Kansas football hasn’t exactly been thriving with talent over the years, but new head coach Les Miles is hopefully going to change that. So far, the Jayhawks have welcomed in ten recruits as a result of early Signing Day.
The Kansas Jayhawks signing class has nine signed commits and one verbal commit, with only two players from the state of Kansas.
Those players are Jayden Russell, a defensive back out of Overland Park and Mason Fairchild of Andale. Fairchild had previously committed to South Dakota, but decided to attend Kansas instead. He’s listed as an athlete, meaning it’s still undetermined what position he’ll play next year and beyond.
Russell was ranked eighth at his position in the state of Kansas, according to Rivals.com, who had KU barely in the top 100 as far as class rankings go. Fairchild didn’t get much buzz on the recruiting trail, but the Jayhawks getting him over South Dakota is an accomplishment.
🔟 new Jayhawks signed on the first day of the December signing period. #KUfballhttps://t.co/Q92iMBJSe4
— Kansas Football (@KU_Football) December 19, 2018
Seven of the ten commits are considered three-star athletes by Rivals.com with the highest rated player being Thomas MacVittie out of Mesa, Arizona. The most exciting news about that is that MacVittie is a quarterback!
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The Jayhawks need a quarterback desperately and with this being the first quarterback in Miles’ recruitment at Kansas, hopefully this kid pans out. MacVittie had interests from some other decent schools like North Carolina and Vanderbilt, but he chose to join Miles and the Jayhawks.
MacVittie spent the last two years at Mesa Community College, so he’ll have another two years of eligibility and hopefully can come in and compete for a starting spot right away. Miles has to get the quarterback right from the get go and MacVittie could be that guy.
Malcolm Lee is the second highest rated commit. Lee is a defensive end from Council Bluffs, Iowa who spent the last two years at Iowa Western Community College. He’s yet another JUCO transfer who hopefully can contribute right away for the Jayhawks.
It will take awhile for Kansas to turn things around, but Les Miles could be the man to do it. He won a National Championship at LSU and got them there one other time.
While recruiting in the state of Kansas and in the Big 12 is much different from recruiting down south and in the SEC, these players should be able to contribute from the start and if they pan out, Kansas football fans should be excited for what’s to come under Les Miles.