Published Jun 11, 2023
Q&A: Kansas commit Harrison Utley breaks down his decision
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Jon Kirby  â€¢  JayhawkSlant
Publisher- Football Editor
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@jayhawkslant

Shortly after Harrison Utley announced his commitment to Kansas he talked with Jayhawk Slant about his decision.

Here is what Utley had to say about picking Kansas and touching on several topics.

How did you know Kansas was the school for you and it was time to commit?

It was the coaches and the culture around the program. Kansas is on the rise, too, with the culture they're building, and their belief in me and everything is really strong.

Coach Fuchs also showed me how I fit in. It's something where it's a program I could really excel in, too.


Talk about when you committed the setting and what was the coaches rection?

I was actually in Leipold's office and my family was talking to him and he was asking about my timeframe. I said that I wanted to commit. He does congratulations while we're all there. I was a little nervous, too, because I was with the head coach and it's a big decision.

We stepped one foot out of his office, and everyone's standing there waiting and Coach Leipold gives them a thumbs up and everyone starts clapping and cheering. It was really fun. It was great to be around and the excitement was just through the roof.

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You were the first offensive lineman they brought in for an official visit. Did that tell you how much they wanted you?

Yeah, I felt that from the beginning. I don't know how to put it, but I've kind of been the guy that they wanted, and just throughout the talks with them, with Coach Fuchs during meetings and him asking me to talk to us the first day and just everything lined up. They showed me the importance and I was with Coach Fuchs every day throughout the official. He spent all this time with me and my family, so it just really reflected how much they want me and care for me.


How did your family like the visit? Your brother had on a KU football jerseys and your sister was wearing a softball jersey.

I think they really enjoyed it. It's probably a little awkward for my sister and my brother because my brother's also trying to get recruited. But he enjoyed the process probably about as much as I do, taking pictures, getting to be around all of it. It's good for him to here too, because he's going to be going through this hopefully next year.

My sister enjoyed it and my whole family is just really excited for me. My sister is actually going to do the Kansas softball camp tomorrow and Tuesday, so we're staying around for that. We've talked about it previously a lot about my decision and what I should do and talked about how KU seems like a good fit.

How does it feel ready to go into your senior summer. How does it feel to be committed and this process behind you?

It's nice and it's a relief. Just a weight off my shoulders and get to go play free this next season, you could say, and get really focused on the season and go play strong, hard, fast and play with no worries or anything. Knowing that have a home with KU.

Last time we talked you mentioned if you did commit, maybe you start becoming part of the process to help recruit other guys.

The coaches and are always going to be the primary recruiters. But I think when I talk to recruits, I think it's just another angle. You can pick their brains and ask why they committed. I can give them my reasons. All that stuff to help build their confidence in the program and share the program to them, which I think is great because it's not every day you get talk to another kid about a program. You normally talk to coaches or players already in that program, but not another kid that's already going through or been through the process.

Who was your host on the visit and what did you take away from being around the players?

It was Calvin Clements. He's an early enrollee and he’s been there for a couple months, which actually was really nice to have him because he's fresh out the process. He was committed to Baylor, and he ended up at Kansas. It was really nice being able to hear his perspective of everything. He's pretty young and it was just nice to be able to connect to him.

The players are energetic and fired up about KU football. Kansas hasn't always been great, historically. Everyone's excited about KU football. The energy is there and the want to. The drive for football is back, which is great because they’re stoked about it.