Highly rated RB picks Kansas
This summer Donte Bean had a successful camp tour. At the Nike Camp in Baton Rouge he ran the fourth fastest 40 time and had the fifth best vertical jump of all the running backs.
That brought early offers and college attention to the Garland, Texas, native. On Thursday he felt he was ready to end all of the recruiting with one call.
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"After meeting with my family dinner I decided I was ready to commit to Kansas," Bean said. "We were reading Rivals.com over the weekend and looking at what program I would fit in best at. Kansas was the place."
Kansas is not an unfamiliar area to the Bean family. Bean's brother, Brandon Walker, is a wide receiver/quarterback at Washburn University and has been a part in helping the Ichabods earn a national ranking.
"My brother kept calling me and telling me I should think about committing," Bean said. "I talk to him every day. He would only be 45 minutes away."
Bean also knows other players at Kansas who are from the Garland area.
"I know Big Mac (James McClinton) and Raimond (Pendleton) are playing there," he said. "So other players from around here are up there."
After early offers from Kansas, Purdue, and UTEP, Bean also received phone calls from Colorado State and Utah. He felt comfortable with Kansas.
"I really like coach Dave Doeren," Bean said. "He's a very humble person. He never talked bad about any other college. Today I talked to coach (Mark) Mangino and he told me they were excited to have a running back like me going there. I also had a chance to talk with the running backs coach Earle Mosley."
Bean said he did a lot of research before making his final decision, and he's glad recruiting is over.
"I looked at a lot of articles and I think Kansas is a top program on the rise," Bean said. "Committing to Kansas feels like a monkey off my back. Now I don't have to worry about recruiting and what may be next. It feels good."