KU's Official List

Kansas Signs 18 High School Players

Coach Mark Mangino announced his signing class at 3:30 p.m. yesterday (full list below) and we now have a clearer picture on positions for the class. Ryan Murphy will indeed play at wide receiver which means they added four wideouts to the mix yesterday (Johnathan Wilson, Rell Lewis and Dezmon Briscoe.

The only small surprise on the day was the announcement that KU had withdrawn it's scholarship on DE Aaron Mack.

Official release and player capsules

From The Real Media:

KC Star Recap
"His high school coach, Randy Copeland, said Boyd-Anderson rushed for more than 500 yards in his first two games as a senior before opposing defenses began stacking the box. He still finished with 1,674 yards and 18 touchdowns."

Wichita Eagle Recap
"Seven of KU's prep signees came from Texas. The Jayhawks also added a Texan from the juco ranks, safety Patrick Resby, who signed in December.... Lawrence Free State running back Brian Murphy, twin brother of signee Ryan Murphy, will walk on.... The speed rusher KU thought it had in juco defensive end Aaron Mack didn't work out. Mack, who played for Phoenix College, couldn't sign in December because of academic issues. Those same problems continued and KU withdrew its offer."

And More:
KU Sports Recruiting Recap
Ryan Wood's Notebook
UDK Recap
Capital-Journal Recap

Kansas 2007 Signing Class
Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	Hometown (High School)
Isiah Barfield	DB	6-0	175	Fr.-HS	Haven, Kan. (Haven HS)
C. Boyd-Anderson	RB	6-1	200	Fr.-HS	Jacksonville, Texas (Jacksonville HS)
Dezmon Briscoe	WR	6-3	200	Fr.-HS	Dallas, Texas (Cedar Hill HS)
Anthony Davis	DB	6-0	192	Fr.-HS	Tulsa, Okla. (East Central HS)
Patrick Dorsey	DL	6-0	267	Fr.-HS	Houston, Texas (Yates HS)
Drew Dudley	LB	6-2	225	Fr.-HS	College Station, Texas (A&M Cons. HS)
Steven Foster	RB	6-2	235	Fr.-HS	Sedgwick, Kan. (Sedgwick HS)
Chris Harris	DB	6-0	180	Fr.-HS	Bixby, Okla. (Bixby HS)
Jeremiah Hatch	OL	6-3	311	Fr.-HS	Dallas, Texas (Carter HS)
Stephen Hoge	K	6-4	210	Fr.-HS	Oklahoma City, Okla. (Putnam City Nth)
Richard Johnson, Jr.	DL	6-4	260	Fr.-HS	Jefferson City, Mo. (Jefferson City HS)
Jake Laptad	DE	6-4	223	Fr.-HS	Tulsa, Okla. (Jenks, HS)
Rell Lewis	WR	5-10	185	Fr.-HS	Muskogee, Okla. (Muskogee HS)
Ryan Murphy	WR	5-11	180	Fr.-HS	Lawrence, Kan. (Free State HS)
Jeff Spikes	OL	6-7	312	Fr.-HS	Painesville, Ohio (Harvey HS)
Justin Springer	LB	6-3	220	Fr.-HS	Los Fresnos, Texas (Los Fresnos HS)
A.J. Steward	QB	6-3	214	Fr.-HS	St. Louis, Mo. (Riverview Gardens HS)
Johnathan Wilson	WR	6-3	185	Fr.-HS	Houston, Texas (Klein Forest HS)
*Brian Murphy	RB	5-8	165	Fr.-HS	Lawrence, KS (Free State)  .............................................................

*Will Grayshirt

Source: KU Athletics

2007 Kansas Recruiting Class

Fire Up Your Laptops: Signing Day is Here 

Today is signing day and it looks as though Mark Mangino has put together another solid class. It's not spectacular, but it addresses areas of need and there are a few studs and few hidden gems. The class ranks 10th in the Big 12 and #50 nationally by Rivals.com. They move up two spots to tie for eighth in conference if you go by "average stars." William Cole (OSU) and Blake Lawrence (Nebraska) were near misses that Jayhawk fans coveted. A win over OSU at home and finding a way in overtime in Lincoln certainly may have had a big impact on this class.

The Big Ones
WR/DB Ryan Murphy, RB Carmen Boyd-Anderson, DB Patrick Resby, LB Drew Dudley

Immediate Help
Patrick Resby, Kendrick Harper in the secondary. Possibly Ryan Murphy if he plays CB as Rivals indicates.

Hope He Gets Here
JUCO DE Aaron Mack. Still has some classwork to finish up. We need help at DE.

