Averie Beaty cheers for Free State High athletes. It’s time for everyone emotionally invested in Kansas football to put her on the other end of a cheer.
If not for David and Raynee’s older of two daughters drawing KU’s head football coach to Free State games on Friday nights, Bryce Torneden would be a running back at North Dakota State, not a nickelback at Kansas. Beaty was allowed to attend games without NCAA restrictions applying because of his daughter’s status as a member of the cheer squad.
Beaty liked what he saw then and now. The muscle-bound Torneden has stood out in camp to the point that Beaty said Friday that he “definitely” will play in this his true freshman season.
The lone high school recruit from the state of Kansas in KU’s 2016 recruiting class, Torneden ran for 11 touchdowns, threw for 12, produced 2,452 yards in offense and earned all-state honors at defensive back for the Firebirds last season.
Keeping the best talent in the state at home remains a tough challenge for Kansas.
The top four recruits in the state, per Rivals’ rankings, chose Oklahoma (Amani Beldsoe of Lawrence High), Clemson (Wichita East’s Xavier Kelly and Olathe North’s Isaiah Simmons) and Wisconsin (Isaiahh Loudermilk).
Torneden, ranked ninth, didn’t receive an offer from Kansas until late.
“Each week he’d make plays on both sides, over and over and over again,” Beaty said. “Then we’d watch film on people across the country. The more I watched guys from California, guys from Florida, guys from Texas, guys from Michigan, the more I realized, ‘They’re not better than Bryce. They’re not. These guys are not as good as him, so what are we doing?’ That’s one of the values of getting to evaluate a guy in person. You get to see more than what maybe you see on tape.”
Although not as good as his father Charley or brother Charley, KU defensive coordinator Clint Bowen was a standout at Lawrence High. He did not receive a scholarship from KU out of high school, went to Butler County Community College for a year, transferred to Kansas and in his final season led the Jayhawks in tackles. He knows what it’s like to have production taken for granted as a local boy.
“It’s kind of funny,” Bowen said. “I’ve been watching Bryce Torneden since he was playing Pop Warner football out at YSI. You’ve known them so long and it kind of blinds you to how good they are. You’ve seen them all the time, you know everything about them and sometimes you nitpick at them a little too much.”
Exposure can work in favor of an athlete until it works against him.
“You end up taking this other kid and all you’ve seen is his highlight tape and one good game and you think he’s great,” Bowen said. “Bryce, to me, he proved for two years at Free State he was going to make plays every game, show up every game, lead his team every game. I think sooner or later, coach Beaty saw the same thing going to his games and realized, ‘You know what, this kid’s pretty special and he’s sitting right here and he’s a guy we need.'”
Bowen said Torneden, listed at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, repeatedly has shown, “great instincts,” in practice to go with strong work habits.
“Maybe one of the hardest workers on this team,” Beaty said. “He came in in as good a shape as anybody on this team, and that’s not normal for a high school guy. He’s going to play this year, definitely going to play.”
That will sell a few extra tickets for a program that will have trouble drawing until it starts winning.