Jayhawks have several connections to Lawrence Arnold

Lawrence Arnold has a strong relationship with Kansas wide receivers coach Emmett Jones that dates back close to three years.

Arnold, a wide receiver from DeSoto, gave the Jayhawks his first official visit last weekend. He made the trip with this mother and sister to get a closer look at Lawrence and the Kansas program.

“I was excited about the visit,” Arnold said. “From the minute we got there I loved everything about the visit. I loved everything about the school, the coaching staff, and all of the players that I met. It's a good school and I love the community.”

Jones has known about Arnold since his freshman year, when he was the receivers coach at Texas Tech. Jones has a lot of recruiting ties in the Dallas area and the state. When Jones took the job at Kansas, he continued to recruit Arnold right away.

“Coach Jones is my guy,” Arnold said. “I've known Coach Jones for a long time and just being around him is a good feeling. He has always kept it real with me and told me how it is. I can see him as my coach.”

Arnold has moved between Texas and Louisiana. He lived in Louisiana twice before finally settling in Texas. He remembers watching college football at a young age and following the LSU program.

He told his mother, Linda, growing up watching LSU he wanted to play for Les Miles. He finally got a chance to meet the Kansas head coach on his official visit after talking with him on the phone.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I told my mom ‘I want to play for that coach,’” Arnold said of Miles. “He’s a great coach. When I finally met him, it was a like a dream come true. I always wanted to play for him, because he was a Louisiana legend.”

A couple other factors led to Arnold having a successful visit to Kansas. He liked the players on the team, his host Kwamie Lassiter, and his mother and sister came away impressed.

“The players took me in like I was their little brother,” he said. “It was like I was family and a part of the team. Being around the players, coaches, some of the fans, and the atmosphere, I loved everything down there about it.

“My mom and sister absolutely loved it. They loved everything up there. My little sister had the time of her life.”

Jones was the head coach at South Oak Cliff and was an assistant at Skyline and Lincoln. His daughter Emily, went to DeSoto West Middle School, the same middle school Arnold attended. The Jayhawks are hoping the relationships Jones and Miles have built with Arnold will pay off when he gets ready to make his college decision.

He holds offers from 10 Power Five programs and would like to make his decision by the early part of his senior season.

“Kansas, Minnesota, Illinois, and Missouri are recruiting me the hardest,” he said. “Kansas is my first visit. I still want to take some more visits. I'm looking for the school that has good academics, a good family bond with their coaches and players.”

“I want to be around a good atmosphere and a good community. I want to commit before the season starts or within the first few games of the season.”