Hidden Gems
QB A.J. Steward (check this photo out), OL Jeff Spikes

2007 Kansas Football Commitments

PS  STAR Player/Location/Ht/Wt/40/Signed
WR  ****  Ryan Murphy/Lawrence, KS - 5-9.5/170 - 06/09/2006 
CB   ***   Brian Murphy/Lawrence, KS - 5-8/165 - 06/21/2006
LB   ***    Drew Dudley/College Station, TX - 6-2/221/4.59 - 07/24/2006
LB   ***    Steven Foster/Sedgwick, KS - 6-2/235/4.60 - 10/6/2006
CB   ***    Kendrick Harper/Butler County CC - 5-10/185/4.45 - 12/1/2006
DB   ***    Patrick Resby/Corsicana Navarro CC - 6-2/195-12/10/2006
RB   ***    Carmen Boyd-Anderson/Jacksonville, TX - 6-1/200/4.5-12/11/06
DE   ***    Aaron Mack/Phoenix, AZ - 6-3/240/4.6 - 12/17/06
OL   ***   Chet Hartley/Butler County C.C. - 6-4/310/5.0 - 12/17/06
OL   ***   Jeremiah Hatch/Dallas, TX - 6-3/301 - 1/1/2007
DB   ***   Anthony Davis/Tulsa, OK - 5-11/184/4.5 - 1/24/07
WR  ***   Dezmon Briscoe/Cedar Hill, TX - 6-2/180/4.7 - 1/26/07
WR  ***   Rell Lewis/Muskogee, OK - 5-10/180/4.5 -2/4/07
WR  **     Isiah Barfield/Haven, KS - 6-0/175 - 06/29/2006
DT   **     Patrick Dorsey/Houston, TX - 6-0/255/5.30 - 07/27/2006
QB   **     A.J. Steward/St. Louis, MO - 6-4/210/4.6 - 11/19/06
DE    **    Richard Johnson/Jefferson City, MO - 6-4/255/5.0 - 12/10/06
DE    **    Jake Laptad/Jenks, OK - 6-4/214/4.9 - 12/17/06
ATH **    Chris Harris/Bixby, OK - 6-0/180/4.4 - 1/7/07
K      **    Stephen Hoge/Oklahoma City, OK - 6-2/200 - 1/18/07
LB    **   Justin Springer/Los Fresnos, TX - 6-4/200 - 1/21/07
WR  **   Johnathan Wilson/Houston, TX - 6-3/185/4.6 - 1/23/07
OL   **    Jeff Spikes/Painesville, OH - 6-5/316/5.7 - 2/4/07

Ratings: Rivals.com
Bold: Signed LOI in December

In The News: KU Recruiting

Article On KU Recruit Jeff Spikes

The Cleveland.com website has a story on OL recruit Jeff Spikes today.

Crabtree Breaks It Down

Jeremy Crabtree from Rivals.com gives a quick summary of the Big 12 recruiting classes by school in the KC Star today. Interesting to note that although Blake Lawrence is mentioned as one of Nebraska's top two, William Cole does not earn the same distinction for OSU.

William Cole to OSU, But KU Adds Two

Big Weekend For Recruiting

The Lawrence Journal-World reports four-star WR target William Cole out of Cedar Hill, Texas has committed to Oklahoma State over Kansas and Arkansas. Cole had been a long-time KU target and is a teammate of KU commit Dezmon Briscoe. On the plus side for the Jayhawks, KU added three star WR/KR Rell Lewis out of Muskogee, Oklahoma and two-star O-lineman Jeff Spikes out of Painesville, Ohio. Spikes was a new target pursued by new offensive coordinator, Ed Warriner. More details:

Rell Lewis -- 5-10/180/4.5 -- WR/KR

Other schools of interest:
Air Force Arkansas Iowa State Oklahoma State Texas Tech 

Muskgee Phoenix article on Rell's commitment
Rivals Profile

Jeff Spikes -- 6-5/316/5.7 -- OL

Other schools of interest:
Illinois, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Akron, Bowling Green, Toledo

Rivals Profile

Other Recruiting News:
It appears two-star WR Chris Tuck is no longer part of the 2007 class. Phog Board speculation is that he will not academically qualify.

That's Right, Dollar Signs

Perkin's War

With the ten-point bonus for early renewal on football season tickets offered by the Kansas Athletic Department this week, I can't help but admire Lew Perkin's ability to find new ways to generate revenue. It's killing me in the wallet, but deep-down you know this is the only way we can compete with the monster budgets of the big four-Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Nebraska. Big deal, you say. Those people are going to renew no matter what. Maybe, but for the average guy with a pair of season tickets teetering on the brink of buying an extra pair of tickets to add a few friends or family to the game-day experience, the 20-point incentive might push them to pull the trigger. Or in my case, maybe you can change the mind of a guy who has four tickets and was thinking of scaling back to two or three due to the inevitable increase with the eight-game package (season tickets are now $275, it wasn't that long ago that they were $150). Now, I'm looking at the 20-point bonus and thinking, hey we can swing an extra pair.

