Hey there, you must be one heck of a devoted fan if you are still reading about Kansas football in January. You deserve a round of applause, but instead here is the Kansas Jayhawk’s 2015 Recruiting Review, Enjoy!
David Beatty knew he was coming into a tough situation when he took over the job at Kansas, but not even he could have seen this coming. Kansas suffered through a miserable 0-12 season that was “highlighted” by a 23-17 loss to TCU. Despite the miserable season, Kansas seems to have found a block to build around in true freshman quarterback Ryan Willis, who threw for 1700 yards and nine touchdowns in 8+ games. Beatty made a name for himself as a recruiter at Texas A&M but has some work to do, as the Jayhawks currently have just ten commits with a month until signing day.
Kansas Jayhawks 2015 Recruiting Review
SIGNED AND DELIVERED
Of the 10 commitments currently pledged to the Jayhawks, three have already signed their letter of intent and will participate in spring football. The early enrollees include:
DeeIsaac Davis: defensive tackle, Highland C.C.; chose Jayhawks over offers from Idaho and Southern Miss, will have two years of eligibility at Kansas.
Isi Holani: defensive tackle, Riverside C.C.; chose Jayhawks over offers from Colorado State and Kansas State. Will have two years of eligibility for the Jayhawks.
Stephan Robinson: wide receiver, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M; chose Jayhawks over offers from Arkansas St, Southern Miss, and Utah State. Received heavy interest from Tennessee but never received an offer.
STARS OF THE CLASS
Kyle Mayberry: cornerback, Tulsa, OK, 5’11”, 165 pounds; chose Jayhawks over Kansas State, Houston, and Illinois. From traditional Kansas State recruiting grounds Booker T. Washington high school.
Mayberry was a huge get for two reasons, one having to do with football, the other having to do with recruiting. On the football field, Mayberry is a natural cover corner that will immediately see playing time in a secondary that ranked 125th against the pass in 2015. On the recruiting side of things, Mayberry marks KU’s first true recruiting victory over their in-state rivals, Kansas State. K-State has always mined Booker T. Washington high school for talented players and many expected Mayberry to be one of them, but the youngster decided to blaze a new tral by giving the Jayhawks needed speed in the secondary.
Maciah Long: inside linebacker, Houston, TX, 6’2″, 230 pounds; chose Jayhawks over offers from Arizona State, Missouri, and UCLA. Currently a “soft” commit, as he is still mulling offers from Indiana and UCF.
Not only was Kansas horrific against the pass, but the Jayhawks were also an abysmal 125th in the country defending the run. So basically, the Jayhawks need help everywhere on the defensive side of the ball. Long cant fix all of KU’s problems, but he is a pretty good start. He plays primarily quarterback and wide receiver for his North Shore High School team, and is a noticeably smooth athlete with tremendous speed. Long also has a body that is physically up to the task of a collegiate season, as he is a very well built 230 pound young man. Long fits very well into KU’s 4-2-5 scheme, a scheme that stresses athleticism over size.
DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH
Hunter Harris: center, Aledo, TX, 6’2″, 260 pounds; chose the Jayhawks over offers from California, Bucknell, and Princeton. Was a starter on two state championship teams at Aledo high school.
No matter how big or small a school is, everything on offense starts with the center. Good centers are becoming more and more difficult to find in today’s college football, but Kansas appears to have snagged one in Hunter Harris. While not an overly big guy, Harris has good footwork and is a smart kid, two vital traits in a center. Harris will challenge for playing time early at Kansas, whose starting center in 2015, Keyon Haughton, exhausted his eligibility.
Ian Peterson: cornerback, Round Rock, TX, 5’11”, 185 pounds; chose Kansas over offers from Colorado, Wisconsin, Houston, and SMU.
Remember that thing I said about how Kansas was one of the worst pass defenses in the country in 2015. Peterson joins Kyle Mayberry as two solid additions that can help remedy that problem. While Peterson isn’t the tallest guy at 5’11”, he is an extremely well built and possesses blazing speed. With the sad state of KU’s secondary, don’t be surprised if Peterson finds his way to the field as a true freshman.
THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY
At one point this season, the Kansas Jayhawks had a fantastic trio of players from Snow College in Utah, one of the premier JUCO schools in the country. These three commits were offensive tackle Joe Malanga, defensive end Manaia Perese, and linebacker Kurtis Taufa. All three joined the Jayhawk class during the summer, and were shaping up to be the cornerstones of a successful first class for David Beatty.
Unfortunately, Utah jumped in on Taufa’s recruitment and the talented linebacker decided to flip from the Jayhawks to the Utes. After Taufa’s decommitment, both Malanga and Perese backed off on their initial commitments as well to look at other schools. While the door hasn’t completely closed on the duo joining the Kansas class, it is looking less likely to happen with each passing day.
WHO IS LEFT ON THEIR BOARD?
Kansas has plenty of work to do in order to fill out their class, as they have at least 12 open slots to fill for 2016. Many of their top targets remain uncommitted, so there is hope that the Jayhawks can snag them.
Peytton Pickett: running back, Arlington, TX; currently holds offers from KU, New Mexico, and SMU. Averaged nearly 200 rushing yards per game during his senior season at Sam Houston High.
Kansas struggled mightily in the run game in 2015, as no running back was able to become the bell cow that Kansas can rely on. Perhaps that’s why Kansas has been going after Pickett so hard this year. Pickett isn’t the biggest guy at 5’9″, but he runs with good power for his size and has tremendous open field agility and vision. Pickett is the perfect running back for KU’s air raid offensive scheme, and he appears to have KU in the lead, as they are the only school that he has visited.
Amani Bledsoe: defensive end, Lawrence, Kansas, has Kansas in his top 5 along with Baylor, NC State, Oklahoma, and Oregon. Semper Fidelis All-American
This guy is the big one, the one that can make the 2016 class an immediate success for the Jayhawks. Defensive coordinator Clint Bowen has been working tirelessly to get Amani “Moose” Bledsoe to stick around and play for the Jayhawks. At 6’5″ and nearly 280 pounds, Bledsoe has tremendous size and an explosive first step for a big man that makes him a fierce pass rusher. Bledsoe would immediately move into the starting lineup at Kansas if he does commit to the Jayhawks, but Oklahoma is pushing hard to add Bledsoe to their class. I’m rooting for the Hawks on this one, but I think Bledsoe ends up playing for Bob Stoops.
Like I said earlier, Beatty has got an incredibly difficult task in front of him. Not only does he have to try to salvage his current team’s confidence after an ugly 0-12 season, but he also has to recruit with his main selling point being “Hey it cant get any worse, right?”. The slim chance of adding Bledsoe to the class is the one shimmer of light in what has been an extremely dark 2015 for the Jayhawks.
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