Juco offensive lineman Ngalu Fusimalohi picks Kansas

By Matt Tait     Nov 20, 2012

It’s been a fruitful week for the Kansas University football program, which picked up three oral commitments from junior-college prospects in the span of two days.

The most recent pledge came from Ngalu Fusimalohi, an offensive guard at City College of San Francisco, and brought the number of known commitments in KU’s current recruiting class to 14.

Two days earlier, KU coach Charlie Weis and company picked up commitments from junior-college linebacker Samson Faifili and juco wide receiver Mark Thomas. Although Weis cannot comment on specific players, he can talk about the process in general terms and he recently said his second round of recruiting to Kansas has gone much smoother than the first.

“We are worlds ahead of where we were last year,” said Weis, who did not begin recruiting to KU last year until a month before national signing day.

Weis’ latest pick-up comes from the same school that produced KU quarterback Turner Baty, who hosted Fusimalohi on his recent visit less than a year after the two led the Rams to a national championship.

“He told me a lot about the program,” Fusimalohi told JayhawkSlant.com’s Jon Kirby. “They have a lot of loyal fans and have good support. I met a lot of the players. Turner likes it there. I want to help turn it around. They have good coaches and they are just missing a few, key pieces to the puzzle. They have what it takes to turn it around.”

KU tight ends coach Jeff Blasko was the lead recruiter for the 6-foot-3, 300-pound guard who chose KU over Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon State, San Diego State and Western Michigan. Weis and offensive line coach Tim Grunhard also played a big role in landing the lineman.

“I spent a lot of time around them during my visit,” Fusimalohi told Kirby. “I see a lot of potential at Kansas and a lot if it is because their coaching staff. Coach Blasko did a good job recruiting me and I think I can learn a lot under coach Grunhard.”

Fusimalohi becomes the second offensive lineman (Louisville senior Joey Bloomfield) in KU’s current class. Of KU’s 14 commitments, seven are from the junior-college ranks, a place Weis has not been shy about looking for talent.

“I totally believe you need both high school and junior college kids,” Weis said. “With junior college kids, they are there for a reason. It wasn’t because they wanted to go to junior college. So you have to do a lot of due diligence. It can’t just be whether a guy can play. You have to make sure when you bring them in you feel confident not only will he buy into the program, you want to make sure he will walk out of here in a couple years with a degree from the University of Kansas.”

Weis said last week that the Jayhawks were in position to sign as many as 27 players in the class, which will become official on national signing day Feb. 6.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.