Although the outcome left the Memorial Stadium bleachers nearly empty and 23 seniors on the verge of tears, it appears that Saturday’s 51-23 loss to Iowa State was not a total loss for the Kansas University football program.
Rivals site JayhawkSlant.com is reporting that two junior college prospects committed to the Jayhawks following Saturday’s loss to the Cyclones.
Samson Faifili, a linebacker at American River juco, orally committed to the Jayhawks immediately after the loss.
During his first two juco seasons Faifili registered 110 tackles, including 14 for loss and 12 sacks. It sounds as if the opportunity to be a part of KU’s ongoing rebuilding project appealed to the 5-foot-11, 240-pound inside linebacker.
“Coach Weis told me before I committed that it is easy for a recruit to jump on a train that’s already going” Faifili told the web site. “But it takes a strong person to go somewhere to help build something. I want to go in and help build a team and hopefully lead them to Big 12 championships.”
Faifili had offers from Charlotte, Hawaii, Iowa State, Nevada and Oregon State. He cancelled his upcoming visit to Iowa State and said his commitment is solid and his trips are finished.
Not long after learning of Faifili’s commitment, JayhawkSlant reported that Mark Thomas, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound wide receiver from Nassau Community College in New York (former school of KU lineman Aslam Sterling) also had orally committed to Kansas.
Thomas was being pursued by West Virginia, UConn, Purdue and Arizona State, but said his bond with KU receivers coach Rob Ianello and the pieces in place at KU made his decision easy.
“I think the future is good and I believe Jake Heaps is going to be a very good quarterback,” Thomas told JayhawkSlant’s Jon Kirby. “He set all kinds of records at BYU. The history that Charlie Weis has also speaks a lot about the future. I think if we get the right players we can open up the offense. I liked a lot of people I met. I felt at home.”
The addition of Faifili and Thomas brings KU’s commitment list in the Class of 2013 to 13. Both players made official visits to KU over the weekend.
Weis said last week that KU was in position to sign as many as 27 players in the class.