It's another shrewd move by Perkins to boost season ticket sales and increase overall revenue just right after throwing another million dollars into the pot with the Arrowhead deal. Again, it's not real comfortable to cough up the extra cash, but I'm glad we have Lew in there driving this thing and going to war with the big boys. We're not quite where we want to be in football on the field, but it's clear that Perkins is going to get there one way or another. That's quite a change from the old KU attitude. Consider the following, excerpted from last year's KC Star article:

"We were doing just fine," Frederick said of the Big Eight days. "All of the Big Eight schools … we all had a niche thing we were good in and everyone was comfortable with that. Then suddenly the game changed."

Man, I'm glad that attitude is gone. One thing that gets lost when KU fans debate whether or not Mark Mangino can get the job done is that he was hired after coming off a stint as the offensive coordinator for a national championship team. That alone makes a statement about where we want to go with our football program. Of course, Mangino was not hired by Perkins but he delivered his message when he signed Mangino to the controversial $1.5 million/year contract. The theme is pretty clear -- KU is serious about building a football program and 6-6 is not good enough for anyone.

Lew's already made some headway by boosting the athletic department budget from $27 million to approximately $40 million in his first three years. As the numbers below suggest, there's work to be done, but with deals like the Arrowhead move, Perkins is chipping away at the gap.

Budget In Millions
$74.4 -- Texas
$62.9 -- Oklahoma
$57.4 -- Texas A&M
$55.8 -- Nebraska
$46.4 -- Missouri
$45.6 -- Texas Tech
$40.0 -- Kansas
$36.6 -- Colorado
$35.9 -- Oklahoma State
$33.5 -- Kansas State
$31.1 -- Baylor
$28.1 -- Iowa State

Source: 2005-2006 EADA Reports

Rell Lewis To Visit KU

Oklahoma Paper Reports Visit By Lewis

According to the Muskogee Phoenix, two-star QB/athlete Rell Lewis will visit Lawrence this weekend. Rivals.com lists Lewis at 5-10/180 with 4.5 time in the forty.  The article indicates that Lewis has an offer from Kansas and also provided the following recap of his senior season:

"Despite injuring a hand and knee during the 2006 season, Lewis completed 55 of 123 passes for 985 yards and 13 touchdowns, while rushing for 621 yards on 71 carries and seven TDs. He was chosen to the All-Phoenix Area team."

Other schools of interest:
Iowa State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech

Rivals Profile
Scout Profile

Haverkamp Likes Georgia

Former Lineman Takes A Few Shots at KU and Reagan

I'm not too wild about the tone of former KU lineman Scott Haverkamp's comments in this article on Topix.

"For whatever reason, I didn't think that I was really getting the fair shot I deserved for playing time,' Haverkamp said. 'I thought it was best for me to go find a new home for me to play football, so I decided to go to a JUCO."

Haverkamp tranferred to Butler County after two years with the Jayhawks. I'd love to hear John Reagan's side of the story on this particular player. Especially considering how Haverkamp was paraphrased in this part of the article:

"He credits Butler coach Troy Morrell for helping him improve his blocking technique and lower his pad level, making him into a better lineman than he had been as a Jayhawk."

Of course, sometimes things just don't work out, but it'll be interesting to see how his career goes at Georgia. Despite the apparent negative attitude toward KU, I wish him good luck as a Kansas guy and a former Jayhawk.

"Are You A Player?"

Quote From Petro Applies to KU Football

During the lunch drive yesterday, I was listening to Soren Petro on 810 talk about the Kansas basketball team and questions about their heart. I thought he had a quote that applied to the football team:

"Are you just out there wearing the uniform or are you a player? Because players go out and win games."

For the 6-6 football team, there was a lot of talk last year about coaching errors and mistakes by young, inexperienced players. A lot of that is valid, but I'd sure like to move beyond the "excuses" stage next year and just flat out win the games. We've been talking about breaking through since 2004. It's time to be players and get it done.

