Harrison Utley took a visit in the fall to watch the Jayhawks play, but he got a closer look at the program on his recent stop for junior day.

During a game-day visit recruits have a small window to meet with coaches. On his junior day visit the offensive lineman got to learn more about the Kansas program and staff.

“I'd say the main thing was it was a smaller group, so I got a lot of one-on-one time with Coach Fuchs,” Utley said. “I had a good talk with him, and it wasn't just trying to push kids through. I got to sit down with him and talk about his philosophy and stuff. I got to hang out with him, Coach Borland, and talked to a lot of other coaches. I got to watch the basketball game and sit with Coach Fuchs and watch it with him. That was really fun.”

Utley has been around Fuchs a few times and watched how he works with his position group. His first visit to Kansas was the TCU game when ESPN hosted GameDay from Lawrence.

“I feel like he's a great guy,” Utley said. “I mean the first time I met him was after the TCU loss, so it's a little hard to try and do much after your first loss. But I feel like it was really good of him to sit down with me, and he keeps everything real. He talked about what he's looking for and what he liked out of me. I really appreciate him telling me that.”

Utley got to take in the experience at Allen Fieldhouse when Kansas held off Iowa State for a last-second win. Watching the TCU football game and the basketball game he has experienced sold out venues at KU.

“It's crazy because there's always going to be hype around Kansas basketball,” he said. “And just going to the stadium and seeing everyone in there supporting the basketball team. Because I mean I know they can do that with football too.”

Utley plays at Norman North High in Oklahoma and is receiving a lot of early interest from college recruiters. Borland is the lead recruiter for that area. He has taken visits to multiple colleges and using this time to get early evaluations.

“I'm trying to see what I'd be interested in around me,” Utley said. “And see how things go and who's reaching out to me. I'm looking for culture. I mean, you can have top recruits and stuff at your school, but it doesn't mean there's going to be a good work ethic and culture, and people really trying to put in the time and effort and coaches want you to get better every day.”