The Kansas football team completed its Desert Edge High trifecta Saturday evening when three-star edge rusher Deshawn Warner announced his long-awaited commitment to join the Jayhawks.
Kansas won a tight race with Oregon State, Texas and Washington for the services of the Goodyear, Arizona, native, who now becomes the third player from his high school to commit to KU for the class of 2024, thanks in large part to defensive backs coach Jordan Peterson’s recruiting in the area. Warner joins his teammates Jonathan Kamara, a linebacker, and Aundre Gibson, a cornerback and Warner’s cousin.
Together with 2025 cornerback Jamar Beal-Goines, who came along in an unofficial capacity, the trio visited Lawrence officially as a group last weekend, according to previous reporting from Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant.com. That was the final opportunity for official visits prior to the start of the ongoing “dead period” for recruiting.
“It was the culture and I could really feel how much they wanted me and needed me,” Warner told Adam Gorney of Rivals.com. “The coaches really loved me and there were moments where we weren’t doing anything about football and everybody was close, like a family, so that was one of the things that made me choose them.”
Warner is the first defensive lineman to join KU’s class of 2024. He had 53 tackles, including nine sacks, as a junior at Desert Edge in 2022.
“They want me to be an every-down defensive end who can win one-on-one reps,” Warner told Gorney. “My pass rush is going to be the biggest part of my game for sure as a stand-up defensive end.”
Besides his top four schools, he also had scholarship offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Oregon, Iowa State, Nebraska, Washington State and more.
Washington, for its part, had gotten a commitment from fellow Arizona edge rusher Noah Carter five days before Warner was slated to make his decision and another one from defensive end Dominic Kirks of Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday.
KU’s 2024 class now includes 14 athletes and counting. The Jayhawks have another big day coming up Friday when four-star wideout Nick Marsh from River Rouge, Michigan, picks between KU, Michigan State and Penn State.
