The Jayhawks are currently ranked fifth in the national recruiting rankings and got a bump when Jack Utz gave the coaching staff his commitment.
Utz, who is rated the fifth-best prospect in Missouri and the 27th ranked tight end in the country, decided after his recent visit to Kansas it was the place he wanted to be.
“After the junior day visit it just felt right,” Utz said. “The people were all great, and the facilities are top of the line, and they really seemed to want me.”
Utz got to know the staff over the last year dating back to last March when he took his first unofficial visit. He visited campus four times and watched the Jayhawks play at Arrowhead last season.
Members of the Kansas coaching staff including Lance Leipold visited Utz in Platte County on January 8th. Less than two weeks later he visited for the junior day event. The last couple of months have allowed him to get to know tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator Matt Lubick who was hired in December.
“It been great, he is a great person and an even better coach,” Utz said. “I’ve heard nothing but great things about him and they all proved to be true when I met him.”
Utz joins several of the top local recruits in the area who have committed to Kansas. He talked with some of them on his visit and noticed what they are building.
“It definitely is something I have noticed,” Utz said. “I think everyone else committing just kind of confirmed my thoughts about KU. I think KU is doing a great job when it comes to recruiting by just being themselves and being genuine, not to mention great new facilities to back up that.”
He held scholarship offers from Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Arkansas, Colorado, Ole Miss, Wisconsin, Nebraska and several other programs. But Kansas had everything he was looking for including a strong relationship with the coaching staff.
“I was blessed to have a ton of different opportunities,” he said. “I was definitely blessed to be able to meet a bunch of different coaches that taught me great things and gave me great advice. But going into making my decision I had two main non-negotiables. They were that I wanted to be valued as a person and a player, I need to have good relationships with coaches and the players, and believe KU stands for those.”
His commitment closes down his recruiting and he is happy to be a Jayhawk.
“It feels great,” Utz said. “I’m obviously blessed to have this opportunity, and I wouldn’t change this whole process for the world.”
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