Kansas University football recruiting

The day before the Kansas football team’s second road game of the season, head coach David Beaty and his assistants received some good news on the recruiting front.

Najee Stevens-McKenzie, a defensive end at ASA College (N.Y.), told Jon Kirby of Jayhawk Slant Friday he called Beaty, en route to Ames, Iowa, to inform the third-year coach of his decision to commit to Kansas.

A three-star junior college prospect in the Class of 2018, Stevens-McKenzie played his first year of college football in the Sunflower State, at Fort Scott Community College.

Originally from Bedford, Ohio, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound defensive lineman told Jayhawk Slant KU’s current D-line coach, Jesse Williams, recruited him out of high school when Williams worked at Ohio.

The past several months, though, Kansas linebackers coach Todd Bradford led Stevens-McKenzie’s recruitment.

According to Jayhawk Slant, KU was one of the first programs to offer Stevens-McKenzie a scholarship, back in January.

“I think the decision was always made in the back of my mind. I was just waiting to do it,” Stevens-McKenzie told Jayhawk Slant. “Kansas has always been a special place in my heart from when I was there at my Fort Scott days. The opportunity to come back and be united with some of my friends and some of the people that I call family, and have a support system like the coaching staff it just felt right. It felt like the perfect place for me.”

According to Rivals, Stevens-McKenzie also had offers from Iowa State, Maryland, Missouri and other programs. The D-end prospect is expected to graduate from ASA College in December and enroll at Kansas for the spring 2018 semester.

Stevens-McKenzie’s pledge brings the current number of 2018 KU commitments to 11. He is the fifth defensive lineman in the class, which is headlined by five-star New Orleans receiver Devonta Jason and his Landry-Walker High teammate, four-star cornerback Corione Harris.