Jayhawks land local product in Eudora's Jaden Hamm

Jaden Hamm was committed to Arkansas for four months. And then everything changed last week. Dowell Loggains, the coach who recruited him, took the offensive coordinator position at South Carolina.

That was followed by a phone call from Kansas offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.

“Coach K reached out to me after he found out that my tight ends coach switched,” Hamm said.

That opened the door for the Jayhawks, who are just minutes down the road from Hamm’s home.

During the season Hamm kept an eye on the Jayhawks progress and what Lance Leipold was building in Lawrence. He followed the improvements and saw the wins start to build.

Hamm took an unofficial visit to Kansas before his junior year but had not been around the program since. Last weekend he took an official visit to get a closer look at the program.

“Obviously growing up here and just seeing how the program has rebuilt itself since I was down there the summer after my sophomore year,” he said. “I mean, just seeing where they've improved and where they've gone with their program, that's what really stood out to me.”

When he got the details for his visit, he was happy to see his host.

“I looked at my itinerary and I saw that he was my host was Jalon Daniels and I was like, I got the real deal,” Hamm said.

Daniels talked to him about Kansas and introduced him to several players.

“Being able to see who my future teammates are going to be, see how they act and then obviously hear about how the program is ran from a player aspect is a great thing,” he said.

He had a crash course getting to know Kotelnicki. Things happened fast, but the official visit gave him a chance to spend more time around the Jayhawks offensive coordinator and tight ends coach.

“The man is an absolute character,” Hamm said. “The tight end coach who recruited me to Arkansas was the same and Coach K would definitely be one of the only other coaches it would be an honor to be coached by. I'm really glad that I have this opportunity to be with him and be coached by him.”

Hamm did not hide the fact the last week was stressful. Once he heard the news Loggains was leaving everything changed with his recruiting. He made the decision late last week Kansas is where he wants to be.

“Obviously, coming off Monday through Wednesday, I don't think I've ever been that stressed in my life,” he said. “I'm going to be a hundred percent honest. It was a lot at one time, and I was scared about my future and everything, but the fact that Thursday evening I had made up my mind after hearing some rumors about Arkansas and I was just like, KU is where I belong.

“It was a lot of relief off my chest, so I'm definitely glad that I'm able to say confidently that I'm going to KU.”

Hamm is rated the fifth best player in Kansas and the 25th overall tight end in the country. He picked up early offers from Michigan, Tennessee, Penn State, TCU, Oklahoma State, and several other schools.

He plans to sign with Kansas on Wednesday.