When Trey Lathan entered the portal after playing for West Virginia he had multiple scholarship offers.

An experienced linebacker like Lathan was certain to garner interest from college coaches after finishing second on the team in tackles for loss and third with 79 tackles.

It was his conversations with Chris Simpson, DK McDonald and Lance Leipold that helped him to sign with the Jayhawks.

“It was just Coach Leipold and Coach Simpson and Coach DK, and I thought it was a great fit for me coming out of the portal,” Lathan said. “I thought they could take my game to the next level, so that's why I came here.”

During the course of his recruiting, Lathan said the coaching staff showed him things to improve. Some of those clips included the game he played against Kansas last season.

“They had a slideshow for me with some plays, some good plays I did and some bad plays that I did,” he said. “So, helping me and teaching me how to get better within those plays. They had a couple plays from the KU game.”

One of the differences for Lathan making the transition to the Kansas defense is the change in scheme. The Jayhawks use a four-man front and at West Virginia they played with three down.

“At West Virginia, we played a 3-4 odd,” Lathan said. “So, there was a lot of boxing and spilling that our linebackers had to do. And the difference here is we run a 4-2 and sometimes a 4-3. So, we got guys that could spill and box all those things. Our gaps are a little bit easier to read as a linebacker.”

The Jayhawks lost three starters from last year’s team and Lathan will bring much needed experience. On Sept. 20 the Jayhawks host West Virginia.

“He has seen a lot of this or that in this conference,” linebackers coach Chris Simpson said. “And Trey can help emphasize that and stress that. He's able to know some of the things that we're doing. I'll mess with him every now and again he's got to go get after West Virginia's quarterback instead of cheering for him. He’s doing a great job for us and we’re excited.”

Lathan said he is adjusting to the culture and system. At the same time the team is learning from a new leader on defense with DK McDonald.

McDonald was promoted to defensive coordinator in the offseason after Brian Borland retired.

“He was fired up the first time I met him,” Lathan said. “He was fired up teaching me just plays. He came from the NFL, so he was just trying to show me how he would use me and stuff like that. I thought highly of him the first time I met him.”