KU football picks up 5 commitments from busy weekend

By Matt Tait     Dec 14, 2014

Kansas University football recruiting.

Last week, during his first week on the job, Kansas University football coach David Beaty wasted no time in hitting the recruiting trail. This weekend, with 11 prospects making official visits to campus, a few future Jayhawks rewarded that effort by wasting little time committing to Kansas.

Wide receiver Emmanuel Moore, a 6-foot, 190-pound two-star prospect from Northwest High in Justin, Texas, got things started with an oral commitment on Saturday night. Moore’s commitment was first reported by Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant.com.

Moore previously had committed to North Texas but chose Kansas because of his bond with Beaty. The big, physical wideout also drew interest from SMU and Minnesota.

Sunday morning, word surfaced about two more commitments from the Class of 2015, as Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College offensive lineman D’Andre Banks and Hillcrest High athlete Arico Evans, from Dallas, announced their commitments via Twitter.

Banks, a 6-3, 325-pound guard, told Kirby he had de-comitted from Louisiana-Lafayette and picked Kansas.

“I just called ULL and told them I am going to be a Jayhawk,” Banks told Kirby. “Coach Beaty is a great guy and has a plan for the program. I want to be a part of it. The facilities are excellent and it feels like a tight-knit community.”

A little later in the day, Evans, on Twitter, posted a photo of himself with Beaty and said he had picked Kansas.

“I have officially committed to the University of Kansas,” Evans wrote. “Let’s change this program around!”

Evans, a 6-2, 190-pound, two-star prospect ranked by Rivals.com as an “athlete,” had offers from KU, Indiana, New Mexico, New Mexico State, TCU, Texas Tech and Troy. This week was the first time KU reached out to him, but Evans said his high school coach’s close relationship with Beaty made him want to give KU a look.

Evans played quarterback for Hillcrest this fall but could play a number of positions in college. He told Kirby that the KU coaching staff told him he could play wherever he wanted to play.

Early Sunday afternoon, Jace Sternberger, a two-star defensive end from Kingfisher (Oklahoma) High also committed to Beaty and KU.

Sternberger, a 6-4, 225-pound prospect who also played tight end, picked KU over offers from New Mexico, Sam Houston State and South Dakota. He also had received interest from Kansas State, Memphis, Oklahoma State and Tulsa.

Given that two of this weekend’s 11 visitors already had committed to KU — wide receiver Kevin Thomas and quarterback Ryan Willis — KU now has landed commitments from four of the other nine guys who made the trip.

Late Sunday afternoon, KU picked up a commitment from a player who had yet to visit. According to JayhawkSlant, cornerback Shaquille Richmond, from Timeberview High in Arlington, Texas, telephoned Beaty to let him know he wanted to be a Jayhawk. Richmond had planned to visit KU and Louisville in January, but the 6-foot, 180-pound defensive back told Beaty his in-home visit with Reggie Mitchell convinced him that Kansas was the place for him.

“I trust coach Mitchell and coach Beaty and what they’re doing with the program,” Richmond told Kirby. “They told me they like my physical play and my speed. My mom was good with it. She’s at peace after our home visit with coach Mitchell.”

KU’s commitment list in the Class of 2015 is now up to 17, leaving room for seven or eight more guys. This was the final weekend of the current recruiting period and college football will now enter a four-week dead period before recruiting can pick up again.

Stay tuned in to Kusports.com for more updates.

PREV POST

The Day After: Survival at Sprint Center

NEXT POST

45710KU football picks up 5 commitments from busy weekend

Author Photo

Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.