Jacobee Bryant is one of the top commits for Kansas in 2020
One of the biggest recruiting commitments of the 2020 class came when Jacobee Bryant announced his news during his official visit to Kansas.
Bryant who holds a long list of offers was considered by many a longshot to give his verbal commitment to the Jayhawks this early.
It came down to the recruiting from Kansas cornerbacks coach Chevis Jackson, and the history Les Miles has for developing defensive backs.
“Coach Jackson said I’m the number one guy on the board and they said they were going to get me to the league,” Bryant said. “Coach Miles also said it and that’s what made me commit. They said I do everything they want. They love the way I hit and attack the ball. They said I’m a monster and a whole different person.”
Bryant gave the Kansas staff his verbal commitment during a meeting with Miles.
“He wanted me to come to his office and talk to him,” Bryant said. “He said I was going be another one of his players to go to the league and that’s a promise. He asked me if I wanted to commit to Kansas and I said, ‘yes sir.’ He got up and hugged me for a minute. He said he was proud of me and is ready to work with me.”
The coaches and the facilities were two of the things that stood out to Bryant on his visit. Kyle Mayberry was his host during the visit. Bryant also believes Miles is going to turn the program around.
Clinton Smith, the head coach at Hillcrest-Evergreen, was with Bryant on the official visit. He said the fact the Jayhawks have several coaches on staff from Alabama helped. Jackson, who was the lead recruiter, is from Mobile, Ala., and played for Miles at LSU.
“I think coach Miles has put together an excellent staff first of all,” Smith said. “That was the first thing that caught my eye is they have a lot of guys from Alabama on staff. These guys are from pretty much the same place that we are from.”
Smith said the facilities caught his attention and just as important, so did the academic side of the visit.
“I'm just excited for Jacobee because he will probably be the one of the first in his family to go to college,” Smith said. “I was also happy about the academic part. We met with one of the professors in the academic department and I was just surprised about how big the campus was and there's actually only like 20 to 25 kids in a classroom.”
Hillcrest was built in 1989 and Smith expects to have a loaded team this season. He said it will be one of the more talented rosters the high school has fielded since it opened.
Bryant held offers from Kansas, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Virginia and many others. Smith said the Jayhawks are getting one of the best cornerbacks in the 2020 class.
“I'm telling you right now Kansas is getting probably one of the best corners in my eyes in this class,” Smith said. “He's a long, rangy guy. They are going to get an excellent player. The one thing I love about him is he has that dog mentality. You know a lot of guys that play in the league are able to cover one on one, They kind of have that edge.
“He's one of those kids that nobody is going to outwork. Nobody is going to beat him in anything. He's very competitive and that's one of his best features.”