Head Football Coach Lance Leipold talks with media members on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at the Anderson Family Football Complex.

With pandemic recruiting restrictions finally lifted by the NCAA as of Tuesday, when the calendar turned to June, Kansas football head coach Lance Leipold anticipates the next few weeks will be bustling around the facility.

“June, as they say, is going to be crazy for everyone in college football,” Leipold said recently, “as we get a chance to go out and interact and people get to come on campus.”

It figures to be a particularly important month for Leipold and his newly assembled staff. Not only will recruits be able to make official and unofficial visits to campus for the first time since normal recruiting activities were shut down due to COVID in March of 2020, but due to the unique timing of the coaching change, June also marks the first time the new coaches will be able to be around the current Jayhawks at length.

What’s more, KU football will be hosting mini-camps for high school players on June 15 and June 23, as well as a prep team camp on June 16.

“We’re looking into a lot of ways to clone ourselves and be multiple places at the same time,” Leipold joked. “But looking forward to building those relationships in a more personal matter as we go.”

With so much to attend to in the midst of transitioning to a new regime and establishing expectations for the returning players, Leipold expects it will be an “extremely” challenging month.

As important as recruiting will be, KU’s new head coach said the Jayhawks who already are on board are equally important. Leipold trusts the team’s director of sports performance, Matt Gildersleeve, to do more than help the players with summer strength and conditioning work. Gildersleeve also will introduce the Jayhawks to the culture Leipold wants to promote.

While that’s going on, Leipold and the staff will be gearing up for recruiting visits and camps as they continue to evaluate prospects. The head coach thinks the weeks ahead will enable KU to make strides toward filling its 2022 recruiting class, and he said getting started on the 2023 class will be “so vital,” as well.

“We’ve got a lot of things going and a lot of ways to get it done here,” Leipold said. “And it’ll be a busy month of June.”

A few recruits already have told Jayhawk Slant of their plans to get to campus for a visit this month, including: Kaleb Purdy, a three-star Class of 2022 defensive back from St. Louis; Jalon Peoples, a three-star 2022 cornerback from Cedar Hill, Texas; Avery Johnson, an as of yet unranked dual-threat quarterback in the Class of 2023, from Maize; and Anthony Davis, a three-star cornerback from Dallas.