Last week, four-star tight end Ian Premer committed to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Kansas native snubbing both of his in-state teams, the Jayhawks and the Wildcats.
While both Kansas and Kansas State missing out on Premer's recruitment was a loss, the Wildcats' failure to recruit the young tight end was some sort of a victory for the Jayhawks. Not to mention, the Kansas Jayhawks have dominated the class of 2026 prospects from the state so far.
Class of 2026 Kansas in-state prospects
- Ian Premer, four-star tight end, committed to Notre Dame
- James "JJ" Dunnigan, four-star cornerback, committed to Kansas
- Kaden Snyder, four-star offensive tackle, committed to Kansas
- Maxwell Robinson, four-star interior offensive lineman, uncommitted
- Hunter Higgins, three-star EDGE, committed to Kansas
With three of the top five in-state prospects committing to the Jayhawks over the Wildcats, or any other program in the country, Kansas head coach has been greatly outpacing the Kansas State head coach, Chris Klieman.
Premer was the No. 1 athlete out of the state and the No. 4 overall tight end in the class, so his committing to one of the top powerhouses in the country over Kansas or Kansas State isn't all that surprising.
Currently, Leipold and the Jayhawks have the No. 27 overall class of 2026 commits, including three four-stars and 15 three-stars. This is a massive improvement over Kansas's 2025 recruiting class.
Kansas Jayhawks 2026 recruiting class
- James "JJ" Dunnigan, four-star cornerback
- Kaden Snyder, four-star offensive tackle
- Kory Amachree, four-star running back
- Hunter Higgins, three-star EDGE
- Joshua Galbreath, three-star linebacker
- Kaden Moody, three-star offensive tackle
- Draeden Punt, three-star EDGE
- Corbin Glasco, three-star wide receiver
- Joseph Credit, three-star linebacker
- Jack Utz, three-star tight end
- Kevin Sullivan, three-star tight end
- Tyren Parker, three-star wide receiver
- Lennie Brown, three-star cornerback
- Malachi Mills, three-star offensive tackle
- Nate Sims, three-star wide receiver
- Na'Kwaine Carter, three-star defensive lineman
- Jaylen Mason, three-star quarterback
- Lucas Smalls-Allen, three-star defensive lineman
- Robert Reddick, unrated cornerback