Will Huggins picks Kansas, has always been a Jayhawk fan

When Will Huggins attended the Jayhawks practice on Saturday he had his mind already made up. He was going to commit to the Kansas coaching staff.

Huggins, a tight end/receiver from Shawnee Mission South, visited during the first junior day in February and left Lawrence with an offer. He had time to think about his decision and Kansas was the easy choice.

“I’ve always been a Jayhawk fan,” Huggins said. “Obviously Les Miles being the new coach has something to do with it. Then they told me how they wanted to use me and what I'd be doing for them and where I'd be playing. They said I could play early and it all sounded good. And it is close to my home.”

The Jayhawks started recruiting Huggins at the beginning of the year. They watched his tape and immediately extended a junior day offer. Kansas assistant Clint Bowen knew about Huggins and was the lead recruiter.

Bowen has known Shawnee Mission South head coach Brett Oberzan for a long time.

“He knows my head coach and he’s been recruiting me for a while,” Huggins said. “He's been a really good recruiter. He’s stayed in touch and talked Kansas up really, well. He sent me some letters and they've all just treated me like family. It felt good up there.”

Huggins started the day before noon arriving and taking in the Jayhawks first scrimmage of the spring. After it was over, he went to meet with Miles.

“I was sitting in his office and he was like, “We would love to have you as a Jayhawk,” Huggins said. “His family came in it was his wife (Kathy) and daughter Smacker and I said, I would to verbally commit. Then everybody just kind of started cheering and a bunch of coaches came in. It was pretty cool.”

Huggins is a very interesting prospect at 6-foot-7 and possesses speed to run past players in the secondary. The Jayhawks plan to line him up in different formations.

“They said I would play the “Y” tight end, so basically splitting out at receiver,” he said. “I would be playing slot and they said I would be catching passes and touchdowns. I would do some blocking here and there.”

Huggins has been going through the recruiting process taking other visits and getting interest from several schools. With his commitment to Kansas on the books he can focus on his senior season.

“It's a lot of stress off of me and it's just time to go to work,” he said.