And then there was one.
A couple of years ago, Kansas University’s football roster featured seven players from Killeen, Texas. Now, however, David McMillan is the lone ranger.
“I’m the last guy standing,” said McMillan, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound junior defensive end.
A couple of the players on the Killeen pipeline — notably tailback David Winbush — made significant contributions as Jayhawks. Others showed promise — Reggie Duncan, Carl Ivey and Johnny McCoy were starters, for example — but left the KU program before their eligibility expired.
“It’s funny I’m the only one left,” McMillan said, “because the main reason I came here is because I knew a lot of them.”
McCoy, who left after the 2002 season and is now a starting cornerback for Division I-AA Texas State (formerly Southwest Texas State), was one of McMillan’s best friends and a person who played a large role in McMillan’s decision to sign with the Jayhawks.
“I was tired of Texas,” McMillan said, reflecting on the recruiting process. “McCoy said he was going to Kansas, so I said I’d go, too.”
Darrell Wyatt was responsible for the Killeen conduit. A Killeen native, Wyatt was assistant head coach under Terry Allen for a couple of seasons. Today Wyatt is on the staff of No. 1-ranked Oklahoma.
Like many members of the disbanded Kansas Killeen klatch, McMillan is an Army brat. Fort Hood, one of the country’s largest Army bases, is adjacent to Killeen. McMillan, whose father was in the tank corps, has lived in Florida, Georgia and Germany.
In fact, as a fourth-year junior, McMillan has lived in Lawrence as long as he has lived anywhere.
“I lived in Killeen for four years and Georgia for four years,” McMillan said with a smile, “so next year here will be my record.”
McMillan is regarded as the best player on the Jayhawks’ state-of-flux defensive line. Defensive coordinator Bill Young calls the rangy end “outstanding,” in large part because of his penchant for making big plays.
In the season opener against Northwestern, McMillan returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown. And in the Wyoming game, he picked up a fumble and carried it 57 yards into the end zone. McMillan also has four tackles for losses, including three sacks, and leads the Jayhawks in quarterback hurries with four.
In his first year as a starter in 2002, McMillan led the down linemen in tackles for losses and had a team-high 12 quarterback hurries. He also intercepted a pass against Nebraska and was credited with three pass break-ups. He has also been durable. At Texas A&M, he’ll be making his 21st consecutive start. As a red-shirt freshman in 2001, McMillan was a reserve defensive end.
“It’s been exciting,” McMillan says about his tenure on the KU defensive line. “It has its good points and its bad points. I think I’m more assignment-sound now because some teams don’t even run the ball my way anymore.”
Because of his nomadic background, McMillan’s trip to Texas this weekend won’t really be a homecoming. An uncle will be there and so will a couple of friends from Killeen, but his dad is now retired from the Army and lives in Georgia so he won’t be there.
In truth, Lawrence is McMillan’s home now and, even though his buddies from Killeen are gone, he’s been here long enough to establish new relationships.
“Yeah, I made new friends,” he said, smiling. “I had no choice.”
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