These days, it’s hard to imagine Todd Reesing as anything besides Kansas University’s starting quarterback. Saturday afternoons in the fall, top 25 rankings and bowls of oranges have pretty much become synonymous with the 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior.
There was a time, however, not so long ago, when the idea of Reesing suiting up for cross-state rival Kansas State was considered a distinct possibility.
In fact, if not for a pit stop in Lawrence four years ago, the best quarterback in Kansas history might have been playing a much different role in the Jayhawks’ 11:30 a.m. matchup with the visiting Wildcats on Saturday.
Following his junior year of high school, Reesing and his father, Steve, decided to make a trip from their Lake Travis, Texas, home to Kansas – the purpose of the journey being a football camp at Kansas State University in Manhattan. At the time, the Wildcats were one of only three Division-I schools showing significant interest in Reesing. Already, he had spoken with then-coach Bill Snyder on the phone, and although he had yet to commit to a school, Reesing possessed great respect for what Snyder had done in his tenure at the school.
But on his way out of town following the camp, he stopped for a visit at neighboring Kansas University, where for the first time he met with head coach Mark Mangino. Earlier in the year, a highlight video from Reesing’s junior year of high school had made its way to the coach, and, with the exception of the quarterback’s noticeable lack of size, Mangino had liked what he’d seen.
Reesing and his father were invited into Mangino’s office, where the three exchanged small talk and simultaneously sized each other up. Mangino liked that Reesing looked him in the eye. Reesing liked that the coach didn’t need to see him throw live passes to know he could play the game.
After their meeting, Reesing left for a tour of the campus, while Mangino and his staff discussed their impressions of the pint-sized signal-caller.
“I remember exactly what I said,” Mangino said. “I said ‘He’s small … but I like him. And I want to offer him a scholarship.'”
He did, and a couple weeks later, after Reesing had returned to Lake Travis, Tex., to prepare for his senior season, the quarterback let Mangino know that he’d be attending Kansas – although, as he pointed out Tuesday, his decision had been made within a couple days of his stop in Lawrence.
“It didn’t take a lot of convincing for (Mangino) to believe that I had a chance to play,” said Reesing, who received scholarship offers from Kansas, Kansas State and Duke. ” … I didn’t have to come and throw the ball in front of him or do this and that. He saw the tape, he saw a guy who could make plays and that’s what he liked. And that was enough for him, and that was enough for me.”
In the years since, things could not have worked out much better for Reesing. As a sophomore last year, he led the Jayhawks to a 12-1 record and Orange Bowl championship in his first full season as a starter. This season, despite a two-game losing streak heading into Saturday’s game against the Wildcats, he has played nearly as well, throwing for 2,468 yards and 19 touchdowns – compared to just eight interceptions – while being named one of 13 semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien Award, given annually to the nation’s best quarterback.
On Tuesday, Reesing wasn’t exactly willing to discuss his recruitment by Kansas State (“You’re just trying to bait me into saying something that will give them some bulletin board material,” he told a group of reporters. “So I have a lot of respect for their program, and that’s about all I’m going to say.”), but he did acknowledge that, as a child, the idea of attending college in the state of Kansas was unfathomable.
“It was interesting, because it was the first time I had ever been in Kansas and it was to look at both of the schools that were in Kansas,” said Reesing. “I never thought that I’d end up going to school in Kansas growing up.”
Of course, as he later added, “it’s working out pretty well.”