Burns awaits offer No. 1
DALLAS - Running back Tyler Burns showed up at the Rivals250 Underclassmen Challenge with some local buzz building around him and a fourth-place finish at this year's Kansas State track meet in the 100 meters. He also showed up without a single scholarship offers.
It seems as though he's on his way to changing the last thing, though. Interest in his football talents have picked up in recent months, and new coaches from new schools are turning up on his Facebook page.
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"I've been hearing a lot from Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Northern Illinois," Burns said on Sunday. "I had an assistant coach from Oregon come to my school a while back, but I haven't really talked to them a ton."
When college coaches talk to Burns, they talk about speed. It's a quality the Wichita (Kan.) Trinity prospect has in spades. It's become his calling card of sorts. Burns is quick to point out that he's not some track athlete playing football, though. He won't be pigeonholed into the speed-only bin.
"Don't forget I'm a pretty good-sized kid, too, I'm about 200 pounds" he said. "They talk a lot about that, too. I've been talking the most to Kansas State. I like them a lot right now."
Tyler Burns's draw to the Wildcats is a strong one. He is the brother of K-State defensive back Morgan Burns. And while the family history stands to benefit K-State, it also stands to give a boost to one of the Wildcats' Big 12 foes.
"The coach that recruited Morgan for K-State went to Oklahoma State, Joe Bob Clements," Tyler Burns said. "He knew about me from back then. Now he's recruiting me for Oklahoma State. "
Burns has already been on an unofficial visit to Oklahoma State and was impressed with what he saw while on campus. The level of familiarity with his lead recruiter didn't hurt either.
"Joe Bob showed me around when I went down there for camp," Burns said. "It's a huge facility. It's almost kind of confusing just to find everything. They have, like, 600 yards of practice field. It's amazing down there."
Burns is set to camp at Kansas State on July 27 and has no additional travel plans at this time. That could change due to building interest, though. Burns says it's too early to tell.
But while different programs are reaching out, he's still waiting for his the team he grew up supporting to make contact.
"I kind of grew up rooting for Kansas, but I'm open on who to play for," Burns said. "I haven't really talked to KU that much, actually. I haven't really even gotten anything from them. I'm pretty sure my dad sent some film to them, they must be waiting or something."
Burns names no early favorites in the process and says it's too early in his recruitment to even consider setting a timetable for a verbal commitment.