A quick look at some of KU football’s top recruiting targets in the Class of 2014

By Matt Tait     Dec 11, 2013

With a week remaining until the mid-year transfer signing day (Dec. 18) and the Kansas University football coaches, including new offensive coordinator John Reagan, still out on the road in search of talent, the clock is ticking on KU’s 2014 recruiting class.

Unlike a year ago, when KU coach Charlie Weis signed nine junior college players in December, the next couple of weeks figure to be a little more quiet — no top-ranked players, no Dream Team talk, no unusually large haul.

In fact, it’s entirely possible that just a couple of mid-year transfers will sign with KU next week, with the rest of the class waiting until national signing day in February to make it official.

High school prospects are not allowed to sign until February so, with eight of the 11 players currently committed to KU coming from the prep ranks, the Jayhawks would have to pick up commitments from the juco ranks in a hurry in order for too many of them to sign on Dec. 18.

Although getting guys on campus in time for spring practice is always a good thing, it’s not uncommon to have a small crop of signees during December.

With 11 spots full in a class that theoretically could bring in 14 more players, the Jayhawks are out in full force scouring the country for talent.

Here’s a quick look at some of the Jayhawks’ top known targets, many of whom have taken or set up visits recently. Not surprisingly, many of them are offensive linemen:

**• A.J. Allen, OL, Grossmont C.C. — 6-7, 315**
The offensive tackle from El Cajon, Calif., has both Kansas and Kansas State on his long list of finalists and the Jayhawks have thrown California recruiting guru Jeff Blasko at the huge lineman.
Some have said that Kansas State is the favorite for Allen, who was scheduled to visit Kansas during Sunflower Showdown weekend.
He is a likely December graduate with offers from more than a dozen schools, so he’s entering the nitty gritty of decision-making time.

**• Matthew Boatang, CB, IMG Academy — 6-0, 180**
The native Canadian, who moved to Bradenton, Fla., to get better exposure, has offers from Bowling Green, Indiana, Marshall, Nevada and Villanova.
He made an official visit to KU during the weekend in which the Jayhawks snapped their 27-game Big 12 losing streak with a victory over West Virginia, and all indications are that he loved every second of the visit.
Other schools, including Baylor, Florida State and Mississippi, are showing interest in the high school senior, but Boateng told JayhawkSlant.com’s Jon Kirby that KU would remain near the top of his list.

**• Jimmie Gipson, DE, East Mississippi C.C. — 6-0, 255**
Gipson, a two-star prospect who fits the mold of KU’s Buck position, recently received a visit from Weis and is in the process of wading through two dozen offers, mostly from mid-major programs.

**• Craig James, CB, Edwardsville (Ill.) High — 5-11, 170**
The coaching staff has been busy with James during the past several days. He had an in-home visit with Reggie Mitchell and Dave Campo late last week and followed it up with an official visit to Lawrence.
James currently has scholarship offers from: Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, Missouri and Syracuse.

**• Kelby Johnson, OL, ASA College — 6-8, 315**
The Jayhawks also have jumped in on this offensive lineman who has aspirations of playing after college, something that could favor KU’s NFL-experienced coaching staff.
Johnson played tackle in junior college and is expected to graduate in May. Rob Ianello is the lead recruiter for Johnson, who also has offers from East Carolina, South Florida and UAB and is receiving interest from several others.

**• Dontae Levingston, OL, Santa Monica C.C. — 6-5, 285**
The Jayhawks are making a late push for the offensive tackle from Santa Monica, Calif., who visited Lawrence last week for the first time.
As expected, the push from KU was playing time and Levingston told Kirby that the opportunity to make an immediate impact was intriguing. He also noted that most of the programs recruiting him are small college towns and, being from Los Angeles, he was just trying to pinpoint which one had the best feel.
Levingston is an expected mid-year transfer, who is expected to choose a school before next Wednesday. His list of offers include Kansas State, Memphis, Texas Tech and several others.

**• Anthony Olobia, DE, Arizona Western C.C. — 6-5, 230**
Olobia, another one of those hybrid, D-End/linebacker types, is headed to Lawrence for an official visit this weekend. The Jayhawks have landed a couple of players from Arizona Western during recent years so their familiarity with the program could help here.
The three-star recruit also has offers from Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Utah and he is receiving interest from more than a dozen others.

**Class of 2014 Commitments (as of Dec. 11, 2013)**
• Jacob Bragg, 6-4, 308, OL, Nacogdoches (Texas) High — 3-star
• Joe Dineen, 6-2, 197, DB, Free State High — 3-star
• Bobby Hartzog, 5-11, 182, WR, Westside (Houston) High — 2-star
• Keyon Haughton, 6-2, 295, OL, Georgia Military
• Damani Mosby, 6-3, 235, DE, Mesa C.C. — 3-star
• Tyler Patrick, 5-11, 171, WR, The Woodlands (Texas) High — 2-star
• Austin Stevens, 6-4, 245, DE, Montclair (N.J.) High — 2-star
• Apa Visinia, 6-5, 380, OL, Grandview (Mo.) High — 2-star
• Kyron Watson, 6-0, 226, LB, East St. Louis (Ill.) High — 3-star
• Devon Williams, 6-5, 335, OL, Georgia Military
• Traevohn Wrench, 6-0, 180, RB, Gardner-Edgerton High — 4-star

*• All bio information courtesy Rivals.com.*

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.