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In our Kansas Recruiting Numbers feature from earlier this week we highlighted the issues facing Kansas’ next coach when it comes to recruiting and re-building the scholarship numbers on this current roster. The 2019 class is crucial to those efforts and when the Jayhawks hire a new person to lead their program, that individual will need to hit the ground running. Here are five prospects in the 2019 class the next Kansas staff should target.
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We’re starting with an obvious one, but that makes him no less important. Dineen has two older brothers currently playing for the Jayhawks, including the team’s leading tackler: Joe Dineen Jr. We list Jax as a fullback and in most systems that is where he projects best, but like his older brothers, he is also a pretty good linebacker.
The reason Dineen was a must-include on this list, however, is because of what he would mean to the locker room and how he would help build the culture for a new era of Kansas football. Dineen comes from a long line of Jayhawks including his parents, grandfather and great-grandfather, the latter of whom played under legendary coach Phog Allen. Dineen knows what it means to bleed Crimson and Blue.
Wide receivers coach Justin Johnson is one of the assistants I am most interested to see if the next coach retains. I do not have enough information to evaluate his on-field coaching and I know he was initially a David Beaty guy. But from a recruiting standpoint I have heard his name mentioned more than almost any other Jayhawk staffer in the last year and I have seen him working hard on the trail.
One of the prospects Johnson particularly connected with is St. Louis four-star Cam Coleman. The lack of interest in Coleman between his junior and senior seasons is explained because of his transition between high schools, but this kid is a dynamic prospect who could also add position versatility.
This is the only junior college prospect I am going to list in this update. Although I expect, and understand why, the next Kansas head coach is going to hit the JUCO ranks hard when he starts to recruit this 2019 class, a heavy reliance on JUCO recruiting is part of what created the scholarship situation Kansas now faces.
However, Kansas graduates three of four defensive line starters after this season, including both of its starting defensive tackles. Diaby is not the biggest name on the board, but he is versatile in that he could man the five-technique defensive end spot or the three-technique defensive tackle role and he also has already familiarized himself with the program after the Jayhawks became his first Power Five offer last month.
Even though he is a four-star prospect, Ike probably does not fill an immediate need for the next Kansas head coach, and for that reason he may not be heavily pursued. He is only in his second year of playing organized football, but immediate needs cannot be the only consideration for this 2019 class.
You have to start building for the future as well, and Ike is a bona fide talent, albeit a raw one. Ike is also still wide open in his recruitment, and while proximity to home may not be his most important factor in choosing a college, Kansas’ location does not hurt it here as it does with many other highly-ranked prospects still available in this 2019 class.
Defensive line was previously mentioned as a position of immediate need, but linebacker would fall into that category as well with current starters Joe Dineen Jr. and Keith Loneker Jr. playing their final seasons in Lawrence. This is one position to expect JUCO help to be solicited, but there is a very intriguing prospect close-by for Kansas that could also help.
Dylan Jordan does not have any Power Five offers at this time, but he does have Power Five interest and has shown Power Five potential, with plenty of foot speed and the ability to play in space. What has held teams back from offering are some academic concerns, but if the new staff can answer those questions Jordan would be a very intriguing target.
