Nick KrugEarlier this summer, Kansas football coach David Beaty became an instant hit in the college football Twitterverse when Class of 2017 recruit Reggie Roberson posted a video of Beaty riding around on a so-called hoverboard, while asking the Texas receiver whether other coaches could match Beaty’s balancing and navigation skills.
As of this week, Beaty and the rest of his staff have more ways to win over potential players via social media.
A change in the NCAA’s recruiting bylaws went into effect on Monday, allowing coaches to like and/or retweet Twitter posts from prospective players. College coaches also received permission for social media interactions — think clicking like to their hearts’ desire — with recruits on Facebook and Instagram.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Beaty (@beaty_david) had neither retweeted nor liked any offerings from KU recruits — not even Roberson’s video.
https://twitter.com/King_Reggiee/status/746495412358414336
Meanwhile, KU running backs coach Tony Hull didn’t waste any time taking advantage of the new rules. Class of 2017 running back Travis Etienne, who hails from Hull’s home state of Louisiana, announced Monday via Twitter he had de-committed from Texas A&M in order to reopen his recruitment. Hull was one of more than 250 users to hit the like button next to Etienne’s news.
KU hasn’t showed up in the Associated Press weekly Top 25 since 2009. Still, the Jayhawks made an appearance in the AP’s all-time top 100, unveiled on Tuesday.
In order to come up with an all-time Top 25 (and 75 more for good measure), the AP awarded one point for every poll appearance, one point for a No. 1 ranking and 10 points for winning the AP’s national championship, by ending the season at No. 1.
Kansas, which topped out with a program-best No. 2 ranking in November of 2007, checked in at No. 63 on the list, with 108 points.
Current and former Big 12 teams, predictably, performed quite well in the historical rankings. No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 6 Nebraska, No. 8 Texas and No. 18 Texas A&M all cracked the top 25.
No. 27 Colorado just missed the upper echelon, while No. 33 West Virginia, No. 35 Missouri, No. 39 TCU, No. 43 Oklahoma State, No. 44 Kansas State, No. 47 Baylor, and No. 58 Texas Tech finished ahead of Kansas.
The Jayhawks, though, have outperformed No. 83 Iowa State in the rankings through the years.
Ohio State took the No. 1 spot, beating out Oklahoma by 57 points.
View the complete top 100 at collegefootball.ap.org/top-100.
Former Arkansas running back Denzell Evans has arrived in Lawrence, the new Jayhawk confirmed to the Journal-World.
A three-star Class of 2013 recruit from Bellaire, Texas, Evans red-shirted upon arriving at Arkansas, then played sparingly each of the past two seasons.
Evans completed his undergraduate coursework this summer, in order to become an eligible graduate transfer at KU. Though the junior running back has yet to show up on KU’s official roster, it should be just a matter of time.
Today marks the unofficial start of the preseason, as players report back to Anderson Football Complex, following a brief break at the end of summer strength and conditioning.
The Jayhawks’ first of 23 scheduled August practices is Thursday evening.
On Saturday, Aug. 20, Kansas will welcome its supporters to an open practice for Fan Appreciation Day at Memorial Stadium, set to begin at 10 a.m.
KU opens its second season under Beaty on Sept. 3, at home against Rhode Island.
