[2024] Kansas finalizes football recruiting, class for 2024 and KU coaching news!

[Bundy]

-LAWRENCE, Ks.

The Kansas Jayhawks have announced their 2024 Football Recruiting Class, officially finalizing it last week.

Kansas Jayhawks 2024 Recruiting Class Top 10

Stelter committed early in the cycle, immediately becoming the top WR recruit ever in history. He hails from nearby Tonganoxie, Kansas, just 15 miles from David Booth Stadium. A dominant, physical threat. he poses remarkable speed and should be able to be involved all over the field. Expect Stelter to earn playing time early.

Hepner is another Kansas secondary commit out of the state of Missouri, joining 2021's Warwick Hollins & 2021's Mike Jamerson (as well as P Victor Weigel, who saw playing time in 2022, and WR Sang Vang).  Whether he produces on the field or not, he's already won at life by leaving that awful state. 

Hepner actually does have an easy path to playing time, with Tim Keller and Chaz Tuiavailala departing. Ross Patton appears to be the next man up with a healthy amount of playing time over 2023 and 2024, but besides Patton, 2023 recruit Elbert Jackson is the only other blue chip CB in the room, and Kansas has built an identity on running a 4-2-5 to date. Whether that remains the gameplan or not could influence Hepner's early usage. although surely he should see usage as at least a factor in nickel packages by 2026. 

Cruz might be outshadowed by Stelter in this year's class, but fans are just as equally excited to be adopting the previously forbidden "forward pass."

In 2022, we saw Kansas recruit a 4-star guard, David Hager, who immediately saw the field as a true freshman. While Giddings will have to outplay interior OL Enrique Guerra to see immediate playing time, like Hager he spurned the Big Ten (coming out of Penn State's backyard), and as a pass blocker paired with these high profile WR recruits, he signals a change in direction in the future of Jayhawks football.

After strongly considering Virginia Tech, Alvarado decided to follow in the footsteps of Kansas greats Casspi and Humber. 

I might as well write more about Alvarado down here too. Adam Foley was also strongly considering Virginia Tech, but the pair flipped to Kansas and will join a competition with 2023 recruit Nathaniel Rudebacher for who will be the long term successor in the Kansas backfield. 

Kansas doesn't rely on recruiting the South, but they've been able to pull some solid recruits out of SEC country. This years' main target in that region was Tyrone Silver, who dreamed of going to Alabama, but fielded primary offers from Nebraska and Kansas instead. Silver faces an uphill battle at the DT position (after Kansas landed multiple 4-stars last year in Steve McCalister and Richard Fulkerson), but there's growing opinion that Kansas might try to get all 3 on the field with their lack of "college ready" DEs. Silver isn't known for his run stopping ability, but he recorded 15.5 sacks during his senior year of high school after a junior year of 7.0. 

The QB position in Lawrence is very much wide open going forward, with Tyler Summers continuing to not be a D1 passing talent, and a crowded group of unheralded backups being unable to beat him out of the position to date. Williams might not be the scheme fit many would expect given the rest of this offensive recruiting class, but he's a talented athlete and will certainly earn a shot to compete for the role. 

Another one saved from lifelong misery ❤️ Kansas has only been able to recruit 3-star talent at the SS position to date, and if they follow their trend with their other young defensive secondary players, Scholz could start as soon as next year. 

Francis Hayes joins a now crowded interior OL room, but cited David Hager's rise from the Twin Cities region as his major influence of traveling south to Lawrence. Kansas is lacking at OT, and Hayes or Giddings may make the switch to the position sooner than later.

 

Rounding out the recruiting class, Kansas brought in 11 3-stars.

⭐⭐⭐ WR Andrew Wynter (#147 WR) - 6'1" 194 Possession - Salisbury, NC

 ⭐⭐⭐ WR Ronald Johnson (#226 WR) - 5'9" 175 Route Runner - Wagoner, OK

 ⭐⭐⭐ TE Jesse Bleus (#82 TE) - 6'4" 229 Vertical Theat - Southaven, MS

 ⭐⭐⭐ OT Scott Sinanovic (#153 OT) - 6'3" 299 Balanced - Winchester, VA

 ⭐⭐⭐ OT Jorge Rosales (#168 OT) - 6'5" 278 Pass Blocking - Phillipsburg, KS

 ⭐⭐⭐ OT Richard Richardson (#212 OT) - 6'3" 302 Run Blocking - West Des Moines, IA

 ⭐⭐⭐ C Adam Green (#64 C) - 6'3" 296 Pass Blocking - Overland Park, KS

 ⭐⭐⭐ DE James Moskovics (#67 DE) - 6'5" 243 Speed Rusher - Haslett, MI

 ⭐⭐⭐ CB Raiin Russell (#156 CB) - 6'1" 183 Ball Hawk - Tonganoxie, KS

 ⭐⭐⭐ FS Franco Francois (#63 FS) - 6'0" 190 Ball Hawk - Maplesville, AL

 ⭐⭐⭐ SS Ramon Salcedo (#77 SS) - 6'0" 198 Run Stopper - Midland, TX

*All Position and National Rankings unofficial and based off of interface order

 

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Meanwhile, on the same day, Jayhawks football and men's basketball fans can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being. After a rocky 2024 football season, where the Jayhawks finished 3-0 in non-conference play, but just 3-6 in Big 12 play, there were many valid rumors reported as recently as last month about the lack of a contract extension for coach @Bundy. Many detractors to the coach cited the very public and "unprofessional" feud between the coach and then-redshirt sophomore QB Tyler Summers, but during the 2024 season it seemed the pair had worked things out privately and Summers started every game. Kansas then unfortunately lost their bowl game to Cal, and we hadn't heard anything out of the athletics department for weeks. Others have pointed out that while the team has been relatively successful in recruiting, the results on the field haven't held up, with Kansas' best season coming in 2022 (9-4), followed by an 8-5 2023, and bookened by 5-7 and 6-7 seasons to date. 

Recently, standout RB Cody Casspi pledged his support for the coach, though the gratitude could come without merit for the future of the program, as Casspi has exhausted his eligibility and is preparing for the upcoming draft. 

But today, the University of Kansas has announced a "2-year contract extension" that will place the coach about 6th in compensation in comparison to the other Big 12 programs. When breaking down the contract, it actually comes to the 2025 season and then 2026 is an option year for the school, though it also carries only a minor buyout of $800,000 should another program desire his services. 

Some are surprised at the news, thinking coach @Bundy was all but a done deal to coach at the University of Wisconsin come 2025. The ESPN La Crosse, WI affiliate pondered what reasons the coach wouldn't want to come to Madison. "He grew up an hour from campus, he's recruited the state historically much better than UW has, and he even worked in Madison from 2015-2017." A Jayhawks fan group account simply subtweeted them with the following:

 

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