Surahz Buncom moves up his visit to Kansas, ready for return trip

The visitor list for the weekend continues to grow. Surahz Buncom, a wide receiver from Mater Dei Catholic in California, announced he was moving his visit up that was originally set for the end of June.

A big piece of news comes out of this because Buncom was scheduled to visit Oregon State this weekend. But the visit will now happen in Lawrence instead or Corvallis.

“I was talking to Coach Samuel, and he got me on the phone with Coach Leipold,” Buncom said. “They wanted to get me up to campus as soon as possible. So, I canceled my Oregon State official that was on the 10th, and I scheduled it to be in Kansas instead.”

Buncom is already familiar with the area and the program after taking an unofficial visit to Kansas in March.

He watched practice and went through junior day and met with wide receivers coach Terrence Samuel.

“One thing that stood was definitely Coach Samuel's philosophy,” Buncom said. “The way he goes about things and his coaching style. I consider him like a technician. He's very technical as far as route-running, how to create separation and things like that. I think the main thing I'd say is Coach Samuel's philosophy at the receiver position and just all the coaches in general.”

His father Frank Buncom III was on the visit with him. His father liked the way Samuel coaches and runs the receiver room. That is an important backing because he looks up to his father for his football knowledge.

“My dad agrees and likes a lot of the things Coach Samuel does,” Buncom said of his father. “My dad is a defensive coordinator and coaches cornerbacks here in San Diego. That was a big sell that he likes everything he does.”

Football runs in the Buncom family. He takes a lot of advice from his father because he can give him a good perspective as a coach. Buncom also plays cornerback for Mater Dei, although the Jayhawks are recruiting him as a wide receiver.

“My dad is a defensive coordinator and a corners coach, I learned a lot about defense and kind of helped me just transition from going from baseball to football and playing receiver,” he said. “It all just helped me transition into that.”

Buncom’s brother, Frank IV, played at Stanford, where he appeared in 39 games and was a Pac-12 All-Academic selection as a safety.

His grandfather, Frank Buncom Jr., played for the San Diego Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals. He was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame in 1976.

Buncom and his brother wore the number 5 because his grandfather was number 55 when he played with the Chargers.

“A little back story about the number 5 is my brother and me wore it because of him,” Buncom said. “My grandfather played outside linebacker and wore number 55. With us being receivers and corners, we can't wear number 55. We just wanted to take a piece of his number and carry on his legacy throughout our careers.”

Buncom will make his way to Lawrence for the second time in three months when he takes his official visit. He wants to keep building a relationship with the coaches and get another look at the program.

“I’m really just looking forward to seeing more of Lawrence,” he said. “When I was out there last time, my dad and I had drove around a little bit of downtown Lawrence and just kind of scoped out the vibe.

“But definitely just continuing to build those relationships with the coaches, which I have been doing for about a year now. I've done a lot of research and answered a lot of my own questions so I'm pretty confident and comfortable with KU.”