Sunday morning, David Beaty tweeted out his signature #NeatDeal three times. Per Benton Smith at the LJW, Kansas has officially added Juco CB Antonio Cole, prep WR Quan Hampton, and Juco DB Derreon Jackson.
That makes nine junior college recruits for the class of 2017, which is tied for the third-most in the last 12 recruiting classes.
Charlie Weis’ legacy at KU is his failed attempt to resurrect the Kansas program with a huge influx of junior college transfers. We’ve detailed that here at RCT in the past.
In terms of overall numbers, here are the number of Juco recruits since 2006:
| Class | # of JUCOs | Coach |
| 2017 | 9 | Beaty |
| 2016 | 3 | Beaty |
| 2015 | 12 | Beaty |
| 2014 | 8 | Weis |
| 2013 | 18 | Weis |
| 2012 | 9 | Weis |
| 2011 | 1 | Gill |
| 2010 | 1 | Gill |
| 2009 | 5 | Mangino |
| 2008 | 4 | Mangino |
| 2007 | 5 | Mangino |
| 2006 | 4 | Mangino |
(data from ESPN.com)
Now, 2015 was Beaty’s first recruiting class, and so a lot of those recruits can be attributed to Weis. But what I’m seeing out of Beaty is troubling. He seems to be going for the quick fix, and we have proof that doesn’t work.
What is going on here? Why is Kansas football going back down the rabbit hole? Since 2006, Kansas has signed 70 junior college recruits (not counting the 2017 class). How many can you name that made an impact at Kansas? Let me try.
Alonso Rojas. Keon Stowers. Ty McKinney. Cassius Sendish. Trevor Pardula. Fish Smithson. Ke’aun Kinner.
That’s seven (a number that includes two punters).
Taylor Cox? Josh Ford? Rod Coleman? De’Andre Mann? Anthony Olobia? DeeIsaac Davis? D’Andre Banks?
That’s seven more maybes. If we count all 14, that’s a "success rate" of 20%. Maybe you can come up with another name or two, but the point is, the odds are it isn't going to work.
The high number of junior college transfer players in this, Beaty’s third recruiting class, has me troubled, and I think it’s easy to see why.