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The third practice of Kansas football's 2015 preseason camp featured all kinds of memorable plays and strong efforts from players on the current KU roster.
It also featured a glimpse into the future.
In town on a visit with his father, three-star Houston linebacker Maciah Long orally committed to join the Jayhawks.
Long, who ranks as the 30th best inside linebacker in the 2016 class and the 93rd best player in Texas, according to Rivals.com, picked Kansas over offers from several big time programs, including Ohio State, Missouri and UCLA.
He is arguably the biggest pick up in the 2016 recruiting class so far for KU coach David Beaty and company.
Long, 6-foot-3, 234 pounds, credited KU defensive line coach Calvin Thibodeaux for selling him on Kansas but also said linebackers coach Kevin Kane and Beaty played key roles.
"He did an outstanding job recruiting me and he kept it real," said Long of Thibodeaux in an interview with Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant.com. "He sent me videos about KU and told me a lot about the program. He's good at his job. We have a good relationship and we talk a lot throughout the week. How he recruited me and what he did, had a big impact on my decision. He worked hard at it and that didn't go unnoticed."
In addition to loving the campus, the coaches and the fit, Long said one of the reasons he felt compelled to commit to Kansas on the spot was because of what he saw at practice.
"I liked the intensity," he told Kirby. "They've got some great players who are working hard and that had an impact on my visit."
Also in attendance at Saturday's practice was four-star Lawrence High standout Amani Bledsoe, who recently listed KU as one of his 10 finalists.
Comments
Dirk Medema 6 years, 11 months ago
Great pick-up!
Len Shaffer 6 years, 11 months ago
Excellent! Great to get some good news about the program, for a change.
Joe Ross 6 years, 11 months ago
This is awesome news
Paul Richardson 6 years, 11 months ago
Never see this kid at KU....happens all the time. Football is not like basketball where kids stick too their word......just let me know when they sign
Glen Miller 6 years, 11 months ago
It does happen, you're right..... but I can see a different attitude and different opinion of our team under coach Beaty in the eyes of our players and the eyes of the recruits. I don't think this was just lip service by this kid. He pointed out work ethic and overall team attitude as key points. He also saw a high ranking recruit on campus and I'm sure they talked..... maybe Bledsoe had good things to say and let him know that KU was a definite possibility. Don't underestimate these kids and their recruiting prowess. If Bledsoe can talk some guys into coming here, he may be right behind them, never know!
Doug Cramer 6 years, 11 months ago
Progress.....Sawin Wood
Aaron Paisley 6 years, 11 months ago
This is probably the best player Beaty has landed so far, but I'm going to get overly excited about him yet because there's still a long time until signing day and he's got a couple of pretty high profile offers and interest from some other pretty high profile programs.
Jonathan Allison 6 years, 11 months ago
I agree. The key is keeping kids like this committed to KU in the midst of a losing season when schools like Ohio State, Texas A&M, LSU, and Texas are gonna be calling him every week telling him to come to their school, be on TV every week, and win.
Humpy Helsel 6 years, 11 months ago
It's a start...and you have to start somewhere. Look, if he doesn't ever make it, there was still something their selling that is getting some attention where there hasn't been any there before. At least not for a long time. His connections in Texas are getting us looks.
Jim Stauffer 6 years, 11 months ago
Yeah, he could go to Ohio State, red shirt and then play some when he is a junior. He knows he can begin his playing career here next year. And he can play for coaches he really wants to play for.
Taylor Wright 6 years, 11 months ago
Great news, but we need about ten more of those with a couple of 4 stars lol
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