KU staff preparing for big weekend of summer visits
The summer time rarely brought a lot of recruiting visits in the past until the NCAA changed the rules. The recent rule change started triggering more official visits in the summer and we are seeing a record number in 2019.
The Kansas staff is taking advantage of the summer visits and will bring in a list that will reach into the double-digits.
They are already off to a fast start in recruiting securing 10 commitments heading into the weekend. That's the fastest start any staff has had at Kansas since I started covering the recruiting in 1998.
That list could grow more by the beginning of next week.
There will also be unofficial visitors on campus that will get a lot of attention from the staff. Overall it will be a loaded list of names that usually looks more like more like a December weekend than June.
We will also be dropping updated information as we get it on the football message board.
Jayhawks still looking to add players up front
One thing to watch are the players on the offensive and defensive lines. That could be a priority with the staff as they keep filling out the class.
We have already written about offensive linemen who will visit and are targets. One name visiting this weekend on the defensive side is Caleb Taylor. He confirmed he will start his official on Thursday.
Taylor holds 15 scholarship offers and is listed as a strong-side defensive end. That's a position the staff is trying to fill. They have targeted several pass-rushers.
On the offensive line a long-time target of the staff, Tommy Brandt, confirmed he will take an official visit.
Brandt was in Lawrence earlier in the year and will get a closer look at the program with an official visit this weekend.
The Kansas staff has been recruiting Brandt since the beginning of the year and he will be someone we will follow closely after the visits conclude.
Quality group of unofficial visitors will be in Lawrence
The focus has been on official visitors, but the staff will also have a strong list of recruits who plan to make the trip on their own. On an unofficial visit the recruit will pay their own and won't have some of the advantages of an official visitor.
But it will allow them to see campus, spend time with the coaches, and return later on an official visit.
Three recruits have confirmed they will take unofficial visits this weekend in Derrick Lewis, Jay Wilkerson, and Kenean Caldwell. Lewis will arrive today and Wilkerson and Caldwell a day later.