JayhawkSlant.com - Thorson ready for new position

September 1, 2009

Jon Kirby

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When the Jayhawks open the season on Saturday Brad Thorson is scheduled to be the starting left guard. Those are two things Thorson didn't expect a little over a year ago.

Thorson, who has been a center during his career, is getting a taste of a new position. And the other surprise from a year ago isn't that he's a starter, but that it is at Kansas.

As a senior at Homestead High School in Wisconsin he was an all-state selection and courted by several Big 10 programs. In the end he signed with the in-state favorite Wisconsin Badgers. He redshirted his first year before playing in 2007.

That's when things took a change and led him on a path to Lawrence.

"The coaching staff (Wisconsin) and I decided that I wasn't going to be able to reach my goals there," Thorson said.

That left the center looking for a new team. He wanted to continue his playing career and started to find a new home right away. In a way Thorson was going through recruiting all over again. That's when he found a link to the Jayhawks.

"When I made the decision to leave I contacted a lot of programs," he said. "One of the schools I got in contact with early on was North Carolina but things didn't work out with getting in there. The offensive line coach at North Carolina knew coach Mangino from Oklahoma."

From there Thorson made contact with the Kansas coaches. Going into the process Thorson admits he didn't know much about the Kansas program. The first time he paid any attention to what the Jayhawks were doing on the gridiron was 2007. That was the season Kansas won the Orange Bowl and finished 12-1.

"I had never heard anything about Kansas football growing up," he said. "I am from Big 10 country so that's who I have always followed. But I remember when I was at Wisconsin and we won a big game and when we were in the locker room we turned on ESPN. The only thing they were talking about on ESPN was how the Kansas Jayhawks had just scored 76 points on Nebraska."

Thorson remembers hearing about the Jayhawks. He admitted it was a surprise to see on TV that Kansas had beaten Nebraska like they did. Little did he know he would end up being a starting lineman for that same program he was watching from the locker room.

Last season Thorson was the back-up center to Ryan Cantrell and spent time learning the system. He entered fall camp as the back-up center this time to Jeremiah Hatch. Shortly after camp started he found out he was headed for another change. This time it was a change of position.

"About a week-and-a-half into camp they felt like I had been playing really well," Thorson said. "Coach Reagan came to me and said they were going to give me a look at guard. I have played center my whole college career so was a little nervous. I'm really excited to have the opportunity. I have worked hard to try and get a comfort level with it."

Making the transition has been easier for Thorson as time progresses. He's starting to catch on with the switch and is ready to take the field Saturday night against Northern Colorado as the starting left guard.

"After a couple of practices I felt really comfortable next to Jeremiah and Tanner," Thorson said. "Things have really fallen into place for me and I think every day I am getting a little better. My experience has been great the way everyone accepted me in the program, I really love being here. It has been awesome."

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