Kansas University football fans can relax — Miami Edison High linebacker Brouce Mompremier confirmed his oral commitment to KU Tuesday night.
Mompremier, who rivals.com rates the nation’s No. 13 prospect at outside linebacker, made an oral commitment to South Florida, but Sunday the 6-foot, 210-pounder switched his commitment to KU during a campus visit.
Mompremier was unavailable for comment that night, but several recruits who were on campus during the weekend told rivals.com of the switch. The situation was clouded, however, when Mompremier’s brother, Emmanuel, told the Tampa Tribune in Monday’s editions he thought the prospect still would go to USF.
Not so, Brouce Mompremier said.
So why the switch?
“Kansas is in the Big 12,” he said, “and Lawrence is a good town.”
Mompremier also had scholarship offers from Florida State, LSU, North Carolina State and Tennessee, according to rivals.com.
“He’s so active,” recruiting analyst Jon Kirby said. “He’s always around the ball. He might be a little undersized, but he’s quick, and he’s got a little bit of a mean streak.”
Just as his non-binding oral commitment to South Florida didn’t stop Kansas from recruiting him, Mompremier knows his pledge to KU won’t stop USF and others from calling before the Feb. 4 signing date.
“If a school wants you, they’re not going to give up,” he said. “It’s all part of recruiting. I can’t wait to get it over with.”
Mompremier said he already had earned a qualifying score on the ACT.
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Tui rumor refuted: Defensive tackle Phil Tuihalamaka — who struggled because of injuries and played in only one game — was the source of numerous transfer rumors last season.
Yet another rumor started last week when the second semester began, but the KU Registrar’s Office said Tuesday the Riverside, Calif., junior was enrolled.
That hasn’t stopped the rumors from reaching other schools who would be interested in the big man’s services.
San Bernardino Valley College interim coach Ken Blumenthal said he had been contacted by an NCAA Division I-AA school, which he declined to name, that wanted the junior college to send film of Tuihalamaka.
Blumenthal never sent the film, however, because he talked to Tuihalamaka when the tackle visited campus during winter break.
“He told me he’s going back to Kansas, and he likes it there,” Blumenthal said. “Everything is fine at Kansas. What he said is, ‘Why would I want to go anywhere else?'”
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Holding a grudge: Offensive lineman Tyler Ribitzki (6-5, 285) of Burleson, Texas, made a campus visit to KU last month and reportedly had a scholarship offer at the time. But by the time Ribitzki was ready to commit, KU already had met its needs on the offensive line and no longer had a spot for the Texan.
Ribitzki, who also had offers from Arkansas State and Louisiana-Monroe, committed to Texas-El Paso. But he’s still miffed at KU.
“I kind of wish we’d play (Kansas) in a game now while I’m at UTEP,” Ribitzki told the El Paso Times. “I’d try and hurt them.”
