Kansas Football on Pace to Have Best Recruiting Class in Program History

Although we are still months away from signing day, Kansas football head coach Lance Leipold and his staff appear to be putting together potentially the school’s best high school recruiting class since rankings became popularized in the early 2000s.

The Jayhawks currently have 16 verbal commitments from high school prospects across the country, giving them the No. 11 ranked class in 2026, according to Rivals.

Seven of the 16 commitments are from Kansas boys – all but one of whom are ranked as top 10 players in the Sunflower State.

Four-star defensive back James Dunnigan Jr. from Manhattan, Kansas, is the highest rated recruit of the entire class so far. He is currently ranked as the No. 2 player in Kansas and No. 240 nationally. KU’s other four-star recruit is edge rusher Hunter Higgins out of Wichita.

As it stands now, KU has the highest ranked class in the Big 12 with Arizona State trailing at No. 13, Oklahoma State at No. 19, and both Iowa State and Texas Tech tied at No. 23 overall.

KU is still likely to add more pieces as the summer and fall draw nearer, with their eyes set on the likes of four-star tight end (and No. 1 ranked player in Kansas) Ian Premer out of Great Bend, three-star linebacker Johnmichael Fountain from Wichita, and several others.

If the staff is able to hold onto the commitments they have now, plus add more between now and Early Signing Day in December, they will likely have the strongest incoming class in the past 25 years of Kansas football.

KU’s highest ranked football recruiting class in the Rivals era came in 2009 under former head coach Mark Mangino, who was able to capitalize on KU’s 2008 Orange Bowl victory and haul in the No. 31 ranked class in the country. The last time Kansas came close to that was in 2011 when they finished No. 34 overall.

The Jayhawks have a lot of momentum on the recruiting trail thanks to the improvements made by the team these past few years, their top-notch facilities, the new stadium coming soon, and competitive NIL offerings.

One Rivals analyst believes that KU will continue this momentum and ultimately end up finishing with a top 25 class. If that happens, it will be one of the most impressive accomplishments Leipold has made since taking over this Kansas program.