Georgia linebacker Trey Staley commits to Kansas

There were two good things that happened for Kansas football on Saturday.

They landed one of their long-time targets in linebacker Trey Staley and Chidera Uzo-Diribe will still be around to coach him.

When Staley decided to commit to the Jayhawks, he called Uzo-Diribe to tell him the news and he avoided an accident.

“I called coach Uzo to tell him I made my decision,” Staley said. “When I told him I was committing he said he was driving and almost drove off the road. I just talked to him the day before and I told him I was excited to come up and meet the family.”

Staley said he told Uzo-Diribe he was going to start his day off with good news and then committed. The Jayhawks have been near the top of his list for a while and Staley was thinking about making his decision this week.

“I've been thinking about it the past couple days, but I never knew how I was going to say it or whatever, but when I woke up it just felt right,” he said.

After talking with Uzo-Diribe he connected with Kansas head coach Les Miles.

“He told me how excited he was and said that he’s going to tell Coach Diribe that was really the one who recruited me. It was a good call and we were both excited.”

Staley’s decision came just two days after taking a virtual visit to Kansas. He spent time with several people in the program from academics, nutrition, strength and conditioning and several others.

He already knew a lot about the Kansas program, but the online visit helped answer other questions he had.

“They had a lot of different staff members from diet, academics, weight training and really everybody,” Staley said. “They all talked about what it is like to live the daily life and be a part of their program.

“I was already aware of how great KU is. So, a lot of it wasn’t new, but it was good. I got answers to some of the questions I had.”

After a strong junior season at Brookville, Staley was named first-team, all-region in Georgia’s class 7A. He hasn’t been able to take visits with things shut down due to the pandemic, but is looking forward to visiting Lawrence.

“It's a lot of stress off of my shoulders,” he said. “I feel like I was taking a big chance committing right now because I really haven't been on campus at Kansas or any other schools. But I have a good vibe about my decision, and I feel like it's the best decision for me.”