All was quiet around the Kansas University athletic department Wednesday – except for an overwhelmed fax machine up in the football office, of course.

With a heavy snowfall keeping most KU students and staff at home, the Jayhawks quietly signed 20 recruits to their 2008 class Wednesday morning.

A news conference with coach Mark Mangino to discuss the signings was postponed until next week, citing inclement weather.

In a prepared statement, though, Mangino said he was pleased with the class that was put together – which is high in quality but low in quantity.

“We have been able to meet some immediate needs,” Mangino said, “and some long-range needs.”

The immediate needs? Two junior-college transfers come to mind: running back Jocques Crawford out of Cisco (Texas) Junior College and offensive lineman Nathan D’Cunha out of Santa Barbara (Calif.) Community College.

Also desired was depth at tight end with the graduation of Derek Fine. Three high school standouts were signed Wednesday – McPherson High’s Tanner Hawkinson, Omaha (Neb.) Westside’s Tim Biere and Edwardsville (Ill.) High’s Nick Plato – and at least one probably can expect to play right away.

“Whenever you have an open opportunity like that, you’re going to have some great competition in practice,” Hawkinson said.

Another short-term need was for a return specialist, and they may have got one in Mesquite (Texas) receiver Daymond Patterson. The 5-foot-9 Patterson was named first team All-State as a kick returner in Texas and liked the opportunity to contribute this fall for KU.

“The chance to be able to go into a new offense is a big deal,” Patterson said. “And then being able to get a good chance at playing time next year as a punt returner.”

KU’s class clearly was smaller than most other schools, who generally are allowed to sign 25. The Jayhawks lost three scholarships as a result of NCAA violations surrounding the 2003 recruitment of several junior-college players.

As for the other two that weren’t filled, the Jayhawks could be saving them for a late prospect who fell through the cracks. It’s possible they’re also anticipating a penalty for an unsatisfactory Academic Progress Rate score.

Two Kansas associate athletic directors, Jim Marchiony and Paul Buskirk, would neither confirm nor deny that KU football was bracing for APR penalties when asked earlier this week. Buskirk said Kansas currently is working on APR numbers and would release all information when it’s ready.

The APR, an NCAA-sponsored gauge for academic success, generally is made public in the spring. Team scores under 925 are subject to possible penalties, the most common being scholarship loss.

Any upcoming punishments must apply toward the 2007-08 academic year unless they would take financial aid away from a current student-athlete.