Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino praised his assistant coaches Wednesday for their efforts in signing 23 recruits to national letters of intent.
Mangino’s aides weren’t the only KU coaches helping him recruit, though. Basketball coach Roy Williams also made his pitch to visiting prospects.
“When we had recruits in on (basketball) gameday, he came over and had breakfast and talked to the kids,” Mangino said. “It wasn’t a token five-minute, ‘I’m in a hurry pregame thing, thanks for coming to KU, you’ll like it here, blah, blah, blah.’ He took his time. He spoke from the heart. He made the kids comfortable about KU. He’s been very supportive of me and our staff and our players. He has opened the locker room after the game for our recruits, win or lose, so he’s been very supportive and very helpful, and I do appreciate it.”
Williams made similar efforts on behalf of the football team when friend Terry Allen was KU’s head coach.
According to the Tulsa World, Brown came to the aid of a teammate during a scuffle on an opposing team’s sideline during the All-City Preview Aug. 29 and ended up pinned against a fence by an assistant coach from Hale High.
Despite being barred from participating as a senior, Brown was the 30th-ranked player in the state according to rivals.com and also was recruited by Oklahoma and Colorado.
Under Tulsa public-school rules, athletes who make physical contact with coaches are subject to a one-year suspension. There were varying accounts of who initiated the contact, according to the Tulsa World, and Brown’s punishment was reduced to the football season. He is playing basketball for his school this winter.
Mangino said his staff thoroughly evaluates players’ backgrounds, not just their physical talent.
“There’s a couple kids we had to do extensive research on,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that we were getting the right kid and that he would be a good fit for us.”
Last year Grand Prairie, Texas, defensive back Kenneth Thompson was the only member of Mangino’s first recruiting class who didn’t qualify in time for the 2002 season. Thompson later earned a qualifying score and has enrolled for the spring semester.
Meanwhile, Cypress, Texas, defensive end Emmanuel Phillips, who had given KU an oral commitment, was not part of the class announced Wednesday. Recruiting analysts have said Phillips is unlikely to qualify and might attend a junior college.
