Kansas linebacker Trey Lathan has had to work himself out of several interesting situations during his time playing college football.
Lathan originally made the transfer to KU after three solid years at West Virginia, where he tallied 112 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. After entering the portal rated as an 86 overall transfer, Lathan soon found himself under the tutelage of Lance Leipold.
While the Jayhawks had a disappointing year, finishing with a 5-7 record, making it two straight seasons without a bowl, Lathan was one of the few bright spots, totaling 86 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and 1 interception. Good enough to earn him a 2025 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention.
However, things quickly turned sideways when Lathan opted for the NCAA Transfer Portal, where he stayed for two weeks before withdrawing. While for several players this may create a divide between them and the fans, Lathan instead has perfectly navigated the situation and was even selected as one of Kansas’ speakers at Big 12 Media Days.
Lathan has made a “conscious” decision to invest in the Jayhawks
Earlier this month, Kansas football’s director of sports performance, Matt Gildersleeve, broke down the impact Lathan has not only in the weight room, but in the locker room as well.
“Trey’s made a ton of progress; Trey's been awesome. You probably talk about the biggest 180 in the program, and not that he was in a bad place, but it's just he's in such a good place right now. Trey was, like, 217 pounds, running, like, 19.8 miles an hour [when he arrived], and he's 228 now. Almost 21 miles an hour. He's put almost 50 pounds on his squat and his bench, so you’ll see that,” opened Gildersleeve.
Lathan was recently nominated to Phil Steele’s All-Big 12 second team, as he sits among a core of four transfer linebackers in Quincy Davis, Jaron Willis, Bam Crouch and Jibreel Al-Amin.
“But that's secondary to the leadership stuff. You try to get to know these guys in this day and age; it happens so quick, but Trey's investment into our program in the last six months- I just can't say I ever saw that coming necessarily. When a guy really flips a script and decides he wants to pour and invest into a program, it's obviously very apparent, right? And he made that conscious decision, and it's been amazing.”
Last season, Kansas’ defense stood out as one of the nation’s worst overall, ranking 95th in the FBS, allowing 409.5 yards per game, including three instances where KU allowed 500+ yards per game. Things got even bleaker when you factor in their 184.1 rushing yards allowed, which finished the 2025 campaign 105th-best.
Amidst a defense that is reeling in 15 new transfers, Lathan will have to be a voice that stands tall on the field and in the locker room for Kansas to reach Leipold’s third bowl game in six seasons, and Lathan’s third overall.
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