The wait paid off as Jacoby Davis committed to Kansas

Jacoby Davis said before his official visit to Kansas one of the things he wanted to do is continue to build a bond with Jordan Peterson.

Peterson, the cornerbacks coach at KU, recruited Davis for several months. He has connections to the area and targeted Davis a while ago.

The mission was accomplished on his visit. Davis told Jayhawk Slant he spent quality time with Peterson and learned more about the defense and his position.

“It was good,” Davis said. “We were building our bond and getting closer. That was one of the things I was looking for and I felt like bonded more and got closer.”

Peterson had to be patient with Davis, who picked up several early offers from programs like Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan, and several others. Davis was also in a rare position because he could not take official visits like other recruits in December.

North Shore, who is one of the top high school programs in the country, played in the state title game. The Texas high school playoffs went through the weekend of December 18, which was the last weekend high school recruits could take visits until January.

The wait paid off for Peterson and the Jayhawks.

“I committed to KU,” Davis said. “I like the football program and the college environment they have. I went to the basketball game and the sports environment they have is crazy.”

Davis said his host was cornerback Mello Dotson who he described as “a cool cat” and he got to meet several players on the team.

He spent time with Matt Gildersleeve, the Director of Sports Performance. Davis liked the facilities and what is in store.

“Everything was I good and I saw they have a good weight program,” he said. “When I talked to them, they said everything is going to be rebuilt.”

The Jayhawks caught Davis’s attention last week and head coach Lance Leipold and Peterson visited him at North Shore. The fact the head coach made the trip showed him how interested they were, and he saw it again on his visit.

“I just saw how interested they were in me,” he said. “That made me feel wanted and I felt like I was one of them on the visit.”

He gave the Jayhawks his commitment this morning and Peterson showed his emotion the second he told them.

“He jumped up and started clapping right away,” Davis said. “They were excited and they were probably just as excited as I was.”

Davis had a lot of attention with recruiting, but it was the way the Kansas coaches made him feel that separated them from the others.

“I just feel special, man,” Davis said. “I just felt like I was their guy. I felt excited. I couldn't take the smile off my face.”

Davis said he plans to sign his letter of intent with Kansas on February 1st.