Young popular this spring

Olathe (Kan.) North has been one of the strongest programs in the Sunflower State over the past 20 years, and from that strength there have been plenty of solid Division I prospects.

And that tradition should carry on again because of Kevin Young, a 6-foot-4, 227-pound defensive end.

With offers already from Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas State and Army, Young has been a guy that's gotten plenty of attention in the spring evaluation period.

"I just got the Army offer," he said. "Army came in last weekend and offered. Illinois, Iowa State, K-State have offered as well. Connecticut and Tulsa have offers in the mail, but I haven't received them yet."

"Notre Dame called my school the other day. Coach Corwin Brown is recruiting me from there. I got his cell phone number and I need to follow up with him. Nebraska has called recently."

A few schools have been pretty regular in their contact.

"The schools I hear from the most are Tulsa and Nebraska," he said. "Another school coming on real strong is coach Bill Young at Miami. He's going to be at my school Tuesday. I also have regular contact with Tulsa, Connecticut, Iowa State, Illinois. I talk to coach Kurt Beathard at Illinois. I talk to him quite a bit."

But he's not the only coach that's impressed him.

"I would say that Iowa State coach that is recruiting me coach Jeff Koonz," he said. "He's really down to earth. The most intriguing offer so far is Illinois. I love talking to coach Ron Zook. I was impressed that even if I wanted to commit I couldn't. They won't allow it until they see me in person. That's the only staff who has said that."

And that's impressed him a lot.

"Illinois right now is toward the top," he said.

"That doesn't mean I'm not interested in Iowa State, K-State, Tulsa and Kansas. Their coaches have impressed me the most. The way they talk to me and their engineering program. They have a top-three engineering program in the country then the proximity to home, academics, coaching staff and renovations. I've always been a Big 10 fan. They're right there toward the top. I love to talk to coach Beathard."

This summer, Young will hit the road a lot this summer.

"We're going to start on the East, and we're going to go to Alabama," he said. "We're going to work our way up to Notre Dame. Then we have two Mizzou and Kansas one-day camp, Nebraska one-day camp and Illinois one-day camp. Those are the ones we're definitely going to go to."