Last week Justin Thurman announced his intentions to attend Kansas after being committed to Notre Dame for over a year.
This weekend Thurman took his official visit to Kansas. He has been on campus several times, but this time he got a weekend to spend around the staff, players, and see the changes to the program.
“First of all, it was great to be back on the campus of KU,” Thurman said. “Obviously, I have been up there before, but to see the growth and the culture continuing to grow and get better and better every day is something special to see there. I mean, the facilities are really nice. The stadium was being built as we were there.”
He continued: “It was a great opportunity to get back up here to not only talk with the coaches, but also with the analyst staff, and just everybody who was involved with the KU football program and getting an opportunity also to meet my other fellow recruits as well. Everybody was welcoming, everybody was excited to have me, and again, I'm excited to be part of the family and ready to get to work there.”
Thurman is ranked the 10th best all-purpose back in the country in the latest Rivals.com rankings. Throughout the recruiting process he stayed in contact with running backs coach Jonathan Wallace.
“It was great to talk and get back to see Coach Wallace,” Thurman said. “Not only talking about just the football aspects of the program, but just the life and is his ideas and morals of what he stands on and how he treats his running backs and treats everybody in the program as well. I just really like his philosophy not only just running the ball, but also catching the ball. Being able to use your skill set for more than just running the ball, being able to use it to the fullest of your abilities to help the team win.”
Thurman was able to meet players in his recruiting class who are expected to sign with Kansas next week. He spent time with several of his future teammates.
“Being able to meet them in person for the first time was great,” he said. “We had a lot of conversations during the game and cheering on the team. That game was electric, and the atmosphere was great.”
His host was Austin Alexander who introduced him to players on the team. Thurman said he saw the new Jayhawker Apartments and met with academic people.
He plans to sign with KU next week and put an end to a long recruiting process that started with over 20 scholarship offers. Kansas was the first staff to offer a scholarship, and his recruiting came full circle.
“First of all, it is a blessing throughout the entire process,” he said. “The relationship I've had with KU staff ever since the I first received my offer to when I took my visit there, they've always been truthful and genuine in their evaluation of me. Their ideals and moral values they've always been consistent with and it's something that I really take pride in. I’m excited to be a part of it.”
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