Kansas lands Grayden Addison, the top punter in Indiana

One of the question marks going into spring football for Kansas will be the candidates to win the job at punter. Kyle Thompson, was an All Big-12 selection two years ago, but announced he was entering the transfer portal.

That leaves a lot of inexperience. One player who will compete for the job is Grayden Addison, who just committed to the Jayhawks.

Addison, from Indiana, had a great career at Noblesville High. After receiving several accolades, he caught the attention of the Kansas coaches.

“I have a kicking coach that I work with at home, and he actually coached one of the guys on Kansas staff,” Addison said. “He got me in contact with him.”

Addison’s coach is Mark Hagee and he used to Brock Caraboa, who is a defensive analyst on the Kansas staff.

“We started talking a little bit, learning a little more about Kansas, and kind of the opportunity there,” Addison said. “And then we ended up just talking more and more every week and building that connection.

“After talking to him, he introduced me to Coach Wallace and all the special teams staff. And we just got really connected with all these coaches, and then ended up with me getting a preferred walk-on offer.”

Wallace extended the preferred walk-on and started to build a relationship with Addison. Wallace talked about everything from the opportunity he would have at Kansas to the academic side.

“He's been very welcoming to me and lots of energy,” Addison said. “He will tell me all about the program and their academics. I want to be a Business major, and I've already been accepted into the school. He's been sending me stuff about that, helping me learn more about that. It's just been a really good experience, getting to know him has been incredible.”

Addison was named to the Indiana Football Coaches Association Top 50 and was named Mr. Football for the punting position. That award goes to the best punter in all classes. He was Max Preps first-team 6A and recently punted in the Blue-Grey All-Star game in Texas.

“Coach Wallace said his favorite thing was field position, being able to really boom the ball down there,” Addison said. “He said I could really flip field position and give their defense a chance to make it easier to make a stop.”

There were several schools showing interest in Addison including Cincinnati, Indian State, West Virginia, and Virginia among others.

Having the chance to compete at the Big 12 level was one reason he chose Kansas.

“That did play a factor in my decision, because I want to play as fast as I can,” he said. “I think that I have a really good opportunity to compete here. I think I can really see the field.

“One of the biggest reasons was academics. Kansas is a great academic school, talking to my parents, that's their most important thing is that I get a good education. It's really important to me as well, that was my number one reason. Number two, I think it is a great program and good connection with the coaches. They're going to come up and they're going to be good. And I think this is a great opportunity to play and make a difference.”