Thad Allender/Journal-World PhotoAdam Barmann had several football camps lined up the summer before his senior year at West Platte High in Weston, Mo.
He only made it to three of them.
Barmann attended an invitation-only Nike camp at College Station, Texas; a University of Missouri camp; and a one-day Kansas University camp in Wichita. That was enough.
“He had others lined up,” said his father, Mike Barmann, “but he fell in love with KU’s coaches and he said ‘That’s it. I’m going there.'”
The feeling was mutual.
KU coach Mark Mangino had never seen Adam Barman before that satellite camp in June 2002, and he watched the all-state quarterback for only an hour. Mangino was hooked.
“I watched him throw and watched him interact with the kids, and I told our coaches, ‘We are going to offer this guy a scholarship,'” said Mangino, whose team will play host to Nebraska at 2:30 p.m. today.
“Our coaches didn’t say no, but they all looked at me out of the corner of their eyes like, ‘Isn’t this a hasty decision?’ But here’s what I based it on. His throwing mechanics were nearly flawless. He was 6-4 and about 215 pounds at the time. He ran very well in the camp. I liked his moxie. He was a competitive kid. He got after other kids in the camp, but he did it in a positive way. Everybody warmed up to him. He was just a likable guy.”
Mangino also liked the prospect’s confidence.
“I went over introduce myself to him,” Mangino said. “He said, ‘How are you doing, coach? Excuse me, I have to take another rep here.’ It wasn’t like it was a big deal. We thought a lot of him at the camp. He just figured, ‘If these guys like me fine, if not I will get in the car and go to the next camp and see what they think.’ I really took a liking to him. … When I got back to Lawrence I had my secretary get a letter out and offered him a scholarship to Kansas. There was just something about him.”
Mangino wasn’t the only coach who noticed. Missouri and Purdue, which would have been Barmann’s next stop on the summer-camp tour, also offered scholarships.
They were too late.
KU assistant coach Brandon Blaney had been making recruiting calls to Barmann, who also had an opportunity to meet offensive coordinator Nick Quartaro. The recruit was convinced he would thrive in KU’s passing offense.
“He liked the system, and he didn’t want to go anywhere else,” Mike Barmann said. “I think that system is going to suit him pretty well.”
Barmann’s freshman season wasn’t supposed to go this way. He was supposed to sit out, learn the system, get stronger and compete for playing time during spring drills. But senior starter Bill Whittemore’s season was interrupted by an injury Oct. 25 at Kansas State, and backups Brian Luke and John Nielsen failed to move the ball in a 42-6 loss.
Mangino asked Barmann to give up his red-shirt season, and the quarterback responded with 294 yards passing and four touchdowns and a TD run last week in a 45-33 loss at Texas A&M.
Barmann — who wasn’t allowed to speak to the media this week — exceeded most people’s expectations.
“I thought he would make some magnificent plays and have some real critical breakdowns in the mental aspect of the game because of his lack of experience,” Mangino said. “He didn’t, and it is amazing. I asked Nick Quartaro if he could believe this. He was checking our offense into the right play. He looked at the defense and saw it was not the play to be in, and he audibilized down like he has been doing it for years. I was amazed on the sideline.”
Even Barmann’s father was stunned by his son’s 25-of-37 performance. He was 12-of-13 for 146 yards in the first half alone, and the only incompletion was a dropped pass.
“I was a little surprised with his accuracy,” Mike Barmann said. “He hadn’t played a game in more than a year. As for composure, he’s always been like that. He’s been in state championship games in football, basketball and baseball.”
The freshman’s poise in front of 68,487 fans impressed his teammates.
“I didn’t see any nerves,” said junior center Joe Vaughn. “He was calm the whole game. He kept us calm in the huddle. It was just like practice. People are going to expect a lot more out of him because he had a good performance, but I have no doubt Adam will keep playing better.”
It helped that Barmann had seen Kyle Field before when he attended the aforementioned Nike camp.
“He got to see how big that stadium is,” Mike Barmann said. “He could close his eyes and visualize it. Of course, when you get 68,000 people in it it’s a little different. At least it wasn’t a total shock.”
A capacity crowd is expected today when KU (5-4 overall, 2-3 Big 12) meets Nebraska (7-2, 3-2) and the nation’s seventh-ranked defense.
“Everybody expects great things from him,” Mangino said. “He expects great things from himself. I think he will continue to play well. I don’t know what type of performance he will put out week after week, but I am not going to sell him short.”
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