photo by: Contributed photo

Elijah Jones

Kansas keeps its football roster a secret, doesn’t update the various comings and goings to keep its fan base in the know, so it helps to check out social media for clues.

Good news: Ellsowrth Community College cornerback Elijah Jones retweeted on Tuesday a photo of himself wearing a No. 17 Kansas football jersey on Twitter, which most interpreted as meaning he has cleared all the academic hurdles he needed to clear to join the Kansas secondary.

EJ1k on Twitter

This is a pretty big deal because I’m told that if he had not had academic ground to make up, Big Ten and SEC schools would have recruited him aggressively.

As it was, Jones made a verbal commitment to UCF, but then backed out after head coach Scott Frost left for Nebraska, his alma mater.

Jones had a pair of two-interception games in his sophomore season at Ellsworth and is a native of Fort Myers, Fla. He’ll compete for a starting job with 2017 cornerback starters Hasan Defense and Shakial Taylor, also Floridians. Defense is from Jacksonville, Taylor from Lakeland.

Kansas has done well recruiting former Florida high school players in recent years, some out of junior colleges. Defensive tackle J.J. Holmes, from Chipley, came to KU from Hutchinson Community College. Quarterback Peyton Bender, who played at Washington State and Itawamba CC before coming to KU, played his high school football in Fort Lauderdale. Fellow QB Carter Stanley, a high school recruit and a redshirt junior, is from Vero Beach. Running back Khalil Herbert, another high school recruit and a junior, is from Coral Springs. Incoming freshman Kenny Bastida is from Pompano Beach.

That gives Kansas more players from Florida who arrived here on scholarship than from Kansas.