Tristian Fletcher was sold on the KU coaches, ready to report
Tristian Fletcher does not end his official visit to Kansas until Sunday, but he liked what he saw the first two days to give the Kansas coaching staff a decision.
Fletcher told the KU coaches on Saturday he was committed.
“We were over at Coach Leipold’s house, and I told him I was 100% committed,” Fletcher said. “It just felt like a relief. That’s all I can say. I don’t think I surprised them because they knew that I bought into what they were telling me. He was excited when I told him, and he ran up to all of the other coaches to tell them.”
One reason it felt like a relief is the recruiting was hectic for him the last three weeks. He was talking to Nebraska and thought an offer might be coming. He was also coming off an official visit to Louisiana Tech. When things did not work out with Nebraska, he committed to Sam Houston State because time was running out.
Before he reported to Sam Houston, he got the call from Kansas linebackers coach Chris Simpson. The Jayhawks had an offer waiting after watching his film.
He spent the last two days visiting with Simpson and talking about the Jayhawks defense and what the program is like.
“Coach Simpson's a great guy,” Fletcher said. “He's young and full of energy. I just know he's going to be a great coach and it’s going to be a great fit. I just know it's going to be a great connection. It's always been a good conversation whenever I talk with him.”
Fletcher got a player’s perspective on the visit from Jayson Gilliom, who was his host. Gilliom plays safety and has been in the program for a year.
“He played a lot his freshman year, so I'm pretty sure they paired me with him because we were around the same age,” Fletcher said. “He's been a good guide. He told me a few things about the program, and he told me how his season went, how he was able to get in, and how the defense is run.
“He gave me some insight on that, and he kept it real and told me the truth about everything. And he told me, if you just come in and compete, which you should do anywhere, there can be a spot for you. You’ve just got to come in, buy into the program, and compete. Everything else will fall into place.”
He said something that caught his attention was how the players say the program is changing.
“It's not going to be an overnight change, but they said it's totally different from how it was before,” he said. “That really caught my eye because it is coming from the athletes. Everyone takes pride inside the program. I asked them, how was it before and they said they are taking long strides towards success.”
Kansas started with a good impression since he heard about the area from Darius Willis. Willis is his mentor and he played for the Jayhawks from 2010-13.
Through his senior year in high school, he was a running back but switched to linebacker. He made the change during the last half of season and learned quick. He was named first-team, all-district after making the transition to defense.
When he moved to Trinity Valley last season he expected to play sparingly and learn the position more. But he ended up playing nine games and had 75 tackles.
Since he is a full qualifier, he can leave Trinity Valley and move to Kansas. He said he expects to be back in Lawrence the middle of next week to join the team and start working out.
“I'm still on the same mission,” he said. “It's nothing really different in my eyes, because anywhere I go, I have to work. I guess you could say it's a restart button, because I’ve got to build my way back up, because that's never given. I have to go in and work and just show that I'm a competitor. I know, it's not going to be easy at all. But I have a clean slate and going to go in and work hard.”