Why Lance Leipold believes KU Jayhawks football could be good transfer landing spot
Kansas football coach Lance Leipold’s primary purpose on Wednesday afternoon was to talk to reporters about the addition of eight players — six on scholarship — to the Jayhawks’ program.
For good reason, though, it was tough to stay only focused there. That’s because most of the recruiting buzz Leipold and staff have drummed up recently has been from the transfer portal, where KU has gotten five public commitments over the last week.
It was a delicate balancing act for Leipold then. Any transfer isn’t official until he shows up on campus, which will happen about a month from now. And in general, Leipold says he’s cautious when talking about these players, simply to respect the process while being fair to guys whose options are still technically open.
Having said all that ... yes, Leipold is potentially thrilled about his team’s roster upgrade should KU land the players it’s expecting.
“From what we say, what we expect, what we want them to do, yeah I’m excited about where we’re heading, just like I’ve always been,” Leipold said. “And hopefully, I can be more specific in a month or so.”
Three of KU’s five anticipated commitments are from the Big Ten: Ohio State redshirt sophomore linebacker/safety Craig Young, Nebraska running back Sevion Morrison and Michigan State cornerback Kalon Gervin. Central Florida linebacker Eriq Gilyard and Buffalo offensive lineman Nolan Gorczyca also announced plans to attend KU in recent days.
Leipold says KU’s staff had a couple of recruiting advantages when looking at transfer players. For one, he’s sensed that guys who have been in college and are exploring options at a new school were looking for a fit that KU can provide.
“I think the maturity, depending on how long they’ve been in college, is definitely different. I think it’s definitely different also their set of criteria, what they’re looking for,” Leipold said. “It’s not always the biggest stadium and the most uniform combinations and what kind of photo shoot they get. It’s more about ... I guess I’ll use the word substance. Where do I fit in? Who am I fitting in with? What’s it more about? And is it going to help me get to my next goal?
“I think the substance and genuineness and thoroughness and the integrity part — I think we’ll be able to hold just well with that.”
Leipold also said the program was getting a boost from its competitiveness late in the season. He said during his first recruiting trip to Dallas this offseason, he was surprised to hear from so many coaches who’d said they’d watched KU’s final games.
“For us to get a win in Austin (against Texas), and then to keep playing as hard is definitely things that not only internally are going to help us, but it’s going to help us recruiting this year and down the road,” Leipold said. “And that’s exciting.”
This is set up to be a strange class for KU. The Jayhawks are likely to only have about 15 scholarships available, partly because of decisions made last offseason with transfer players who count against this class.
For instance, Buffalo transfers Mike Novitsky, Rich Miller and Trevor Wilson — each had immediate impacts for KU in 2021 — technically count against this year’s numbers.
The good news for KU is that it appears to have nearly dug itself out of a near-decade-long roster hole. Leipold said Wednesday that KU would have “a chance to be” near the 85-player scholarship limit next season, which it had been chasing ever since former coach Charlie Weis dismissed a large number of players in 2012.
KU’s most notable signing Wednesday was a quarterback: 6-foot-3 Ethan Vasko from Chesapeake, Virginia. Leipold previously was noncommittal during the season when asked if KU needed a signal-caller in this class. However, he said the decision was made easier when Miles Kendrick and Conrad Hawley told coaches they would not be with the team next season.
Leipold said Vasko was someone KU QBs coach Jim Zebrowski had been monitoring for a while.
“Tall, rangy, can run the ball as well, but he’s got a strong arm,” Leipold said of Vasko. “Very mature young man, leader. Just the whole package that we thought that was going to fit into our system.”
KU also added a player from the state of Kansas in safety Mason Ellis, whose plan is to grayshirt this season, meaning he will go on scholarship the second semester of next school year.
Overall, Leipold said his main goal with this year’s recruiting class was to create a better team for both the long- and short-term. That meant beefing up some areas of the roster with immediate help while also trying to balance scholarship numbers on offense and defense, as well as within classes.
“Solely just adding more high school players I don’t know was gonna be in this changing landscape,” Leipold said. “This is a different way of college football than when I stood in front of you on May 3 and talked about recruiting. It is vastly changed, and we have to be able to adapt in many different ways with it.”
Recruits who were announced by KU football
High school recruits
Joey Baker: 6-4, 250 offensive lineman from Southlake, Texas
Mason Ellis: 6-2, 188 safety from Mulvane, Kansas
James Livingston: 6-7, 275 offensive lineman from Dexter, Michigan
Kaleb Purdy: 5-10, 170 safety from St. Peters, Missouri
Ethan Vasko: 6-3, 180 quarterback from Chesapeake, Virginia
Junior-college transfers
Tevita Noa: 6-3, 250 tight end from Salt Lake City, Utah
Preferred walk-ons
Kael Farkes: 6-3, 240 offensive lineman from Lenexa, Kansas
Grant Glasgow: 6-1, 180 kicker from Lawrence, Kansas
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Why Lance Leipold believes KU Jayhawks football could be good transfer landing spot."
