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KU Football hosts big recruiting weekend

A lot of local talent as well as a few out-of-staters were in Lawrence this weekend.

NCAA Football: Texas at Kansas Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

The first weekend after National Signing Day is traditionally a huge recruiting weekend for coaches as they turn their attention fully on the next recruiting cycle. Remember when David Beaty caused a splash with a bunch of highly regarded commitments (including Pooka Williams) around this time two years ago?

Well, Kansas didn’t get a bunch of (nonbinding) verbals commits this weekend, but there were some big names along with a bunch of local talent. Speaking of which, the state of Kansas appears to have a larger-than-normal list of players that will garner D1 offers, but that’s another article for another time.

For now, let’s just take a quick look at the kids who were in Lawrence for Junior Days this past weekend. Almost all of them are for the 2020 class, but there are a couple of 2021s in there as well.

This is just what I could find on Twitter (primarily @KUHawkRecruit and @JayhawkSlant); it’s very likely this is not a comprehensive list.

KU FB 2019 Junior Days

Name Class Pos Size 247 Rank Rivals Hometown Other Offers Notes
Name Class Pos Size 247 Rank Rivals Hometown Other Offers Notes
Kyle Douglas 2020 QB 6'0" 185 lbs NR NR Dallas, TX None reported No offers yet but interest from BU, CU, UH, OSU, TTU
Joe Campbell 2020 QB 6'0" 210 lbs NR NR Raytown, MO None reported
Malik Berry 2020 ATH-QB/LB 6'3" 215 lbs NR NR Lawrence, KS KSU Projects as a LB
Daniel Jackson 2020 WR 5'11" 185 lbs 4* 3* Mission, KS ND, ASU, Iowa, ISU, KSU, Minn, MU, A&M, Wisc
Malik Johnson 2020 WR 5'9" 175 lbs NR NR The Woodlands, TX None reported
D'Vontae Key 2020 WR 5'10" 165 lbs NR 3* Raytown, MO Iowa
Isaiah Gavin 2020 WR 6'5" 165 lbs NR NR Overland Park, KS None reported
Will Huggins 2020 TE/WR 6'7" 225 lbs NR NR Shawnee Mission, KS None reported
Turner Corcoran 2020 OL 6'6' 280 lbs 4* 4* Lawrence, KS Neb, OhSt, OU, +14 more Consensus Top-75
Hayden Pauls 2020 OL 6'4" 265 lbs 3* 3* Emporia, KS Iowa, ISU, KSU, Minn, Neb, Pur
Cody Fayette 2020 OL 6'6" 290 lbs NR NR Wichita, KS SDak
Jaeden Roberts 2021 OL 6'6" 320 lbs NR NR Overland Park, KS Iowa, KSU, Minn, Neb, MU
Nate Matlack 2020 DE 6'4" 210 lbs 3* 3* Olathe, KS KSU, Syr
Javon Mosley 2020 DE 6'0" 225 lbs NR NR Raytown, MO None reported
Matthew Roberts 2020 DE/LB 6'3" 210 lbs NR 3* Overland Park, KS KSU
Dontae Manning 2020 DB-CB 6'0" 175 lbs 3* 3* Raytown, MO Neb, ISU, IU, Iowa, KSU, Minn, MU, ND, OkSt, VT
Kallun Chitama 2021 DB-S NA NR NR Lawrence, KS None reported

I like how many of these guys have not just D1, but P5 offers. Les Miles is going to battle with the big boys. We already know that Kansas has the facilities to compete, and Kansas has added to that with the nearly completed new indoor practice facility immediately west of Memorial Stadium. Now, it appears as if they have the head coach with which to compete as well. JayhawkSlant indicates Miles’ staff has already put out nearly 150 offers in the 2020 class.

Miles told an ESPN reporter back in December that his priority was to “harvest” the surprising amount of talent available in-state. David Beaty had his “Kansas blast” statewide recruiting trip that assistants took every year, but it appears as if Les Miles is actually backing up his talk of going after local recruits with actions:

KU Football is hosting another Junior Days event later this month on February 23. Ky Thomas (3* RB) out of Topeka and Cole Putnam (ATH-QB out of Tennessee) have indicated they will be attending. We’ll keep our eyes on Twitter for other attendees, and hopefully those verbals will start coming in soon.