Visit to KU sealed decision for Hank Kelly
One area the Kansas coaching staff will focus on the next two weeks heading into signing day, is finding quality players who would be preferred walk-on candidates.
They found one in Hank Kelly.
The second team, all-state lineman from Fayetteville, Ark. informed the Kansas coaching staff last Friday he was giving them his verbal commitment.
One of the reasons that led to the decision was a visit to Lawrence the weekend before.
“I had the PWO a few weeks before I visited last weekend,” Kelly said. “I visited Lawrence and then I walked on campus and I'm like, this is it. This is where I want to be. I completely fell in love with the campus. It's gorgeous. The stadium blew me away. Everything about Kansas was screaming my name, so I just decided that this is definitely the move for me.”
Kansas offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon had his eye on Kelly for a while. Kelly who might be described right on the borderline with his height to attract division one offers said Dearmon said those measurables didn’t matter to him.
“When I talked to him, he reassured me everything I wanted to hear,” Kelly said. “He told me there were people that were smaller than me playing on the line. And it's not like height matters. He was just saying if you bust your butt you can earn a scholarship.
“They gave two scholarships to walk-ons last year. And it was just something I wanted to hear. It was just everything, the program, I just wanted to be a Jayhawk and play for it.”
Kelly also exchanged texts with new offensive line coach Lee Grimes and plans to speak with him later.
“He sent me an introductory text and then I told him about my intentions to commit,” Kelly said.
There were several opportunities for Kelly to take scholarships from schools at the division two level, but he wanted the chance to play Power Five football and the visit to Lawrence sealed his decision.
“I just saw myself being more, happy at Kansas,” Kelly said. “I saw myself being more successful. I loved the campus because I always ask myself when I visit places, could I be here four or five years without football? And when I walked on campus at Kansas, I could go to school there without football. But then playing football, it's going to be so much fun, playing for Kansas, especially.”
Kelly might be an inch or two shorter than the Power Five coaches look for. So often, coaches want to have linemen fit a mold and they don’t look for the intangibles.
Dearmon didn’t care about the height because he saw Kelly delivering nasty blocks on his film.
“He (Dearmon) said, I am extremely aggressive,” Kelly said. “He said, ‘You were too aggressive to not offer.’ He liked my footwork. He liked everything that I could bring to the table and could bring to the team but mainly my aggressiveness. I'm pretty mean.”
Kelly admitted it was difficult to pass up scholarships at other schools a level or two below Power Five. But he is certain Kansas is the future school for him and he’s ready to work when he reports in June.
“Honestly, it's a big relief off my shoulders,” he said. “But at the same time, I'm probably going to go early summer and start working out with the team. But I'm just gearing up for Kansas now. I have a very, clear goal. It's like tunnel vision.”