Kansas Athletics released as part of its game notes for KU’s upcoming game against Utah a list of 33 Jayhawks who will be going through senior-day festivities.
That serves as a signal — though does not necessarily require, in the case of players with remaining eligibility — that those players will be taking the field at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium for the final time.
The group consists of the following Jayhawks: quarterback Jalon Daniels; running backs Daniel Hishaw Jr. and Leshon Williams; wide receivers Doug Emilien, Emmanuel Henderson Jr., Mack Moeller and Levi Wentz; tight ends Boden Groen and DeShawn Hanika; offensive linemen Kobe Baynes, Enrique Cruz Jr., Kael Farkes, Bryce Foster, Nolan Gorczyca and Hank Kelly; defensive linemen Kenean Caldwell, Tommy Dunn Jr., Justice Finkley, Gage Keys, Dean Miller, Cole Petrus and D.J. Withers; linebackers Jayson Gilliom, Bangally Kamara and Cole Mondi; cornerback D.J. Graham II; safeties Devin Dye, Jalen Dye and Landon Nelson; long snapper Emory Duggar; kicker Laith Marjan; and punters Grayden Addison and Finn Lappin.
It’s a mixture of foundational pieces of KU’s rebuild like Daniels, Hishaw and the defensive tackles, key transfer additions along the way like Baynes and Foster and more recent transfers who played key roles this year like Williams, Henderson, Groen, Kamara and Marjan.
The group contains players whose careers have spanned four, five, six and in Hanika’s case seven years of college football, as a result of redshirts, injuries and COVID years. Lappin has only played two years but previously attended university in Australia. Some of the players came to KU even before Lance Leipold arrived as head coach in the spring of 2021. Gorczyca is the last player to have transferred from Buffalo, Leipold’s previous school.
Farkes, a walk-on lineman, is the only inclusion among the senior-day participants who is not listed as a senior. That doesn’t rule out the possibility of someone else receiving additional eligibility via a medical waiver, or some sort of legal ruling again transforming eligibility for former junior-college or lower-division players.
A few seniors who are notable omissions from the list are defensive end Dylan Brooks, who has battled injuries and hasn’t been able to play on defense the last two years; tight end Leyton Cure, who didn’t play in 2023 at Fort Hays State; wide receiver Bryson Canty; punter Efren Jasso, who is redshirting after transferring into KU late from Prairie View A&M; safety Lyrik Rawls, who missed most of 2023 at Oklahoma State due to injury after having already previously redshirted; and linebacker Joseph Sipp Jr., whose 2025 season was derailed by a training-camp injury after he transferred from Bowling Green.
It won’t be the first time going through senior day for Daniels, who said he did so last year because he wanted to walk alongside many of his longtime classmates. He ended up returning to KU for a sixth and final season.
If the Jayhawks don’t beat Utah on Friday at 11 a.m. to earn bowl eligibility, it will be the last game of his distinguished college career.
