Buffalo Kruize move to offensive line pays off, gets Kansas offer

A few years ago, Buffalo Kruize was not sure about his future in football. He arrived at City College of San Francisco as a defensive end and was not making the progress he wanted to.

That was 2019 and the next year Covid hit.

“I left school just because I wasn't financially able to hold it and just keep going,” Kruize said. “I left school. I thought I was going to join the military.”

Then he had a phone call with the coaches at CCSF and things made a turn for the better.

“I was playing defensive end and had really no looks,” he said. “I was a very average defensive end. I wasn’t getting any looks. I was going to join the military and help my family out. I called the coaches and said, ‘I'm trying to come back.’ They said we have a lot of D-ends right now, but we don't have a whole lot of offensive tackles.”

Kruize admitted it was a “blow to my ego” to change positions but he was ready to make the transition to offense.

“At that point, I was like, ‘I'll do whatever,’” he said. “I came back and switched to offensive line. I started in June. Thankfully I picked it up quick. What I didn't know, I made up for by being aggressive. Now I love it.”

The move to offensive line paid off for Kruize. He holds offers from 12 division one schools and one of the most recent came from Kansas.

“I think it was huge because Kansas is a great program,” Kruize said. “I always heard about them growing up. It was just really exciting to be honest with you, that they just believed in me enough where it was just like, they offered me. I think it was just big time.”

Kruize said he has been talking to the Kansas coaching staff. He has had conversations with offensive line coach Scott Fuchs and Scott Aligo. The KU staff has known about him since the spring but have picked up the contact in recent weeks.

His real first name is Muncko, but goes by Buffalo, which he got from his father.

“Being African American, my father being in the military, he loves the Buffalo Soldiers and stuff like that,” he said. “I grew up in Hawaii. My dad loves surfing and Buffalo Keaulana is huge surfer in Hawaii. All those came together and just came up with a nickname Buffalo to avoid confusion.”

Kruize said he plans to take a visit to Kansas and is working on a date.