A year ago at this time we took a look at the early success Kansas head coach David Beaty was having on the recruiting trail. At the time, Kansas had a top 10 recruiting class that was highlighted by a nice haul from the state of Louisiana. It seems the Jayhawks coach is continuing to create a pipeline in the state of Louisiana as he continues to build up the Kansas program because he just landed an early commitment from a talented quarterback out of the state.
Lance LeGendre, a four-star dual-threat quarterback from New Orleans, has committed to Kansas by way of a brief statement on Twitter. For the time being, LeGendre is choosing Kansas over offers from programs like Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Missouri and more. LeGendre is the first recruit on the board for Kansas at this point in time, but it is a key one in continuing to build a pipeline of talent from the football-rich state of Louisiana out to Kansas.
Kansas signed two four-star players from Louisiana in the Class of 2018 with DB Corione Harris and RB Anthony Williams. Although Kansas had a handful of players committed from Louisiana last February, a number ended up going to other programs. But keeping Harris and Williams in Kansas was crucial for the effort Beaty has been working on. If he manages to keep LeGendre on the board as well, that effort will only become stronger.
“He’s a good guy and obviously a good recruiter,” Legendre said to Jayhawk Slant following his commitment, referring to Beaty. “He’s bringing a lot of guys from the Boot and he’s doing a lot of good things. When I was in the eighth grade he helped me get into Warren Easton. So we’ve had a good relationship since then and he’s a great guy.”
Beaty is a Texas native and has spent most of his coaching career in the state of Texas, but three years as an assistant at Texas A&M as the Aggies moved into the SEC helped introduce Beaty to the importance of recruiting talent from the state of Louisiana. It is not easy, of course, with LSU historically dominating the top talent and Alabama plucking more and more of the top-tier players away to Tuscaloosa, not to mention the other competition to land talent out of the state. But Beaty has made it a mission to attempt to compete for recruits in the state and hopes to use the players he lands as key figures in elevating the status of Kansas football.
Kansas has gone 3-33 in three seasons under Beaty, including a 1-26 mark in Big 12 play. He has had to build from the ground up, but he seems to have some sort of a plan of attack for recruiting. Beaty’s biggest hurdle is convincing his recruits to follow through on their commitment to a program that has historically been struggling to win much of anything.