Olathe native Julian “Juju” Marks announced his commitment to play football at Kansas on Sunday afternoon, kicking off what figures to be a busy month of visits and acquisitions for KU as Lance Leipold and his staff shape their 2025 recruiting class.
Marks, a 6-foot-8, 275-pound offensive tackle who has previously attended Saint Thomas Aquinas and will play his senior year at Olathe South, is the first four-star freshman, as assessed by Rivals, in the Jayhawks’ 2025 class. He had an official visit in Lawrence over the weekend.
Marks had a variety of highly touted offers — his top eight schools, released on April 21, included Alabama, Missouri, Ole Miss, Oregon, Tennessee, USC and Wisconsin alongside KU — but he had previously told Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant.com he was planning to visit UCF and USC after KU, and that he intended to commit on June 30.
The Jayhawks will be the final pick for Marks, who is now KU’s fifth 2025 commitment after quarterback David McComb, linebacker Malachi Curvey, offensive lineman Anderson Kopp and running back John Kelly.
Rivals ranks Marks as the No. 5 player in the state of Kansas and No. 21 at his position overall.
The KU staff continues to stockpile offensive linemen after adding David Abajian, Kene Anene, Carter Lavrusky and Harrison Utley in 2024. Several more are expected to visit over the course of June.