Recruiting Follow-up: History for the Big 12 North

Big 12 North Recruiting 2002-2007
	KU				KSU				MU				NU				CU				ISU
Stars	5	4	3		5	4	3		5	4	3		5	4	3		5	4	3		5	4	3
2007	0	1	13		0	3	14		0	4	15		0	12	16		1	2	14		0	1	5
2006	0	4	16		0	2	11		0	1	12		1	5	15		0	0	14		0	0	15
2005	0	2	16		0	3	14		0	1	17		2	11	12		0	1	15		0	2	9
2004	0	0	7		0	5	11		0	5	4		0	2	11		0	1	8		0	1	10
2003	0	2	14		0	4	8		0	4	15		0	4	12		0	5	18		0	0	12
2002	0	1	8		2	4	19		0	6	12		1	5	8		1	7	19		0	6	8

Rating Source: Rivals.com

Updated Kansas Recruiting History Table

2007 KU Football Class is Growing

Here is an updated look at how the 2007 Kansas recruiting class compares to prior classes. From the Scout.com side they have not yet entered wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe into their database. Most likely they'll have him as a two-star, though his Cedar Hill, TX teammate William Cole is rated as a four-star. KU is still in the running for Cole who is believed to have taken a visit to OSU over the past weekend. Signing day is Wednesday, February 7.

	Rivals.com				Scout.com
Stars	*****	****	***		*****	****	***
2007	0	1	13		0	1	4
2006	0	4	16		0	0	9
2005	0	2	16		0	0	9
2004	0	0	7		0	0	4
2003	0	2	14		0	2	8
2002	0	1	8		NA	NA	NA

Sources: Rivals.com | Scout.com

Update on Tuesday, January 30, 2007 at 12:44PM by DJ Goodwin

Looks like I made an error in the count for three-star commitments. The failure to account for the signed LOI's means KU has 13 three-stars currently as opposed to the 10 posted in the table yesterday. The table is now corrected in the post.

Kevin Kietzman Hates Baylor

Old News from Mr. Kansas State

On the homeward commute Wednesday evening, I caught the last half of Kevin Kietzman and crew proclaiming that Baylor doesn't belong in the Big 12. The ever-pliable Danny Clinkscale was actually trying to be the voice of reason, but he was truly no match for the "repeat it until they agree in some tiny way" debate style of the Kietz. Truly a master. Anyway, I hope KK never runs into the BearMeat crew from Waco. Actually, I do.
 
I've been into this Baylor/Big 12 subject before, but lets go a little deeper:
 
Big 12 Cliche
This is an ancient topic thrown out by "Big 12 fans" that want to make themselves appear knowledgeable on the league. It's old news and and it's not going to change. You might as well spend your time discussing how Ford should have beat Jimmy Carter.

Wrong Question: What About Bevo?
The question isn't why we let Baylor in -- it's why did we let Texas in? At 50k enrollment, they're a monster and Big 12 continues to feed this bad boy. A&M is at 45k so they're "out there as well", but everyone else fits in the 20-30k range (excluding Baylor at 13k). Of course, we all know it's about TV sets, but the Longhorn problem is a more worthy discussion than whether or not the Bears should be kicked out. That's not to say that I disrespect Texas or think they should be out of the conference -- the 12 we have are solid for our league. We just have to keep this Texas situation in check and that's a more important concern than Baylor.

Who's Next?
It's a big league. With twelve teams, someone is going to struggle and someone has to finish last. Considering some of the issues they've gone through, Baylor actually competes pretty well. Besides pushing the Bears out really puts you in mentality to always cut out anyone near the bottom. Suppose you cut out Baylor for Arkansas (that ship has sailed KK, the Clink was right on CSU), who's next? Iowa State hasn't been exceptional in football or basketball and their main rival is in the Big 10. How about Kansas State? Until the "decade of dominance," they were playing in a 30k stadium. KU hasn't really offered much in football, but I suppose you need that basketball tradition. Maybe we just cut some of the programs out each sport and have separate power basketball and football conference? Absolutely not! See where this goes. You put somebody on the chopping block and where do you stop? If you want parity, watch the NFL, but brew up a pot a coffee because it can be a real snoozer.

Timing is Everything
This is the wrong year for Kansas State and Kansas football fans to talk trash on Baylor. Throw Colorado into the mix and the Bears swept the north in football.

Final Summation
Leave the Bears alone. I find it refreshing to have a unique private school with a smaller enrollment in the mix. Besides, it really looks like both programs are moving in the right direction. Football will be tough because that's arguably the toughest division in college football. However, the format for basketball is a little more open and I suspect Scott Drew will lead the Bears to a full recovery in that sport.

Dezmon Briscoe Headed To Kansas

Three-Star Wide Receiver Commits To KU

Rivals.com is reporting WR Dezmon Briscoe (6-2/180/4.7) out of Cedar Hill, TX has committed to play football at KU. The three-star recruit is an excellent addition to the 2007 class that was already shaping up pretty good despite the disappointing 6-6 season. In addition, Cedar Hill teammate William Cole is still available and the Jayhawks are in the mix. Kansas now has 22 commitments for the 2007 class. Signing day is Wednesday, February 7.