Kansas first to offer QB Parker Leise
Parker Leise spent his sophomore season playing at Creighton Prep in Omaha, but after his family moved to Kansas City, he has a new home at Shawnee Mission East.
Leise recently arrived in the area and it didn’t take the Kansas coaches very long to find out about him. On Thursday evening he picked up his first scholarship offer from the Jayhawks.
“I just want to say I'm thankful for Kansas football and believing in me and trusting their evaluation with me,” Leise said. “I really appreciate the offer and this opportunity that they're giving me. We had a phone call with KU and I just wasn't expecting them to offer me right off the bat like that.”
A lot of the information the Kansas coaches received was from Justin Hoover, who owns and operates Spin It Quarterback Academy. Hoover was in touch with the Kansas coaches with updated film and an analysis on Leise.
Leise was on a call with several coaches including Emmett Jones, Jake Schoonover, Mike DeBord, and Josh Eargle.
“They were all taking turns talking to me,” Leise said. “They said they really liked the word that they were getting from everyone. They haven't heard anything bad about me. Coach Hoover had nothing but good things to say. Coach Withers had nothing but good things to say. And so many other people, like Coach (Emmett) Jones, said that he was hearing from all of his other coaches that I was legit.
“I know Hoover also sent some film over and they got to see me throw on some video when I was working out with Hoover. They said they were impressed.”
Leise said he drove down every weekend from Omaha to work out with Hoover at Spin It QB Academy. Now, the drive is much shorter, and he will get to play for him at Shawnee Mission East.
“I think it's a great opportunity,” he said. “I'm really excited for the development and opportunity I get to have to develop my skills. And I'm really excited to see where this takes me.”
Leise, 6-foot-2, 205 pounds is keeping his skills going this spring playing for Epic 7 Midwest. Although he just moved to Kansas City, he is very familiar with the area from his trips to workout and throw with Hoover.
“Once COVID hit, my school went into online learning,” Leise said. “I basically just moved down here and stayed in a hotel room for the next seven or so months. I worked out with him non-stop every time I could. Before that I drove down every weekend.”
The work and connection paid off with his first Power Five offer coming in. The college interest is just beginning since he's only a sophomore, but he will always remember the first offer.
“I'm always going to remember KU as being the first offer,” Leise said. “I love football and I'm glad I'm going to be able to have the opportunity to keep playing football. I’m just going to keep my head down working hard, continue to develop me or myself as a player, leader, and establishing relationships between my teammates.”