Kansas lands three-star QB Kasen Weisman

Lance Leipold has his quarterback.

The Kansas Jayhawks secured a commitment on Thursday night from three-star quarterback Kasen Weisman. The South Paulding High School signal caller chose the Jayhawks over offers from Liberty, Hawaii, Cal, Colorado State, and others.

Weisman spoke with Rivals about why he'll be playing his college football in Lawrence.

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On why he chose Kansas: "I think it just fit with my play style and the family structure around, the culture they’re building. I just fell in love with it."

On when Kansas offered and the pursuit from the Jayhawks: "They offered me in mid-February. Then about late March, they started coming after me hard. It was cool. It was my second Power Five. I was on a bus, actually, going to a 7-on-7 tournament. We were all just talking about offers. Next thing you know, I got a random call. I was like, ‘Hello?’ He was like, ‘Man, I don’t have long, I’m about to go in a meeting. I just wanted to let you know you have an offer to Kansas.’ I didn’t even know who the coach was at first. I was like, ‘Uh, okay.’ It was cool. It helped that they were one of the first ones to pull the trigger."

On building a relationship with the coaches: "The coaching staff just got there last year. …. No one expected a new coaching staff to win the first year when they get there. When I went up there, you can definitely see the culture they’re building and stuff like that. Me and Coach Z (Jim Zebrowski, quarterbacks), me and him are the same person. We got along really well when I went up there for my visit. We clicked automatically. Then Coach Leipold (Lance Leipold, head coach), the head coach, he’s one of the fastest head coaches in college football history to 100 wins. That coaching staff isn’t used to losing. That’s one of the things that I like. I think they’re really going to turn Kansas around into a winning program here in the next couple years."

On Leipold: "Yeah, he was just emphasizing that he’s recruited a lot of kids over his time coaching. He wants me to be the face of the program over the next two to three years when I get there. He thinks I’m going to be the trigger man that helps them win football games. It was pretty cool hearing that from him. But yeah, they’re not used to losing. Same thing with me, I hate losing. I think we click well with that. I definitely think they’re going to turn the program around."

On Zebrowski: "When I went there on my visit, they had a camp that night. I decided, I went to camp with them. I think he doesn’t try to change into someone, a quarterback into who they’re not. He just lets them play their game. Jalon Daniels, I watch him play. I think me and him kind of play the same way. He’s a playmaker. I think that’s what I am too. He’s not going to change any mechanics, he’s just going to teach me the offense. When it’s my turn to play, he’s going to put the plays in that best fit me. He’s not going to change anything I do or anything like that."

On the staff's vision for him: "We’re going to see what happens. Jalon Daniels, the kid up there right now, he’s pretty solid. I don’t know, I think he’s only got one year or two years of eligibility yet, not a lot. After him, I’m hoping to be the guy. That’s what they were emphasizing. You’ve just got to see what happens when you get there. Maybe I play my freshman year, I don’t know. I’m probably going to redshirt and learn the offense because they have a really complex offense, and then hopefully my redshirt freshman year I’ll start playing."

On when he knew it would be Kansas: "I committed on Thursday (August 4) on a Zoom call with all of them. I told them. I probably knew about a week and a half, two weeks ago. Probably actually when I went up there. It wasn’t in concrete yet, but it was like I could see myself playing here. It was nice there, the campus is beautiful. Everything just fit perfect to what I was looking for, a family feel, the culture, everything like that. It was probably when I went on that visit."

Weisman is a signal caller with plenty of upside. He has the ability to make plays with both his arm and his legs, making him a good fit for Leipold's offense. Weisman has bulked up over the past year and has room to continue growing before arriving in Lawrence next summer.

A strong senior season could lead to other programs knocking on Weisman's door. But he told Rivals that, "Right now, I’m going to commit and then I’m focused on winning a state championship."