LAWRENCE — The month of December has seen so much of the attention around Kansas football turn to the transfer portal, and for good reason.
Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold’s coaching staff has been active in that regard, with 15 public commitments as of Sunday morning. They’ve addressed positions of need on offense and defense, and even earned the pledge of a kicker from South Alabama in Laith Marjan who was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award in 2024. How well these transfers are able to perform in 2025 will play a significant role in if KU can rebound from a disappointing fall.
But those transfers won’t be the only newcomers on Kansas’ roster next year, as the Jayhawks also announced a signing class of 15 high school prospects earlier this month. Those high school signees are a part of the foundation for the future of the program, too. And while there’s attention on the likes of quarterback David McComb and wide receiver Jaden Nickens, there are more who shouldn’t be overlooked as the new year arrives.
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Adrian Holley, defensive end
Adrian Holley, listed at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, signed at defensive end for Kansas. From the state of Indiana, he’s a 247Sports Composite three-star edge prospect. He joins a position of focus for the Jayhawks, and Leipold had high praise for him after he signed.
Leipold said Holley might be the most appreciative guy, when it comes to the opportunity to come to KU, since Leipold arrived himself ahead of the 2021 season. They’ll see how Holley develops, but Leipold likes Holley’s motor and skillset. Leipold described Holley as someone you’d want in your program because you know he’s going to be a hard-worker.
Justin Thurman, running back
Justin Thurman, listed at 6-foot and 195 pounds, signed at running back for Kansas. The three-star prospect was once committed to Notre Dame, before ultimately ending up with the Jayhawks. He’ll be a part of a position group that will look much different in 2025, especially because Devin Neal’s storied college career has come to an end.
Leipold said they offered Thurman early on, and added running backs coach Jonathan Wallace did well staying in contact with him. The consistency and thoroughness of KU’s message is something that stood out over the course of the recruiting process. Thurman is someone Leipold thinks can help this team.
Brandon Schmelzle, safety
Brandon Schmelzle, listed at 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, signed at safety for Kansas. From Axtell, Kansas, he is a three-star prospect. Leipold outlined not just that Schmelzle is appreciative of the opportunity to come to Kansas, and comes from a winning program, but also that Schmelzle is someone they are confident can make the jump and adapt to this level of football.
“I spent a lot of years in the state of Nebraska, and from Nebraska days there’s a lot of eight-man football players that helped make that program as special as it was in the 90s,” said Leipold, who described Schmelzle as a fine athlete. “… When I was at D2, we recruited eight-man players. There’s some adjustments, but he came to camp, he showed the skills. There’s going to be some things — I’ll say this, especially for guys who have played defense, the one year I coached NAIA football we had a six-man player and he was our best dang tackler on the team. Because, with the field, you’ve got to be able to do it and be good at it.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: 3 Kansas football class off 2025 signees who shouldn’t be overlooked
