Great Bend sophomore football prospect garnering national recruiting attention

GREAT BEND, Kan. (KSNW) — This has been an exciting spring for the Premer family of Great Bend. Their middle child, Ian Premer, has garnered national recruiting attention ever since he received his first DI football offer from the University of Kansas in early March. So far, about a dozen more offers have followed.

Ian’s basketball highlight reel on X (formerly Twitter) caught the attention of a lower-level football recruiting assistant at KU. That led the recruiter to search for Ian’s football highlights. Liking what he saw, he took what he found up the chain.

KU Offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Jeff Grimes contacted Great Bend High School football coach Erin Beck to tell him the news. KU was going to extend an offer to Ian.

“I remember when I got that first phone call from KU asking about him, and Coach Grimes was the first one to reach out to me and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to offer Ian, and then can you have him call me?’ And from there, he was kind of telling me like, ‘I apologize, but your spring is about to get really busy,’ and he wasn’t lying,” said Erin.

“You know, once that first offer came in, the phone calls just kept coming and kept coming and kept coming, and the interest picked up. Now you’ve got these coaches on campus, and you’ve had a chance to sit down and talk to them and hear their personalities and hear what they have to say about you. It makes complete sense of why he (Ian) is getting the recognition he is. It’s much, much deserved. And the potential that these guys see you, Ian, is just off the charts,” continued Erin.

Soon, Kansas State University called. Mizzou called. SEC programs began calling. The Big 10. The PAC 12. Since KU offered Ian on March 11, he has received offers from, in no particular order, Auburn, Tennessee, Indiana, K-State, Michigan State, Mizzou, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Iowa State, Wisconsin, and Oregon. Premer has visited K-State, evening posing for a photo with Head Coach Chris Klieman.

Ian is only a sophomore. And the college recruiters view him as a tight end, a position he’s never played before.

“They really liked my athleticism and catch radius and just my build for the tight end position. And right now, I’m only 210 pounds, but by the time I’m a senior, probably a little heavier,” he said. “And then I’ll be able to go in freshman year and get in the weight room. And I bet that’s what other schools are seeing as well.”

In two seasons playing varsity, Ian has played both ways, starting at safety and wide receiver.

He’s also one of the best basketball players in the state. Standing 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 210 pounds, he averaged over 21 points per game and helped the Panthers reach the 5A state basketball tournament in March.

A recently retired state championship-winning basketball coach said he believes Ian is the best three-sport Class 5A athlete in the state.

“I always thought I’d play college basketball. That’s what my dad did. And I’ve always really loved basketball. And then when I talked to KU for the first time, that was probably when I thought, ‘Man I could, I could play college football as well’,” said Ian.

His father, Chad Premer, played college basketball at Hutchinson Community College and two more seasons at Tabor College. Chad says his son is spending his spring weekends playing AAU ball with KC Run GMC in metro Kansas City. It’s Ian’s first year playing on the Under Armour circuit.

“Ian is so much more than a football player. More than an athlete, a basketball player, whatever. He is just such a great kid, and I told his mom this. I think last year we called him a unicorn around here because he’s just so rare,” said Erin. “He is just one of those kids that you just enjoy being around and having in your program. I mean, I tell these guys this all the time. You could go into that high school and walk the hallways in Great Bend High School and ask the janitor, an administrator, the lunch lady, any kid class, and they’re gonna say the exact same thing about Ian. So, it’s just so easy to talk about him to these coaches because he is the way he is because of the way he was raised. His parents are next level. They had brought him upright, and it shows in everything he does.”

Great Bend High School baseball coach Randy Beck agrees.

“I think that he’s put us on the map. We’ve had Tennessee, Stanford, Michigan State, a lot of the Power-5 schools. I mean, there’s a lot of interest, and the guys come. The coaches come in and sit down with Ian and talk to us and just to get a feel for Ian’s character, and obviously, everybody has good things to say,” said Randy. “Even teachers. You can talk to any teacher over there. They’re gonna tell you the exact same thing.”

This story is merely an introduction. It’s very early in the recruiting process. Ian’s not even allowed to talk to college recruiters until mid-June, but a rising star is walking the halls of Great Bend High School.

“Yeah, this is rare air for Great Bend. It’s been a while. I think Jeremy Reed was the last division football player to receive a scholarship. And that was pretty regional. That was Kansas State. It wasn’t quite this nationally publicized, and like you said, for the town. I don’t even think they’ve completely wrapped their head around it yet,” said Erin.

“Yeah, I just want to talk to anyone that wants to talk with me and really build relationships with coaches up because that’s what’s gonna be important to me is really feeling comfortable with the coaches and wanting to be around them,” said Ian. “And I’m not close to any decision at all. It’s very early in the process like you said.”

Erin has led the Panthers to the playoffs in each of the last two years and is entering his ninth season as Great Bend’s head coach. He’s excited to have two more years to help develop Premer and prepare him for the next level.

“You know, someday when he is on a college campus. Hopefully, that’s when we will really be putting Great Bend on the map,” he said.

Martin, the manager of Great Bend Municipal Airport, confirms there has been an increase in the number of college-affiliated aircraft arriving in recent weeks.

Who knows? This could be the highest uptick of college coaches and recruiters coming into Barton County in 30 years. Back then, the top women’s college basketball coaches in the country were flocking to Claflin to visit a hot-shooting young basketball star named Jackie Stiles.

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