Armand Membou stays in contact with Kansas staff

Armand Membou will be one of the most highly recruited offensive linemen in the state of Missouri. Kansas was one of the schools to recognize him early and gave him his first offer.

Membou, from Lee’s Summit North, said he will remember the first offer as others started pouring in after that.

“KU being my first offer meant a lot to me because it was the first time that I have ever gotten a lot of attention from sports,” he said. “Plus, I have always known about KU so to get offered by them I think is awesome.”

Going into his junior season Membou had only played junior varsity football. After playing this season on the varsity level he showed what he is capable of, and that attracted the attention of college recruiters.

Membou said he has talked with Josh Eargle, Lee Grimes, Travis Partridge, and Bre Williams who all work on the Kansas staff in different roles.

Eargle has reached out to him when the Jayhawks didn’t have an offensive line coach and Partridge has been very involved.

“I probably talk to Coach Partridge the most,” Membou said. “And I'll talk to other people on the campus and other coaches. And I also talked to Ms. Bre Williams. Me and Coach Eargle talked about how KU is going to be a good fit for me and stuff. We also just talked about life.”

Grimes took over as the new offensive line coach in January and has talked to Membou, with more calls expected in the future.

“I talked to him a little bit the other day, but we're supposed to talk again soon,” he said. “He seemed like a pretty, good guy. He just told me his goal is just to make me a Jayhawk and get to know me better.”

Since the Jayhawks offered, others came in from Missouri, Iowa State, Arkansas, Kansas State, and Nebraska. Membou said he doesn’t plan to cut down his list until the summer and hopes to visit campuses to meet with coaches.

“Hopefully when they lift the Covid restrictions I can get out to meet coaches,” Membou said. “I will probably narrow down my schools then.”

His focus right now is on wrestling. Being on the mat has helped him in football and develop into a better lineman.

“Coaches have told me it helps leverage and stuff,” he said. “For me personally, I feel like over the years, it's made me a better athlete with the conditioning. It really puts me in better shape. Because I know at the beginning of the wrestling season, I was out of shape a lot. My gas tank was very bad. I could barely go three periods, and if I did go three periods in the match, I'd be completely dead after and I would have to go sit down.

“At this point in the season, I've gone into a three-overtime match and I can go three periods now. It's really improved my gas tank a lot this season, and I'm pretty happy about that. I feel like the wrestling also helps with my hips.”