Collectively, they’re a big part of the Kansas University football team’s juco infusion, like the Beatles were to the British Invasion.

Whether the football foursome becomes the Fab Four remains to be seen, but as a step toward that end all four packed up and moved to Lawrence — into the same apartment — for the summer to get a head start on preparations for next fall.

“Right now, we just came in here to get to know people, get to know the plays and start learning,” said Ross, a 5-foot-7, 170-pound wide receiver from Denver by way of Garden City Community College. “We all want to make big improvements this summer so we can help the team this fall.”

KU is counting on plenty of juco help. The Jayhawks signed 11 junior college players in February. Three jucos went through spring ball, leaving eight to report in the fall.

Four already are here. Kansas officials expect Demond Benford by the end of this month, and Marlon Dale by the end of the summer. Another key pickup — defensive back Jamarei Bryant — is taking a summer school course and will report, at the latest, in August with the rest of the newcomers.

That leaves only Columbus Wooley, an All-America linebacker from Blinn CC, unaccounted for, and the Jayhawks aren’t counting on him attaining eligibility.

“There’s only one we’re worried about,” KU coach Terry Allen said, “and he’s an extreme long shot.”

It’s not a long shot to say the four new juco players on campus could play a huge role in KU’s season. Three of the four — Holloman, Culp and Ross — have some sort of All-America tag on their resumes, and two — Holloman and Culp — will help shore up a defensive line decimated by graduation.

“All four of us think we’re pretty good players,” said Holloman, a 6-4, 285-pound Wichita native who roomed last year with Ross at Garden City CC. “We’re just trying to see where we mix with the rest of the guys already here.”

“We just want to play our best and see if we can help change the team around,” added Culp, a 6-6, 250-pounder from Rock Hill, S.C., who played alongside Holloman last year at Garden City. “This is a big step up from Garden City, so it takes some time to get used to it. Will I start? I’d like to, but I just want the best on the field.”

Of the four, perhaps Whitfield will have the toughest time playing his way into the lineup.

After all, Holloman, a consensus first-team All-American who had 58 total tackles and four sacks last season, and Culp, an honorable mention All-American who had 66 stops and two sacks, were recruited to one of KU’s thinnest positions.

And Ross, who had 2,073 career reception yards in two years at Garden City and was an All-American as a freshman, is a wideout in an offense that finds snaps for all effective, healthy wideouts.

But Whitfield, a 6-4, 240-pounder from Denison, Texas, by way of Fort Scott CC, has moved from his juco position, defensive end, to outside linebacker this year, and Kansas already is loaded at all the linebacker positions.

“I’ve never been on the bench before, and I don’t want to be now,” Whitfield said. “The reason I came here is, I thought I could help this team. I saw the Nebraska game and thought this team was a couple of players away from reversing their record, to 7-4 or 8-3. That’s why I came up here early, to get the plays straight so I’m ready to go.”

KU’s optional summer conditioning drills, however, caught Whitfield by surprise.

“Yeah, I threw up,” he said with a laugh. “It took some getting used to. You can’t do a set and take time off. You have to keep at it.”

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“Flash” back?: Former KU wide receiver John Gordon has talked with Allen about returning to the team. Gordon, originally a member of Oklahoma’s 1995 recruiting class, had 16 catches for 240 yards with two touchdowns back in 1996, when he played in all 11 games and made five starts.

The following spring, “Flash” Gordon was found to have cardiomyopathy and sleep apnea and was prohibited from playing for medical reasons. Though he hasn’t played since, he recently approached Allen about the possibility of returning.

“He’s got so many hoops to jump through,” Allen said. “He’d like to play, but he’s got a lot of things he has to get accomplished. There’s a 1-in-100 chance right now, from academics to the NCAA to medical reasons. When he came in, I said, ‘Do all these things. When you get half done, come back.’ It’s a long, long, long shot. I don’t even know if he has eligibility left. We’d have to talk to the NCAA.”

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Newcomers due: KU’s football newcomers will report to campus on Aug. 6, but the Jayhawks expect some preps to arrive early, like Iowa quarterback Kevin Long and Derby defensive lineman Travis Watkins. Allen said he expected 70-80 Jayhawks to stick around this summer for conditioning and 7-on-7 drills.

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Speedy Texans: KU football signee Leo Bookman, a defensive back from Dickinson, Texas, recently won the state Class 4A 100- and 200-meter sprint titles. His times of 10.36 and 20.67 seconds were the fastest in any class at the state meet and ranked among the fastest prep times in the country this year.

However, he might have been challenged by fellow KU signee J.T. Thompson, a wideout from Kilgore, Texas.

“Thompson might be a little faster than Bookman,” said KU administrative assistant Rob Bolks. “Going into regionals, Thompson pulled a hamstring, but he had been timed in the 100 meters in the upper 10.2s. We might be able to say we got the two fastest kids in the state of Texas. That’s pretty impressive.”