in this camp. He’s another one of those veteran guys who’s been around and understands me and competes and does a really good job. We’re really impressed with how he’s competed day in, day out.

So did current wide receivers coach Thad Ward, who helped to recruit Lockett to K-State in the first place:

Sterling works hard. Sterling, man, I was just watching him this morning. He’s grinding, man. He wants to do everything right. He’s sharp in the classroom. He’s been really good. Obviously, he’s gotten a little bigger since the last time I had him. He’s a little stronger as well. We joke together as well.

I’m pleased with where he’s at. I like his knowledge, but the way he competed this morning, I was really pleased with where he’s at, and I’m looking forward to big things from Sterling.

Read more about his journey to Kansas State and reunion with the guy who threw passes to his half-brother:

When I think about Kansas State, the first thing I think about is the way I grew up watching the teams and how Kansas State is always the team that nobody wants to play because we give it 100% the whole game. We have relentless effort. We have tenacity. And we expect to win.

Needless to say, Lockett is thrilled about the prospects of playing under his brother’s former quarterback:

We’re going to be really fast and explosive. There are going to be a lot of big plays, which I’m really excited for. It has a lot of versatility. He runs it in a way that allows a lot of people to do a lot of special things. One thing about Collin as an (offensive coordinator) is he’s really good at using people’s strengths to their advantage. You could see in 2022 when we won the Big 12. At Texas A&M, he used a lot of his receivers, running backs and tight ends (in) the best way he could. I’m really excited about that.

He puts a lot of people in the best positions for them to succeed. He does a really great job of putting people into positions to go win their one-on-ones in the best way they know how, whether that be as a downfield threat, or change-of-direction threat, or a short option threat. Whatever it may be, he sets people up really well to succeed in those situations. …

Collin is super relatable to everybody. The thing I really like about him is that he’s played here, and he knows how much K-State means to people and how much our culture and competitive spirit means to people. Playing for Coach Snyder, he knows the tenacity and grit that K-State has. You can see it in everything we do, his competitive nature will start to come out, and he’s not even on the field. It’s awesome to have a coach who’s so relatable toward his players and understands everything we’re going through and learning and continuing to develop. He’s right there with us and ready to help us out in any way. It’s really great.

He is also excited about what new special teams coordinator Stanton Weber will bring to the table:

(Coach Weber) has been great. He’s super hands-on with everything that we’re going through, whether it be setting up returns, or whatever it may be. He’s super open to people coming over to meet with him. Unfortunately, last year, it seemed like every time we played a team, the punter didn’t punt the ball further than 30 yards. I’m looking forward to this year. Hopefully we’ll be able to set up some great returns. He was here when Coach Snyder was here for special teams. So, he truly knows how important special teams is, and I’m looking forward to keep working with him and see how far that can go.

Lockett prepped under head coach Allen Terrell at Blue Valley, where he was rated the 10th-best player in the state of Kansas by ESPN, and he was high school teammates with former K-State linebackers Beau Palmer and Maguire Richman, as well as former running back JB Price.

He hauled in 65 receptions for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns during his high school career, which included a five-touchdown campaign as a senior.

Lockett picked up 2021 honorable mention all-state honors from Sports in Kansas after he averaged 22.8 yards per kickoff return for the Tigers over the final two years of his career.

He committed to K-State over interest (but no scholarship offers) from Arizona State, Iowa and Iowa State.

Lockett’s primary recruiters were K-State director of player personnel and high school relations Taylor Braet and former fullbacks, tight ends, and wide receivers coach Jason Ray.

Sterling has continued a proud family tradition of excellence: His father, Kevin (1993-96); uncle, Aaron (1998-2001); and brother, Tyler (2011-14), all were star wide receivers and return specialists for the Wildcats. They collectively averaged 15.2 yards every time they caught a football. In all, they produced 13,655 all-purpose yards, 9,142 receiving yards and 69 receiving touchdowns on 603 catches.

Tyler ranks first in school history in career receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, while Kevin ranks second in each category. Tyler has played 11 seasons in the National Football League with the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders.

(Unfortunately, his twin brothers, Jacob and Jordan, have committed to Old Dominion, in separate sports.)

Here is what Sterling had to say about his athletic and talented family legacy back in May:

It’s definitely a blessing. I thank God every day for the family He blessed me with and the situation that He brought me into, because a lot of where I am today and a lot of who I am today wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t grow up in this family. I’m just thankful that He’s blessed me with the opportunity in this family. They’ve taught me so much more than football. It’s truly a blessing to grow up in such an amazing family.

Speaking for the rest of the K-State family, let me just say it’s been a pleasure to have been a small part of the Lockett family, and they with us, for the past 33 years. Here’s to one more amazing season of Lockett returns!

*K-State has recently announced a new classification scheme that designates players by their year of eligibility regardless of whether they have “redshirted,” a term that will go out of use with the new “5-for-5” rule. Thus, the KSU SID lists Lockett as a “fifth year” even though he did not play in 2022. For the sake of consistency with past posts, I will continue to designate redshirts based on their playing history, but also note their remaining eligibility to stay consistent with the new designations as well.

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