June, once a mellow month, heats up with KU football prospects

Kansas football coach Lance Leipold said Tuesday that he had a former coworker come through town recently and wasn’t able to make time for them to stop by. “Stuff ran over and it didn’t work out,” he said, “and I said, ‘Yeah, June’s not what it used to be.'” What used to be a light month separating spring football and fall camp has turned into another epicenter of the college football calendar, thanks to changes in recruiting, Leipold said. “Now with the unlimited visits, people are stretching out visits,” he added. “Now you have midweek visits, you’re trying to attend to your roster, you’re running your camps, you’re doing things. June has become as busy a month as there may be for us. “Thank goodness we’re on a nice positive uptick that we can try to take advantage of.” Leipold met with media Tuesday morning at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium after a weekend that saw a dozen 2024 prospects come through KU for official visits, with four — linebacker Jacorey Stewart, offensive lineman Harrison Utley, cornerback Austin Alexander and running back Harry Stewart III — committing to join the Jayhawks soon afterward. It’s nowhere near the end of this busy June, as Kansas has two more packed weeks ahead of the lengthy dead period that begins June 27. Commenting on the ongoing construction around the premises in connection with the school’s 11th and Mississippi project, Leipold lamented the lack of “tangible things to show” recruits but said that videos and blueprints can do the job, and noted the parallelism between the facilities and the squad using them. “Something’s building,” he said, “just like we’re building this program.” The Jayhawks especially need to build on defense, where they ranked 127th of 131 teams in yards allowed per game last season (in contrast to an offense that came in at 32nd). Leipold touted the potential of linebackers Taiwan Berryhill Jr. and JB Brown and the returning experience in the secondary, but said the team still needs to improve upfront. In other news, the Kansas men’s and women’s basketball teams recently learned they will be among the first to experience the Big 12 Conference’s new Mexico initiative when they play Houston in Mexico City in December 2024. Two years later, though, the Big 12 is expected to participate in a football bowl game in Monterrey. Leipold said he was excited about what that opportunity could mean for KU student-athletes, as well as the broader KU brand, adding that he had previously told Commissioner Brett Yormark that with athletic director Travis Goff’s approval, he would be happy to explore “anything that was sort of outside-the-box thinking that Kansas can be part of.” More immediately, Kansas recently moved both its first and second games of the season to Friday nights (Sept. 1 and 8). Leipold said he regretted the “tough” overlap with high school football, but appreciated the opportunity to play Illinois in prime time. “I think it’s for our fans nationally that we have a chance to be, if not the only game, one of two games,” he said, “versus being buried in a group of like 30 games at one time. When those opportunities come, you have to holistically make decisions that are not just the immediate but for our program’s future.”