Curtis Ansel was an all-league offensive guard and defensive end as a senior at Lakin High, but college coaches didn’t come running to recruit the 6-foot, 175-pounder.

Ansel also was an all-league punter, but he had no delusions about playing major college football or the NFL.

“Even coming up here to KU was never in the picture coming out of high school,” said Ansel, a Kansas University senior who recently signed a free-agent contract with the Detroit Lions. “I just took it one step at a time starting with junior college.”

Ansel (6-foot, 210) earned All-Jayhawk Conference honors as a freshman at Garden City Community College and had punts of 58, 52, 45 and 40 yards in the NJCAA championship game.

At KU, Ansel struggled with injuries during his sophomore year in 2001 and averaged just 37.9 yards per punt. He bounced back in 2002 with a 42.2 average and set a Big 12 Conference record with an 83-yarder against Baylor. He also unleashed an 82-yarder against UNLV and averaged 41.2 yards as a senior last fall, placing 19 of his 47 punts inside opponents’ 20-yard lines.

Ansel’s numbers were good enough to attract Detroit’s attention. He signed a three-year deal with the Lions last month, but that contract is contingent on making the team. That won’t be easy because the Lions return veteran Nick Harris.

Ansel is back on campus this week after attending last week’s minicamp in Allen Park, Mich.

“He had a great mincamp,” Detroit special teams coach Chuck Priefer said. “He did very well, better even than I expected. He has a great leg, and he’s a great kid. Like most rookies, he’s a little inconsistent. But he’s got a great leg.”

The Lions will go to training camp with 85 players, but that number will be sliced to 53 before the season opener. Detroit lost punter John Jett to a calf injury last October and picked up Harris — who averaged 40.1 yards per punt in 2001 and 2002 with Cincinnati — after he had been cut by the Bengals.

“He did a good job for us, but he’s got to get better,” Priefer said of Harris. “We think we need to upgrade.”

Harris remains first on the depth chart, but that could change when the team returns to Detroit for another minicamp in June.

Priefer said that “unless something drastic happens” both punters will have a chance to show what they can do during preseason exhibitions.

“It’ll go through training camp,” Ansel said of the battle with Harris. “I don’t know where it will go from there. They get to a point where they have to start cutting guys. I think for the first preseason game, everybody suits up and plays.”

While preseason minicamps and training camp will be important, the preseason games could be critical.

“You have to have a good preseason game,” Ansel said. “Teams evaluate that. If you go in and have a good preseason game, that’s the tape they want to see. They don’t want to see your college tape anymore. If you have one bad game, that could turn them away from you. You have to go in and prove you can do it.”

Ansel, who must complete one correspondence course to finish his communications studies degree, will participate in graduation May 23 before reporting May 25 for rookie orientation in Detroit, which will be followed by another minicamp.

The Lions gave Ansel things to work on before he returns, including consistency and hang time. Detroit also expects its punter to handle holding duties on the kicking team.

“It’s a 50-50 deal,” Ansel said. “I think I have a good shot. I have to work hard, and if it happens it happens. As long as I do my part, that’s all I can do.”