Before Malachi Mills stepped on campus this weekend, he already had a good picture of what to expect with the KU football program.

Mills, an offensive lineman from Westfield, Ind., took an unofficial visit this weekend to Kansas and gave his verbal commitment.

He heard a lot about what it is like to play at Kansas from the Ballard family. Cole Ballard is a quarterback for the Jayhawks and his father, Chris is the general manager for the Indianapolis Colts. Mills is good friends with Cole’s younger brother Cash.

“What brought him (Cole) to the program was really the coaching staff,” Mills said. “He did a good job explaining that to me, like, the type of people they are and their moral compass and what they stand for. He was very transparent with me about it and why he went there and what made him stay.”

The Ballard family gave a strong recommendation about the Kansas program and Chris also called the coaching staff to tell them what kind of person and player Mills is.

“I'm close friends with the Ballard family, so they were really pushing me and encouraging me to go,” Mills said. “Cole was a very influential person and making sure that the coaches knew all about me and put in the good word for me. Chris Ballard did the same.”

Kansas assistant Jim Panagos recruits the area and started the recruiting process. He met with Mills and his family, and it was a good starting point building the relationship.

“Coach Panagos is a great guy,” Mills said. “He was really the first one to reach out to me from Kansas, and he was the one that offered me. He did a really good job meeting with my family and making them part of everything that was going on, which not many schools did for us. That meant a lot to them. He did a good job building that relationship.”

The unofficial visit this weekend gave Mills an opportunity to learn more about the program and meet the coaching staff.

“The main thing that got me to commit was how much they cared for me and how special they made the visit,” he said. “They knew that I was making a long drive down there to come check them out, and they really did a good job just making me feel welcome. They gave me a tour of all the new facilities they have. I met one-on-one with Coach Leipold. He's a great dude. I met with Coach Agpalsa, and had good, genuine conversations and learned more about them and their program.

He continued: “I think all that together, mixed with the environment of the place and what they're trying to build there, it's just super exciting for me to be a part of something like that. And I'm excited for the future.”

Mills was building a solid offer list before his visit. He left Lawrence committed and said the work is just beginning.

“It's such a relief, but at the same time, I'm just getting started now,” Mills said. “It's not really an end for me. It's more of a beginning. So, the end of a chapter, but the start of a new one for sure.”