Jaden Hamm made the short trip to KU, breaks down visit

Jaden Hamm made the short drive from Eudora to Lawrence to meet the Kansas coaching staff and get a closer look at the program.

Eudora High School is just 15 minutes away from KU’s campus and has three players in their program who hold Power Five scholarship offers. Hamm said he liked what he saw from the coaching staff to the strength and conditioning program.

“It was a great experience, and I was very impressed with how organized everything already was with all the new coaches,” Hamm said. “Most of them are just now getting into town and settled. So, I was very impressed there. I enjoyed seeing how well facilities are and the weights and nutrition coach.”

“I was very pleased with the information he gave me and all his statistics and data that he has laid out for me. And sitting down and talking to the physicians, coaches, and just seeing how the offense is going to look like and the culture of the team, how it's already slowly being built, I was very pleased and very excited after the visit.”

One coach he met with was Matt Gildersleeve who oversees the strength and conditioning program as well as nutrition.

“The technology that they have in the weight room that makes him be able to teach and build players into the best athletes we can be is just phenomenal,” Hamm said. “The availability that he has to make you the best athletes he can is it's just amazing what his process is that you have to follow and basically follow when you get there.”

Hamm is a 6-foot-6, 220-pound prospect who projects to tight end. During his visit he met with Andy Kotelnicki, who is the Jayhawks offensive coordinator and tight ends coach.

“He's a very funny and outgoing guy,” Hamm said. “I was very pleased with his statistics of how well they utilize tight ends in his offense. Sitting there and watching film with him was a good thing and seeing how he coaches off the field was a very pleasing feeling also.”

It has been a busy summer so far for Hamm who plays football and basketball. There are not many breaks in his schedule as he finds a way to be at several events.

Eudora head coach Sean Hayden got to see Hamm at seven-on-seven, and he has not missed a beat on the football field.

“Honestly the first football I've seen of him was when we started our 7-on-7 and he was really, really good,” Hayden said. “He's just so big and hard to cover. He's gained quite a bit of weight without losing any speed. He's physical. Big-body tight ends that can move like that are hard to come by. He's going to be highly recruited, that's for sure. He catches everything that touches his hands too.”

College coaches have already taken notice to Hamm’s ability, and he holds offers from Penn State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Michigan, Arkansas, and several others.

After his visit to Kansas, Hamm said he would visit Missouri and Kansas State. He admitted with his basketball and football schedule getting out to see colleges was a challenge this summer. He said he will look at more visits after the dead period ends in late July.

A lot of the offers came early after his sophomore year, but he is settling into the recruiting process.

“I was nervous at the very beginning when all this started, just because I’m in the class of 2023 and still a sophomore when all this happened,” he said. “As I've gotten to talk to coaches and go see facilities and meet some players, it's very low stress level now and I'm just basically preparing myself for commitment day.”