It appears Kansas University’s football recruiting class for 2012 grew by one over the weekend.
Jon Kirby, of JayhawkSlant.com, is reporting that Piscataway (N.J.) High running back Tevin Shaw has committed to the Jayhawks and will join the team this summer.
Shaw, a three-star running back who made his official visit to KU over the weekend, had been committed to Iowa but elected to look elsewhere when the Hawkeyes ran out of scholarships on signing day 12 days ago.
That led Shaw to Kansas, which had been recruiting the 5-foot-11, 190-pound all-state selection since mid-January. In addition to Iowa, the speedy power back had offers from Maryland, Penn State, South Carolina and Temple, among others.
Shaw, who has been clocked as fast as 4.42 seconds in the 40-yard dash, ran for 1,600 yards and 24 touchdowns during his senior season. His addition brings even more depth and talent to an already-crowded Kansas backfield.
In addition to Shaw and fellow-newcomer Taylor Cox, a junior-college transfer who signed with KU earlier this month, the Jayhawks figure to return two-year starter James Sims (727 yards, nine touchdowns) and young tailbacks Tony Pierson (396, three) and Brandon Bourbon (190, one).
Throughout his years in the NFL and at Notre Dame, KU coach Charlie Weis’ pro-style offense successfully accommodated multiple running backs. It will be interesting to track whether there will be playing time for all five guys next season or if one or two of them will red-shirt.
The addition of Shaw brings the total number in KU’s latest recruiting class to 21 players. However, because two of the three mid-year transfers added by Weis this offseason will be counted toward the Class of 2011, several spots remain. Weis said on signing day that many of those spots likely would be filled by more fifth-year transfers sometime in May.
