Incoming Keon Coleman intent on playing two sports, football and basketball, at Kansas
Four-star football recruit and unranked basketball prospect Keon Coleman of Opelousas (Louisiana) Catholic High plans on playing hoops and football at the University of Kansas.
“Both sports,” Coleman, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound senior-to-be told The Star via direct message when asked if he’ll play both sports at KU, or eventually just one.
“I could go for either one,” Coleman told SI.com. “Whichever the better chance.”
Coleman, who will come to KU on a football scholarship and walk onto the hoops team, on Saturday announced that he had chosen KU over other finalists Oklahoma and South Carolina. He had football offers from Baylor, Louisville, Florida State, Miami, Kentucky, Penn State, Michigan State and several other programs. In basketball, he had received offers from Louisiana Tech, Nicholls State, Coastal Carolina and Louisiana-Lafayette.
“He is a bonafide star in both sports,” Rivals.com recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman wrote of Coleman, who recorded 35 receptions for 1,143 yards (32.7 yards per catch) and 22 touchdowns his junior season.
Coleman also averaged 26 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals a game in basketball in 2019-20.
“I’ve got a good connection with the (KU football) coaching staff,” Coleman told SI.com. “They’re going to use me in the best way to get me to the NFL, and I feel like I can change the culture over there.”
Coleman, who had five touchdowns last fall in a 69-0 first-round Louisiana state playoff victory over Hamilton Christian, “has gotten a lot of publicity from basketball and what he can do on the court,” Opelousas Catholic football coach Thomas David told the Lafayette (Louisiana) Daily Advertiser.
“But he’s not just a basketball guy playing football,” David added. “He is a big, physical receiver that presents a problem for the teams we play. He is a hard-working, physical kid that, as time goes on, people are going to start to notice him on the football field. He really looks like a man playing (among) boys.
“He has great ball skills, and when the ball is in the air, there is a more-than-average chance he is going to end up with it. He has great hands and he understands how to use his body to get the position and go and get the ball,” David added.
David said Coleman puts in the time it takes to be special.
“He isn’t missing reps and he’s always in the weight room doing what we ask him to do. He sets a great example from his effort on and off the field, and he is extremely competitive,” David said. “He wants to be the best, but he understands what it takes to get there. He does all of the things that you need to do to be a great player. He has a good bit of talent and he accentuates it with his work ethic.”
Coleman told Jayhawkslant.com that he spoke recently with both KU football coach Les Miles and hoops coach Bill Self on a recruiting call. He’s also developed a close relationship with KU football wide receivers coach/ passing game coordinator Emmett Jones. In three years at Texas Tech, Jones coached six receivers who went on to play in the NFL.
“We talked quite a bit, and I really like (Jones),” Coleman told Jayhawkslant.com. “He’s a cool dude. He keeps it 100 percent and he’s straightforward.”
Analysts believe Coleman will start at KU in football during his freshman season.
“They’ll get me the ball whenever and however they can, as many times as possible,” Coleman told SI.com. “I’m the type of player that can go to a school like Kansas and make it a bigger (football) school. I’m going to start the trend.”
Coleman, who ranks as a football four-star in the 247 Composite rankings, has an overall score of 0.9064. That makes him the third-highest-rated recruit that KU football has landed since 2000 and also their top high school player in that span — running back Pooka Williams (0.9055) is now second on that list. The two junior college players ahead of Coleman: Marquel Combs, a Class of 2013 defensive tackle from Pierce College of Woodland Hills, California; and Jocques Crawford, a Class of 2008 running back from Cisco College in Texas.
Known for his athleticism, Coleman also competes in track at Opelousas (Louisiana) Catholic. He participates in the long jump and triple jump and runs on the school’s 800 and 1,600 relay teams. He’s not expected to compete in track at KU.
As far as hoops, Coleman will not count against the Jayhawks’ scholarship limit of 13 players. He will be a walk-on. That gives KU two incoming players in the recruiting Class of 2021.
Zach Clemence, a 6-10 senior power forward from Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, committed to KU on May 11. He’s the No. 29-rated player in the recruiting Class of 2021, according to Rivals.com.
Taylor, Tharpe eliminated at TBT
Brotherly Love, a team of players from the Philadelphia area, defeated former Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor’s Stillwater Stars 87-71 in a first-round TBT game Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
Former KU guard Taylor scored 16 points with seven rebounds, five assists and four turnovers as the Stars were knocked out of the 24-team, single-elimination winner-take-all $1 million tournament.
Former KU guard Naadir Tharpe had six points and four turnovers against zero assists in 16 minutes for the Stars, a team that featured just seven players — three from Oklahoma State, two from KU, one from Houston and one from Georgia Tech.
Former Oklahoma State player Le’ Bryan Nash had 30 points and five rebounds for the Stars. Khalif Wyatt scored 27 points and Ramone Moore added 24 for Brotherly Love.
This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Incoming Keon Coleman intent on playing two sports, football and basketball, at Kansas."
