Luke Luhrsen Will Discontinue Football Career at Kansas

Charlie Weis has announced that Kansas redshirt freshman offensive lineman Luke Luhrsen will not return to Kansas football in 2013 as he has instead chosen to quit football altogether and focus on his academic career at Kansas.

"After sitting down with Luke he informed me he has decided to discontinue playing football to concentrate solely on academics," said Weis. "Luke was a valuable asset to our team and we wish him well in his future endeavors."

This marks another departure from Turner Gill's 2011 offensive line class that appeared to lay a solid foundation for the position moving forward. Gill signed Luhrsen, Dylan Admire, Travis Bodenstein, Damon Martin, Tanner Gibas, Phil Ford and Brian Peters. Ford never made it to campus while Luhrsen, Gibas and Bodenstein have all now ended their careers as Jayhawks which leaves just three players from this group still on the roster.

Damon Martin played during a pair of games this season at guard but then found himself in the doghouse to the extent that he didn't even make the travel roster near the end of the season. Admire has been viewed as the center of the future but there is plenty of competition for that spot coming from the junior college ranks and elsewhere on the roster. Peters is the one player still around that we haven't seen and he was also considered one of the most prepared players physically coming out of high school.

Seven players originally signed, three remain. There have been some very productive players that came out of Gill's one full year recruiting, but as with most of his tenure, things aren't looking so rosy in the rearview mirror. Losing Luhrsen hurts the depth at the position as he his someone who the coaching staff seemed to think could be a contributor. His scholarship will open up another slot in the 2014 class as Kansas will already max out the 2013 group without the opening.