Snagging the state’s top prospects is the aspiration of every sport at every college in the United States.
Kansas University’s football program took another step toward such a goal for 2006.
Rivals.com reported Thursday that Shawnee Mission West quarterback Tyler Lawrence gave the Jayhawks his non-binding oral commitment after workouts at two different KU football camps this month convinced the Jayhawk coaches to offer a scholarship.
“I got familiar with their coaches,” Lawrence told rivals. “They saw something in me they liked.”
Lawrence, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound left-hander, will be a senior for the Vikings this fall. In 2004, SM West experienced a dramatic turnaround, reaching the Class 6A state semifinals and finishing with a 9-3 record, one year after going 2-7.
With Lawrence’s pledge, KU now has five known commitments for 2006. At this time last year, it had one — offensive lineman Jose Rodriguez from La Puente, Calif.
¢ Team GPA: KU’s football team garnered a 2.59 team grade-point average for the spring semester, much to the delight of KU coach Mark Mangino.
“Our mission here is to build a football program and work hard for success in the classroom,” Mangino said. “Our players have responded.”
The rain, rain won’t go away. So the Great Plains Shootout will have to.
The annual 7-on-7 football camp at Kansas University was slated for today, but was wiped out because of Friday’s rain and the forecast for more.
Approximately 570 players had been expected to attend. No make-up date has been announced.
The camp brings in high school teams from all over the Midwest and was the second scheduled. A satellite camp Wednesday in Wichita attracted 125 players.
Despite that postponement, today still will be hectic around the KU football program. A one-day lineman camp will take place as planned, with about 150 participants expected. If the weather is miserable, the camp will be moved indoors.
Two incoming freshmen, Caleb Blakesley and Adam Welty, did well enough at last year’s camp to receive early scholarship offers. Both committed later in the summer.
The KU football camps will continue Friday with a satellite camp in Coffeyville. A kicking camp next weekend and an overnight skills camp will take place June 12-15, both on the KU campus.
Disarray in Dallas: A south Dallas school district is going through some catastrophic times – and two KU recruits are caught in the middle.
Plagued with severe financial woes, the Wilmer-Hutchins school district last month was ordered to cut 40 percent of its budget, which could mean that the athletic programs at Wilmer-Hutchins High will be eliminated – if the school district isn’t consolidated or dissolved first.
Two 2006 KU recruits – wide receiver Xavier Rambo and cornerback Anthony Webb – are Wilmer-Hutchins seniors. If money can’t be raised to salvage athletics, the two players might have to look elsewhere to play football their senior year.
“We haven’t really thought about that,” Rambo said. “There’s still a lot of hope here.”
Rambo said new KU assistant Tim Beck had consoled them during the confusing time and assured both that their offers from KU would stand.
“He told me to keep my head up,” Rambo said. “He said everything will be OK.”
Mangino on replay: The Big 12 Conference last week approved instant replay on an experimental basis in 2005, much to the delight of Mangino.
“The way it’s set up, I’m very comfortable with it,” Mangino said. “The Big 12 Conference will continue to find ways to improve it. They’ll tweak it if they have to.”
Strength of schedule:CBSSportsLine.com put together a formula for determining preseason schedule strength for all 119 teams in Division I-A.
Kansas came in high, with the 21st-toughest 2005 schedule in the nation. The Big 12 slate, with games away from Lawrence against Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, Colorado and Kansas State, is the reason why.
KU tied with Oklahoma State and Texas A&M for the second-toughest schedule in the Big 12. Baylor was first in the conference and 19th overall.
ACC schools North Carolina and Georgia Tech tied for the toughest schedules in the nation.
Despite the naysaying scouts, former KU quarterback has signed a free agent deal with the New York Jets.
Whoever invented the stereotype of the dumb jock has never met former Kansas University football player Travis Watkins. For all of the success that the 295-pound defensive tackle has had on the football field, he’s having more success in the poetry world. Watkins has won several national poetry awards.
The defense dominated as the White and Blue squads combined for six interceptions during Saturday’s spring game at Memorial Stadium.
