The day before the Kansas football team’s second road game of the season, head coach David Beaty and his assistants received some good news on the recruiting front.
Najee Stevens-McKenzie, a defensive end at ASA College (N.Y.), told Jon Kirby of Jayhawk Slant Friday he called Beaty, en route to Ames, Iowa, to inform the third-year coach of his decision to commit to Kansas.
A three-star junior college prospect in the Class of 2018, Stevens-McKenzie played his first year of college football in the Sunflower State, at Fort Scott Community College.
Originally from Bedford, Ohio, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound defensive lineman told Jayhawk Slant KU’s current D-line coach, Jesse Williams, recruited him out of high school when Williams worked at Ohio.
The past several months, though, Kansas linebackers coach Todd Bradford led Stevens-McKenzie’s recruitment.
According to Jayhawk Slant, KU was one of the first programs to offer Stevens-McKenzie a scholarship, back in January.
“I think the decision was always made in the back of my mind. I was just waiting to do it,” Stevens-McKenzie told Jayhawk Slant. “Kansas has always been a special place in my heart from when I was there at my Fort Scott days. The opportunity to come back and be united with some of my friends and some of the people that I call family, and have a support system like the coaching staff it just felt right. It felt like the perfect place for me.”
According to Rivals, Stevens-McKenzie also had offers from Iowa State, Maryland, Missouri and other programs. The D-end prospect is expected to graduate from ASA College in December and enroll at Kansas for the spring 2018 semester.
Stevens-McKenzie’s pledge brings the current number of 2018 KU commitments to 11. He is the fifth defensive lineman in the class, which is headlined by five-star New Orleans receiver Devonta Jason and his Landry-Walker High teammate, four-star cornerback Corione Harris.
