Manhattan ? Michael Beasley left several thousand fans slack-jawed Sunday in the first appearance in Bramlage Coliseum of the most highly recruited prep star ever to sign with Kansas State.

Scoring on a variety of shots from about 25 feet in, the 6-foot-9 power forward rang up a dazzling 30 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and had four blocked shots in only 26 minutes of a high school exhibition game.

In the first half alone while leading Notre Dame Prep of Fitchburg, Mass., to a 107-80 victory over IMG Academy of Bradenton, Fla., Beasley had 22 points and eight rebounds.

But something he said afterward will probably set Kansas State hearts racing even faster.

“I’m coming to Kansas State planning to stay four years,” he said. “I want to be a student-athlete, not an athletic student.”

Widely regarded as the country’s No. 1 prospect, Beasley signed with Kansas State in November, the marquee name in a four-player group that some say could be the best class in the nation. He would be a lottery pick if the NBA had not imposed a rule last year mandating that a kid must be at least 19 to enter the league.

“I want to get my education,” said the 18-year-old Beasley. “Whatever happens on the basketball side happens.”

He averaged about 24 points and 14 rebounds for Notre Dame Prep and coach Bill Barton, who insisted Beasley was not being “naive” in asserting his intention to stay a full four years.

“A college education is important to him,” Barton said. “I think he’s doing the right thing by saying he’s coming to school to be a student-athlete and not putting a timetable on it.”

Beasley also caused the crowd to catch its collective breath early in the second half when he went charging after a loose ball and crashed into a photographer, sending them both sprawling hard onto the floor. He hobbled to the bench holding his left knee and sat there being attended to.

But a few minutes later he was back in the game, to a big round of applause. He immediately scored on a left-handed layup and a soft put-back, then grabbed a rebound and then blocked a shot that led to Deonte Roberts’ bucket and a 78-53 Notre Dame Prep lead.

“It banged my knee up a little bit. But I’m going to live,” said Beasley, who also displayed a feathery touch on his left-handed jump shot.

Altogether, he was 14-for-26 from the floor, including 2-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc. Besides four blocks, he also had two steals and two assists. Thirty-one fouls were called in the fast-paced game that included several other prospects who have already signed with major colleges. But not one was called on him.

“He’s a very unique talent,” said Barton. “He really is his own player. He’s got range. He rebounds very well.”

Staring at the stat sheet at halftime and kidding around with Kansas State director of basketball operations Brad Underwood was Tim Jankovich, an assistant coach at Kansas and former K-State star.

“He had 22 points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and an assist in 13 minutes,” Jankovich said. “Thirteen minutes? Wow! That’s approaching two points a minute.”

“I’ll tell you right now, just between us,” said Underwood. “When he gets here next year we’re going to throw the ball to him.”

“Oh, no,” replied Jankovich. “Don’t do that.”