It appears the Val Taylor saga finally is over.
Taylor, who made an oral commitment to Kansas University, changed his mind Tuesday and now will attend Kansas State. National letter-of-intent signing day is in two weeks.
“Before the season started, Val was recruiting Kansas State,” said J.B. Wallace Jr., Taylor’s high school coach at Dallas South Oak Cliff High. “Val was sending back questionnaires and sending highlight tapes of some of his catches. This was long before he was recruited by KU or K-State.”
Taylor gave KU assistant coach Dave Doeren his nonbinding oral commitment after his official visit in December, backtracking on an earlier commitment to Texas-El Paso. But Kansas State entered the picture late, grabbing Taylor’s interest because he claimed he wanted to go there all along.
After visiting Manhattan last weekend, KU coaches pulled Taylor’s scholarship offer despite Taylor telling rivals.com Sunday that KU was “bluffing” when threatening to do so.
It left the 6-foot-1 wideout with no other options.
“I really like coach Doeren and his staff,” Wallace said. “(Taylor) changed his commitment twice, and I didn’t like that because it makes him seem like he’s real flaky.”
Taylor is the second wide receiver commitment Kansas has lost. Denver wideout Jarrell Yates changed to Colorado, saying he wanted to be closer to home.
Wallace said he had hoped Taylor would stick with KU, because the Jayhawks’ offense was more pass-happy than Kansas State’s. Last year, Kansas passed for 2,425 yards, while K-State threw for 1,957.
“I dang near told him, ‘You’re wasting your time,'” Wallace said. “‘You have a scholarship from a Big 12 school and a team that will throw the ball. This is it right here.'”
KU still has 15 known high school players planning to sign with the Jayhawks on Feb. 2, and six more junior-college players who signed in December as mid-year transfers. Of the 21, two are wide receivers — Brian Murph of Butler County Community College and Raimond Pendleton of Garland, Texas.
Wallace says he hopes KU holds no ill will toward Taylor or anyone who comes through South Oak Cliff. He said KU certainly didn’t do anything to fall out of Taylor’s favor.
“I think it was personal preference,” Wallace said. “Kansas State was where he wanted to go from day one.”
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Bennett visit: KU is receiving interest from one of the top high school athletes in the U.S.
Martellus Bennett, a 6-foot-7, 237-pound tight end, told Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com Tuesday that he planned to be in Lawrence today for KU’s men’s basketball game against Nebraska. Bennett is hoping to play football and basketball in college, and he’s definitely capable of playing either at a high level.
Along with being highly touted as a basketball talent, Bennett is the top-ranked football prospect in Texas, the top-ranked tight end prospect in the nation, and the seventh-best overall prospect in the nation for football, according to rivals. He had 38 points in one game this season.
If he were to choose KU, he’d be a scholarship player on the football team and a walk-on on coach Bill Self’s hoops squad.
“Martellus Bennett can put in the points and fight inside harder than most,” Justin Young of rivals.com said. “There is little doubt he’s one of the top hoops prospects in the country.”
