Rock Chalk Talk with Kansas Recruit Geneo Grissom

Since the coaching changes at Kansas began to take shape a few weeks ago one player suddenly drawing a lot of attention was Geneo Grissom.

Grissom is a four star defensive end out of Hutchinson Kansas who committed to Kansas early in the process but has since reopened the door to his recruitment.  Part of this was the fact that Geneo flew relatively under the radar prior to the season and has had some pretty appealing opportunities come his way of late.  The other part is the obvious and that's the coaching changes at Kansas.

Last night, I had a chance to chat with Geneo for a few minutes and while it's tough to read exactly where Kansas stands, it appears they are still in the discussion although some pretty big name schools are looming large.

I caught Geneo as he was returning from his weekend official at Oklahoma as the Sooners are becoming a real player in terms of his recruitment.  In regards to the visit Geneo said, "it went very well. I really enjoyed myself and they really made an impact on the visit."  Still Geneo wouldn't go so far as to say OU was the frontrunner or anyone was the leader for his services at this point.  "OU, LSU and Kansas are the three schools I'm looking at and I still have a visit to LSU on the 23rd of January scheduled," said Grissom.  In terms of a Kansas visit, Grissom initially said he planned on taking one but would backtrack a little later in the conversation stating, "honestly I'm just not sure about the visit, it's more a timing issue than anything."

The Kansas coaching staff did reach out to Geneo last week to let him know they are definitely still interested as Turner Gill spoke with Geneo on the phone and Coach Torbush met with him in person.  Geneo wouldn't go into whether he still considered himself committed to Kansas, but he did say that those two conversations were enough for him to continue looking at Kansas in the process adding, "I wouldn't count them out just yet."

I also asked Geneo what would be the most important factor in his decision this time around to which he replied, " I'm trying to make my decision based off of everything but football."  To elaborate on that Grissom explained, "education, proximity to home, the college surroundings, the town, the people, the players and the coaches.  Once I sign the papers there's no looking back."  With those factors in mind Geneo still isn't giving any hints as to where Kansas stands based on what he knows to date. Asked if there was a leader Geneo said, "I'd rather not say." 

At this point Grissom appears content to take a step back and reevaluate all his options over the next month.  There is a lot to be interpreted from his statements but at the same time I think he's just wanting to keep things low key while he decides what's best for him based on the situation that has transpired at Kansas.  In terms of a timeline Grissom expected he'll be prepared for a decision after the LSU visit at the end of January.  He did leave a little wiggle room for a change earlier however saying simply, "at least that's what I'm thinking for now." 

Here's hoping Coach Gill can somehow convince Geneo that being a Jayhawk with him as the coach is just as good if not a better option to being a Jayhawk with Mark Mangino's staff.  This appears to be a tough battle and a potential uphill climb for the new Kansas staff, but he did still commit to Kansas originally and that certainly gives the Jayhawks a chance in this.