Bangally Kamara was the first transfer portal player to commit to the Jayhawks in the 2025 class. He was playing for South Carolina when he decided to enter the portal and look for a new home.

Before transferring to South Carolina, he was the starting linebacker at Pitt. In 2022 he started 11 games at the “Star” linebacker, a position that plays on the weak side. In 2023 he moved to the “Money” linebacker where he started 10 games.

During his career at Pitt he had 117 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss and five sacks.

When he went in the portal there were several college coaches showing interest in him. The Kansas coaches saw him as a versatile linebacker who could play different positions.

“With a guy like him, you're looking at skill sets and then you're looking at what it is that you're doing schematically that matches those skill sets,” said linebackers coach Chris Simpson. “So, you're putting guys in position that they can use what they're doing to their advantage and our advantage. He's one of those guys that has a broad skill set. We should be able to use him in a lot of different ways.”

When Simpson recruited Kamara, he told him they would use him in various roles.

“He talked about the linebacker position and just blitzing off the edge a lot,” Kamara said. “I like to do that and just doing different things that allowed me to get in the backfield.”

One of Kamara’s strengths is playing in space and coming off the edge on the pass rush.

“I have a lot of speed, athleticism, good at blitzing, and can get better against the run,” he said. “But I’m working to get better for sure.”

Kamara started his career at Pitt in 2020. He spent his four seasons there before signing with South Carolina. The Jayhawks lose three starters at linebacker, and he has been labeled by the coaches as a leader.

“Still a lot of growth to be done in that area,” he said. “You know, I’m just fitting in with the guys and stuff like that. I try to give everybody as much as I can and still trying to figure out how to be a leader too. I'm still working my way into that role.”

There will be a new linebacker core when the 2025 season kicks off. But after several spring football practices he likes what he has from his position group.

“There’s a lot of stuff I've seen from the group,” he said. “It's crazy because all of us have so many different abilities and it's all come together and looks good on film. With Trey (Lathan) he's the mike linebacker. Joe (Sipp), you know, he's a hitter. Jon Jon is young and athletic. I can go on and on about everybody.”