Another day brought another defensive back commitment for the Kansas University football program, which learned Friday that Matthew Boateng, a 6-foot, 180-pound cornerback from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., had orally committed to KU.
Boateng, a three-star prospect originally from Canada, made the news public via Twitter, saying simply, “Just committed to the University of Kansas.”
KU recruiting coordinator Rob Ianello was one of the first coaches to discover Boateng and that early interest appears to have paid off for the Jayhawks. Boateng chose Kansas over offers from Indiana, Marshall, Villanova and Wake Forest. He said as recently as November, following his official visit to Kansas during the weekend of KU’s victory over West Virginia, that Baylor, Florida State, Mississippi and Toledo also were showing serious interest.
As KU coach Charlie Weis has touted often, the layout of KU’s dorms, workout facility, training table and academic support offices was a hit with Boateng.
“One of my favorite things about the campus was how close and convenient everything was,” Boateng told JayhawkSlant.com’s Jon Kirby in November. “I like how the training facilities are close to the academic facilities. Another thing that I love was the dorms. They were more like apartments and living conditions were really comfortable. They were nice.”
Boateng also told Kirby he liked the way KU’s cornerbacks played.
“The way they use their cornerbacks matches my preferred style of play,” he said. “I like that style, which is press man, allowing me to get physical with the receiver.”
Boateng becomes the 14th member of KU’s current recruiting class, which Weis said on Thursday could include up to 26 signees. Boateng will be eligible to sign a letter of intent on Feb. 5. He is the fourth defensive back in the class, joining Ronnie Davis and Anthony Smithson, who signed this week as mid-year transfers, and Free State High product Joe Dineen.
Heeney, Sims honored
College football analyst Phil Steele honored a pair of Jayhawks on his all-Big 12 teams this week. Junior linebacker Ben Heeney earned a first-team nod and senior running back James Sims landed on Steele’s second-team.
Heeney, tapped as an All-Big 12 Second Team selection by the Associated Press, the conference coaches, Athlon, San Antonio Express-News and Waco Tribune-Herald, was fourth in the conference with 8.7 tackles per game and ranked fifth with 1.15 tackles-for-loss per game. He reached double figures in tackles in six of 10 games, including four Big 12 contests.
Sims was the Big 12’s leading rusher in conference games at 92.1 yards per contest and finished the 2013 campaign with a league-best 1,110 rushing yards. That mark made Sims the first player in Kansas history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. Sims rushed for at least 70 yards in nine of 12 games this season, including a career-best 211 yards and three touchdowns in KU’s win over West Virginia.
