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Published Jun 24, 2021
Football recruiting picking up for Mikey Pauley
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Jon Kirby  •  JayhawkSlant
Publisher- Football Editor
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@jayhawkslant

In the last week, a lot has changed for Mikey Pauley. The three-sport athlete from Blue Valley Northwest has been committed to play baseball for Nebraska.

Then he attended some area football camps.

After going through the Kansas State camp over the weekend he earned an offer to play quarterback for the Wildcats. Yesterday he went to the football camp at KU.

“It was a great camp,” Pauley said. “I got a lot of work in, and a ton of reps. The coaches were great. They seem excited to be coaching there now. After we stayed after with Coach K, I did some work and got a little tour after with a couple other guys. But it was great and just a lot of fun. There were some good athletes out there which was fun to see.”

Pauley was referring to Coach K who is Andy Kotelnicki the Jayhawks offensive coordinator. Head coach Lance Leipold was seen watching Pauley often during the camp and he went through drills with quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski.

“He (Zebrowski) was very energetic,” Pauley said. “He definitely brought some pointers to me that I can work on that made a lot of sense. He was easy going about it. He kept us loose and relaxed and had a lot of fun.”

At 6-foot-3, 205 pounds Pauley has the size and athleticism that coaches look for. He also threw well on the run at the camp, where the coaches were constantly keeping an eye on him.

Over the last year people have referred to Pauley often as a baseball player first because he gave his commitment to Nebraska. But he has always thought of playing football and now the opportunity is there.

The recruiting interest for football has picked up in recent days,

“It definitely came out of nowhere after the camp at Kansas State,” he said. “I did really well there, but I still wasn't expecting anything, obviously. After last season, football has definitely picked up and it's just been something to think about. It's a good problem to have and have options. It's pretty interesting.”

And if the opportunity came up to play both sports in college it is something he would think about.

“I would love to play two sports at a place that would let me,” he said. “Right now, obviously, it's only baseball for Nebraska and if it were there, that would be great. If there was somewhere that would also be an interesting choice for me, and I'd have to really think about it.”

Pauley has been playing quarterback since he was young. He started taking quarterback lessons from Justin Hoover who owns Spin-It Quarterback Academy and is a member of the Elite 11 coaching staff. Hoover, who is the head coach at Shawnee Mission East, started working with Pauley in middle school.

“I started with him in the eighth grade, and I've been working out with him consistently ever since that,” Pauley said. “I would definitely say a lot of my success as a quarterback has come from just learning from him and even other guys that work out with him. It’s really special what he's doing, and it's definitely made me a better QB. I can tell this by my mechanics and my play during the games.”

The summer has been a busy time for Pauley playing baseball and football. His summer team Building Champions has traveled outside the area for several tournaments. He has been juggling the Blue Valley Northwest football summer schedule with baseball showcases and football camps.

The Kansas coaching staff is expected to meet in the next 24 hours to go over the performance of players who attended the camp. Pauley felt he had a good showing and spoke with Leipold at the camp.

“He seems like he knows what he's doing,” Pauley said. “He has bright thoughts about what's going to be at KU football here soon.

“I thought I did well. Thought I threw well and tested very well. They finished up by saying they were going to get together as a staff. They said they would contact me soon after they met as a staff and discussed the camp.”

Kansas
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Updated: Feb 19, 2025 6:23 am
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