While many newcomers to Kansas University’s football team were wandering around wide-eyed and overwhelmed Sunday during their first official day with the program, two players seemed perfectly at ease in their surroundings.
Freshmen Brian Luke and Banks Floodman a quarterback from Walnut Creek, Calif., and a defensive back from Wichita respectively played the parts of wily veterans after having spent the summer living together at KU while working out with the veterans.
“I wanted to get here and get to know the program before all the other freshmen did,” Luke said, “kinda get into the flow of things before all the other freshmen get here and it might be a little hectic. I kinda wanted to have a sense of what I’m doing, where I’m going.
“Just getting to know the guys in the program, have them get to know me before I’m just another freshman face.”
All told, 25 newcomers 19 freshmen and six walk-ons reported on Sunday to officially open the 2001 campaign.
“It’s exciting,” fifth-year KU coach Terry Allen said. “With all the changes that we’ve been through, it’s fun to have them here. This is always kind of an exciting day. It’s so different than the varsity guys returning. For them it’s a pretty nervous day.
“This was tough. I know it was tough for me.”
Of course, it wasn’t as tough for Luke and Floodman, who survived a sweltering summer working in the weight room and going through conditioning with the veteran Jayhawks.
Floodman, who’s first name is a family name dating back to his great-grandparents, was an all-state selection after helping Wichita Collegiate win the Class 3A state championship. He also played running back, rushing for 1,743 yards and 30 touchdowns.
Floodman likes what he’s seen so far of Lawrence.
“It’s awesome,” he said, “a nice place, lot better than Wichita.”
Despite being raised outside of San Francisco, Luke heard about Kansas from his family his grandfather and sister-in-law both attended KU but never dreamed that one day he’d wear Crimson and Blue.
“I grew up hearing about KU,” Luke said, “and never actually thought about going here. But once they called me, it kinda got me thinking.”
As a senior, Luke led Las Lomas High to the North Coast Sectional championship game. He passed for 2,800 yards and 25 touchdowns while adding six TDs on the ground en route to earning team MVP honors during his final season.
Now he’s having a hard time believing he’s actually a Jayhawk.
“At first it’s kinda surreal,” Luke said. “I spent the last six months (at home) talking about leaving and coming here. It never really seemed like it was going to happen. Now it’s happening, it’s getting going. I’m getting in the groove of things.
“Right now I feel myself getting more into it. I feel a lot better about coming here. I feel like it’s starting to become a second home.”
Thompson done?: Sophomore wide receiver J.T. Thompson, who was listed as senior Harrison Hill’s backup on the spring depth chart, likely has played his last game with the Jayhawks.
“J.T. will probably not be back,” Allen said. “He’s trying to get himself eligible at the junior college. He didn’t pass the initial part. He’s got the homesickness bug. He’s looking to possibly go to Kilgore (College), possibly transfer down. It’s all kind of predicated on what happens with the hours he’s taking at the junior college.
“He probably won’t be back here.”
Thompson, who’s from Kilgore, Texas, had eight catches for 130 yards in seven games last season.
Is that your final answer?: Tight ends coach/special teams coordinator Clint Bowen proposed to his girlfriend, Kristie Knox, a KU graduate from Hutchinson and the reigning Miss Kansas, during a preseason get-together at Allen’s house on Friday night.
All of the women in attendance were given a plastic egg as a door prize and told there would be a grand prize.
“One of them was going to win the grand prize, which we of course rigged,” said Bowen, a former player at both KU and Lawrence High. “Kristie won the grand prize so she got up there and coach (Rip) Scherer’s son presented the grand prize to her and it was wrapped up. When she opened it, it was the ring and everyone started yelling.
“She just started crying. Coach (Clarence) James asked me, ‘Did she even say yeah?’ I said, ‘I don’t even know.'”
Up coming: The newcomers will participate in the first of six NCAA-required non-contact practice sessions this afternoon and tonight. Two-a-days will continue Tuesday and Wednesday, with the varsity squad reporting on Wednesday afternoon.
