Signing Day circus starts a day early: CB Kevin Short wavers, but sticks with KU

LJWorld.com weblogs Tale of the Tait

Posted by Matt Tait February 5, 2013 at 3:10 p.m.

Signing Day circus starts a day early: CB Kevin Short wavers, but sticks with KU

Fort Scott C.C. cornerback Kevin Short. by Matt Tait

4:12 p.m. Update:

Just heard back from Kevin Short, who informed me — in all caps — that he was "GOING TO KU FOR SURE."

Short said he simply felt uneasy about what he was being brought in to do and wanted to talk with Charlie Weis and Clint Bowen about his role.

No harm, no foul, I guess.

I'd like to thank Kevin for getting me sharp before tomorrow's big day. I'm ready.

See you all in the morning.

3:38 p.m. Update:

In light of the whole Manti Te'o fiasco, it's certainly worth noting that it's hard to trust anything that doesn't come from the horse's mouth, so that's why it seems like a smart move to say that KU may still have a shot at Short.

The latest post to his Twitter account backed that thought:

just got off the Phone with the head man Weis we talked about the situation 2marr i will make it known #RockChalk shawty

That's all we know for today. I'm still trying to reach Kevin, but, either way, it's all about tomorrow and the letter and the fax. We'll know then.

I don't think KU's out of this yet.

Stay tuned...

Original post:

On the eve of national signing day, the Kansas University football program learned that Fort Scott Community College cornerback Kevin Short, a first-team All-American last season, has switched his commitment to New Mexico.

At around 2 p.m. today, Short posted on Twitter the following message: "I will be signing my NLI to the University of NewMexico i appreciate the long hard support from everybody but I have to do what I have t ..."

There is very little information out there at this point about why Short changed his mind but the possibilities seem to range from everything to academic concerns to a simple change of heart.

As of last Friday, the 6-2, 185-pound cornerback told me that he had been under a lot of pressure but that he was still planning to sign with KU.

I checked in with defensive tackle Marquel Combs, the unofficial leader of KU's "Dream Team 2013" movement to see if he had heard anything from Short today and Combs told me that Short had not been texting him back.

Efforts to reach Short myself, so far, have also proven unsuccessful.

We'll see how this whole thing develops, but it looks, for now, like KU has lost a pretty solid target and that the number of players expected to sign tomorrow has dropped from 15 to 14. If that holds, KU would have three spots remaining in the Class of 2013, should it choose to fill them.

Stay in touch with KUSports.com today for more on Short if anything becomes available and, as always, wake up with us bright and early tomorrow for my annual signing day blog that tracks the progress of KU's commitments all morning.