Just as the Jayhawks’ new leader got to campus a few weeks ago, many of the players were wrapping up spring semester finals and headed out of town. So — for now at least — Leipold is waiting to make any judgments about the roster he inherited.

“I really can’t say,” KU’s head coach replied recently, when asked what he likes about the team. “I got about 15 minutes with each guy to be honest with you.”

Leipold’s brief one-on-one meetings were the starting line for the program’s latest coaching transition. Since then, as players left Lawrence to return to their hometowns for a little while, Leipold said KU’s assistants have continued to stay in touch with the players, who will begin returning to campus this week for the upcoming summer schedule.

What Leipold has learned thus far about the Jayhawks, though, he likes.

“This group’s hungry and they want to be successful,” the coach said. “And there’s a lot of outstanding young talent.”

Although the regime change ended up costing the program a pair of projected starters on the defensive line, as Da’Jon Terry (Tennessee) and Marcus Harris (Auburn) left via the transfer portal, the transition hasn’t yet led to any other key players leaving.

The first KU team Leipold and his staff will lead onto a playing field this fall projects to include numerous returning starters, including cornerback Karon Prunty, safety and returner Kenny Logan Jr., linebackers Kyron Johnson and Gavin Potter, safeties Nate Betts and Ricky Thomas, nose tackle Sam Burt, defensive linemen Malcolm Lee and Caleb Sampson, running backs Velton Gardner and Daniel Hishaw Jr., receivers Kwamie Lassiter II and Luke Grimm, quarterbacks Jalon Daniels and Miles Kendrick, offensive linemen Malik Clark, Earl Bostick Jr., and Chris Hughes, and tight end Mason Fairchild.

“We’ve got a lot to get done here in a short amount of time when they get back here,” Leipold said.

The coach described that portion of the process as still evolving. While the KU staff will be busy in June, with the program hosting camps and coaches and recruits finally cleared to meet in person again, much of the players’ introduction to Leipold’s program and expectations will come through the strength and conditioning sessions led by Matt Gildersleeve, the team’s director of sports performance.

But there will be opportunities for Leipold — and KU’s new assistant coaches who worked for him at Buffalo — to get to know the players better, too.

“(We’re) looking forward to building those relationships in a more personal matter as we go,” Leipold said.