This last weekend was a very big weekend for Kansas Athletics. You had events like the 11th annual Rock Chalk Roundball Classic and the NBA draft that two Jayhawks entered into.
Although those things were great and generated a lot of buzz, there was something else that was worth keeping an eye on and celebrating: Kansas football recruiting.
Yes I said that correctly, Kansas football recruiting.
It was truly a historic turn of events that saw eight players verbally commit to the University of Kansas for the 2020 football season.
A lot could change from now to when the season rolls around, but there is reason to be excited as recruiting is a huge step into getting the football program turned around and out of the black hole that it has found itself wrapped in.
Those eight athletes have all come in from a variety of different places in Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, California, and Minnesota.
John Kirby, who is a publisher at JayhawkSlant said this is nothing ordinary and it has mostly come because of the new head coach the Jayhawks have.
"“When you talk to all these recruits, they all mention Les Miles by name and speaking with him, and they all know who he is,” Kirby said. “I think there is a little bit of star power there that attracts them.”"
There is still a long way to go, but this is the highest national ranking at No. 28 that the Jayhawks have gotten since 2006, when they finished with a overall national ranking of No. 39, landing 23 enrollees.
To put things into perspective former coach David Beaty had only one hard commit through October of 2018, which came from a player by the name of Miles Emery who is a defensive end out of Blue Valley North High School.
Of the recruits that the Jayhawks got, three of them were defensive players in Jacobee Bryant, Kenean Caldwell and Caleb Taylor. This is something they desperately need as last year they ranked 77th in total defense in all of college football giving up right at 30 points per game.
In high school, Jacobee Bryant, a three star athlete and the No. 21 ranked cornerback in the state of Alabama, played for Hillcrest High School where he amassed 67 total tackles, with 57 of those being solo along with 13 interceptions.
His junior year he also found a role on special teams getting 170 kick return yards and 91 punt return yards. With the still lingering questions about the status of Pooka Williams Jr. and Kwame Lassiter II being a senior in 2020, Bryant could be a huge lift for the Hawks in that area.
Kenean Caldwell, who is also a three star defensive tackle out of Louisiana that played for Oak Grove High School, is a player that can really get behind the line and to the offensive backfield in a hurry and with a 6″3′, 305 pound frame like he has, those players don’t come around very easily.
Caleb Taylor, who is a three star defensive end out of Missouri that played for Hazelwood Central High School, has not been very highly recruited thus far as he has had only offers from Alabama A&M, Ball State, Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan.
However, he is also a guy that can really fly as he posted a 4.65 second shuttle run time at the Opening Regional on on April 4, 2019. He has a very brilliant football IQ and positioning himself on every play to get a play on the ball.
The time may not be next year or the year after that as it will take Miles a bit to acclimate his system and get upcoming recruits to buy into the culture he is creating, but getting recruits like these in one single weekend, there is no telling where this team could go from here. After all the recent struggles the football program has had to endure the only way from here is up.
Kansas currently has the No. 2 recruiting class in the Big 12 and No. 28 class in the NCAA.