One of the biggest surprises in the 2018 class was Jacobi Lott from Tascosa High in Texas. It wasn’t a surprise from the fact that the Jayhawks were the first to offer, but who else offered.

Lott visited Kansas on Dec. 8 and before he left campus gave David Beaty a verbal commitment. Everything was going as planned and Lott was ready to sign in the early period. Then a phone call came from coaches at Texas.

The Longhorns offered a scholarship.

It is rare for a recruit in the Lone Star State to pass up on a Texas offer and stay with the Jayhawks. But that’s exactly what Lott did.

“I felt if they liked me that much they could have offered me earlier,” Lott said.

The Kansas coaches were on Lott and built a strong relationship with him. He said recruiting coordinator Kenny Perry was the first coach to visit him. Then Garrett Riley who recruits his area joined in.

Even though he had the relationship with Kansas the offer from the Longhorns would make any recruit in Texas do a double take. And they weren’t the only school.

“Oklahoma State wanted to talk to me about a visit the same night Texas called,” he said. “I went on an unofficial visit there (Oklahoma State).”

When it came to weighing his decision the night before day he didn’t have a hard time sticking with Kansas.

“I didn’t feel a lot of pressure because things happen in recruiting,” Lott said. “For me, I stick to the ones who were loyal. For me that was Kansas. All of the other schools just wanted to offer me all of a sudden and they hadn’t talked to me much before. Then they started calling me. It wasn’t my fault that they had guys who decommitted.”