Kansas football: Jayhawks leading in race for top 300 recruit in 2025 class

Kansas football has gotten off to a strong start with its 2025 recruiting class. Quarterback David McComb, who vaulted to 246th in the ESPN 300 a few months ago, is the Jayhawks lone commitment — but another player could be added to that list this weekend.

Malachi Curvey, the No. 278 player in next year's graduating class in the 247 Sports Composite, is committing on Sunday, Jan. 7. He is listed as an athlete because he plays both sides of the ball but projects to be an outside linebacker at the collegiate level.

The Waukee, Iowa native has visited Kansas on several occasions. He went to KU's football camp in June, the Sunflower Showdown against K-State in November, and the Border War basketball game in December. He spoke about how his experiences have been while on campus.

“It’s been great,” Curvey said. “Over the summer, after being at the camp, talking to all the coaches, then meeting my parents and all that type of type of stuff, they started recruiting me a lot heavier."

"Not necessarily, like treating me differently than other recruits or whatever, but they started recruiting me heavier and kind of made it a known thing that I was a priority," he continued. "So over time, after being there a couple of times, the relationship has really grown."

Linebackers coach Chris Simpson has been the main guy in his recruitment, and Curvey has a great relationship with him.

"Coach Simpson, to me, is super down to earth. He's been understanding of me being an athlete and also being a member of a family, a son, a brother. He understands it and we talked about it. But he also understands the game really well. Because when I was there, I actually went to his room, and then he drew up a little bit on the board. But outside of that, he's just down to earth."

As for where he would play, he believes he'd be on the defensive end even though he prefers to be a tight end.

"I think I would fit in on the outside," Curvey said. "[Craig Young], just watching him and the way he moves kind of reminded me of myself. Seeing KU in person was amazing. Seeing them in person was amazing, the crowd too. So seeing the atmosphere there, words can't describe it."

Some familiar faces are included in Curvey's commitment. Iowa State and Missouri are the other schools he mentioned he is considering heavily. While he doesn't have a set-in-stone final list, his decision will likely come between these three programs. We'll find out Sunday.