Hawkinson still leaning

There's no debating who the top player in the Sunflower State is. That honor belongs to recently dubbed five-star linebacker Arthur Brown. After that there's a solid group of players that could go anywhere from two to five in the state.

One player that falls into that group is McPherson, Kan., tight end Tanner Hawkinson. The 6-foot-6, 230-pounder has had a productive winter and spring after having a good basketball season and then impressing at the Fort Worth NIKE Training Camp.

It was those efforts that allowed him to pick up scholarship offers from Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Colorado State and most recently Georgia Tech.

"Georgia Tech offered a couple weeks ago," Hawkinson said. "In the middle of the day they texted me and let me know they were offering. Then one of their coaches came down about a week later. I was kind of surprised when they offered."

"A couple of coaches have been talking to me since the Nike combine in Fort Worth. Central Florida was down there and they said they saw me there. Minnesota has also started sending me stuff, too."

But it might not matter. It's going to be really tough to pull Hawkinson away from the Kansas Jayhawks.

"At this point Kansas is probably my favorite," he said. "A lot of my family are alumni from there. Plus, they only have two tight ends on scholarship and they're both seniors. I grew up watching Kansas. I've had season tickets in my family for a while, so I've gone and watched a lot of their football games and their basketball games."

Hawkinson, though, said he's not a total slam dunk for the Jayhawks.

"Kansas is my leader, but Georgia Tech is in there," he said. "I haven't gotten a chance to really check out their program yet. I don't think location is going to be too much of a factor, but obviously a little bit. I'm not going to let that make my entire decision. It's always nice to be able to play close to home in front of friends and family."

That decision is expected to come before the start of his season, so he can work on helping his team win games.

"The biggest thing I want to improve is my blocking," he said. "I'm pretty good at the high school level, but guys at the college level are a lot better and bigger. My hands are pretty reliable. I'm pretty good catching the ball."