Dallas, Tex. ? Kansas redshirt freshman Greg Heaggans has been selected the Big 12 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in the Jayhawks’ 44-24 win over Southwest Missouri State last Saturday, the Big 12 Office announced Monday morning.

Heaggans ended the day with 195 total kickoff return yards which breaks the single-game KU record held by John Hadl, who had 153 kickoff return yards versus Syracuse on Sept. 26, 1959. Heaggans, a native of Kansas City, Kan., returned the game’s opening kickoff 100 yards for the Jayhawks’ first kickoff return for a touchdown since 1996.

Mark Mangino on Greg Heaggans being named Big 12 Special Teams Player of the week: “he turned a disaster into a great play.” play (45 seconds, 178 k)

The 100-yard return ties for the second-longest return in school history as Eric Vann ran a kick back 100 yards against Oklahoma on Oct. 5, 1996 and June Henley ran a kick back 100 yards against Colorado on Nov. 13, 1993. Bert Pooler, who holds the KU record for the longest kickoff return, ran a kick back 108 yards against Oklahoma on Oct. 21, 1905.

“Greg is a hard working young guy,” head coach Mark Mangino said. “He personifies what we are trying to do here at Kansas. All he does is work hard and never complains. He’s one of the first guys on the practice field and one of the last to leave. That’s the kind of attitude we need to have to be a quality football team here.”