After losing a pair of linemen to the transfer portal, Kansas has now added two new players to the position group.
KU earned the commitment of Iowa State transfer guard Darrell Simmons Jr., Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant.com reported Sunday.
Simmons’ commitment follows that of Tiffin transfer Shane Bumgardner, who pledged to join the Jayhawks Tuesday. Bumgardner could slot in as KU’s new center, while Simmons will compete with the likes of Michael Ford Jr. and Kobe Baynes for playing time on the interior line.
Simmons is also the second Iowa State transfer to join KU this cycle, after tight end DeShawn Hanika. Simmons told Kirby he spoke to Hanika last week, and then went on a visit to Lawrence over the weekend on which he interacted with coaches Lance Leipold, Jeff Grimes and Scott Fuchs and was hosted by running back Devin Neal.
“I asked (Neal) what really changed throughout his career and how did they flip that around to get nine wins last season,” Simmons told Kirby. “He had high praise for Coach Leipold and Coach (Matt Gildersleeve), the strength coach. He just told me about how they came in and really set a good culture for everybody and everybody just followed along and worked hard.”
Simmons started 35 games for ISU between 2020 and 2022 before playing a reduced role in 2023, as he got just 141 offensive snaps, per Pro Football Focus. Simmons helped open holes for running back Breece Hall early in his career and The Athletic named him a second-team freshman All-American in 2020.
His best season according to PFF was 2022, when he earned a grade of 64.6; that would have put him below Ford this year (73.9) but above Baynes (63.6) and Ar’maj Reed-Adams (61.7). In his sparse 2023 playing time, though, Simmons graded out at 60.6.
The 6-foot-3, 320-pound native of Belleville, Illinois, should have one year of eligibility remaining, since he redshirted in 2019, was a freshman in 2020 and will come to KU as a sixth-year senior.
Simmons said Fuchs, the offensive line coach, told him he “would fit well in the offense with JD (Jalon Daniels) coming back and Devin Neal in the backfield,” per JayhawkSlant.
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
