Sting Factor: Keon Coleman's decommitment from Kansas
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1-10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE SITUATION
Kansas landed a massive commitment in July when three-star receiver Keon Coleman picked the Jayhawks over Oklahoma, South Carolina and others.
It was a tremendous recruiting victory for coach Les Miles and it was a sign that Kansas was going to become a player for top-notch prospects in the region. Going into Louisiana for the Opelousas two-sport standout was important and it set Kansas’ recruiting class in the right direction.
But Coleman, who was going to play football and basketball for the Jayhawks, backed off his commitment on Tuesday, clearly delivering a major blow to a Big 12 football program trying to establish itself and a basketball team vying for national titles most years.
In a social media post, Coleman said he rushed into his Kansas commitment and that he’s going to take the next few months to find the right fit. Could that be back with the Jayhawks? Maybe. But getting a prospect to re-commit is difficult, especially one with so much major national interest in two sports.
LOCAL REACTION
“This one stings because he was one of the top-two rated recruits on the board. Coleman has also been a fan favorite because he's also a Division I basketball player and committed to Kansas to play both sports. When you throw the basketball angle in there, he got a lot of exposure from the Kansas fan base. The one thing to take from the news that could be a positive for the Jayhawks, is they have three wide receivers currently committed. Wide receivers coach Emmett Jones always has a knack for recruiting good wideouts.
"The other thing to watch is whether the staff fills this loss with another wide receiver or looks to use it at another position.” — Jon Kirby, JayhawkSlant.com
Sting factor: 8
NATIONAL REACTION
“Coleman was a huge recruiting win for Kansas and a kid who brought a ton of speed to the table from a talent-rich state. Strictly from a football standpoint this was the marquee player in this class and he’s a huge loss.” — Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director, Rivals.com
Sting factor: 8