New guy: Kansas University has some offensive-line help coming to Lawrence this summer.

Jason Hind, a 6-foot-4, 290-pounder out of College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill., signed his financial-aid papers recently and will move to Lawrence later this summer.

Originally from San Antonio, Hind is in good academic standing and is leaving junior college after just one year. He’ll have three seasons of eligibility at KU.

Hind is expected to compete for playing time right away on a line that includes All-Big 12 candidate Anthony Collins, three-year starter Cesar Rodriguez, former starter Ryan Cantrell and touted junior-college transfer Chet Hartley.

¢ Hawkinson commits: McPherson High standout Tanner Hawkinson gave an oral commitment to the Kansas coaching staff after participating in Saturday’s camp.

Hawkinson, a 6-6, 230-pound tight end, had offers from Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech and Colorado State. But he always had KU high on his list and confirmed his interest Saturday.

“I have always grown up a fan of Kansas,” Hawkinson told Rivals.com. “I talked to my dad on the way up, and I wanted to do it face-to-face with the coaches.”

KU now has five early commitments for the 2008 class.

¢ Summer going well: KU coach Mark Mangino and his staff aren’t allowed to monitor his current players participating in summer conditioning workouts. But Mangino said he is hearing positive things from strength coach Chris Dawson, who runs the program.

“He thinks it’s the best start to the summer we’ve had since we’ve been here,” Mangino said.

¢ Night games: As expected, all of KU’s nonconference games in September will kick off at 6 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. They are not expected to be televised.

¢ Now what?: With camp season over, KU’s coaching staff will have a little down time before practices get going in early August.

“Next week, our assistant coaches are going to start taking their vacations – much deserved,” Mangino said. “We will continue to, whoever’s in the office, keep working on some opponents and make sure everything’s running smooth.

“In late July, we’ll get back in as a staff working full-time preparing for our players to report on August 2.”