A blue-chip recruit in basketball, big bruiser Daniel Deane never has played organized football.

Asked if the rock-solid 6-foot-8, 225-pound junior ever had tried out for a spot on Judge Memorial Catholic High’s football team, Utah Pump ‘N’ Run basketball coach Todd Phillips laughed and said, “He should have, but he didn’t.”

The football reference stems from the fact Deane, who this weekend will make an official basketball recruiting visit to Kansas University, loves physical contact.

“He is a warrior, a physically strong kid who throws his body all over the place. He bangs and dishes out punishment,” Phillips said of Deane, who averaged 19 points and 14 rebounds his junior season at the Salt Lake City, Utah, school.

“What people like so much is he’s so physical,” Phillips said. “At camps last year, he went against more athletic guys and pounded the crud out of them. One of his calling cards is, he’s really physical.”

Deane, who visited Stanford last weekend and also has Utah, Gonzaga, UCLA and Arizona high on his list of schools, is not just a banger.

“I compare him to Mark Madsen of Stanford, good around the basket,” Phillips said. “Daniel is more of a perimeter guy. He can shoot a three more than Madsen could. Maybe like a (former Jayhawk Nick) Collison. He’s best at being around the basket, running the break and banging around.”

Deane, who helped his AAU team to a Final Four berth at the adidas Super 64 last summer in Las Vegas, agrees he’s unafraid to give up his body for the team.

“I always play hard,” Deane told rivals.com. “I just hate to lose, so I’m going to do whatever my team needs from me.”

Deane

As far as recruiting, Deane, who at one point was leaning heavily toward attending Utah, appears to be open to all possibilities.

“Kansas watched him play the past month and have been strong on him since then. I think he’s impressed. He likes the school and is interested,” Phillips, head coach at Westminster College, said. “Utah is on him hard. Stanford … I know we went up there last year, and he liked it. He’s feeling out all these places. He really wants to see where he fits in best.

“Before he was really wanting to go to Utah. Now he’s open and interested in a lot of places.”

And KU is a place he’ll visit starting today.

“I’m excited to see the campus and meet the coaches and players,” Deane said.