Kansas football recruiting

The Kansas football coaching staff returned to the Division II ranks and added an intriguing transfer at a position of need.

Leyton Cure, a native of Goodland who played at Fort Hays State, announced his commitment to KU Wednesday evening.

Cure is a 6-foot-3, 235-pound tight end who had 26 catches for 281 yards and two touchdowns as a redshirt freshman in 2022. He will join a position group that, with DeShawn Hanika’s leg injury in the spring, lacks healthy and experienced players outside of Jared Casey and Trevor Kardell.

Cure becomes the second addition at the position since offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes entered the fold and began coaching the tight ends.

“He just liked the way I could move and run routes,” Cure told Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant.com. “He just liked that about my game, and he really thought that I could help them out. He told me that he takes tight ends in all sizes, and as long as you can scheme people to get open and use their skill set, and that’s what he likes to do.”

Cure said on X when he entered the portal that he missed the 2023 season due to injury and will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Cure is also the older brother of Linkon Cure, the top player in the state of Kansas in 2025 and a target of KU (and Kansas State, and many of the nation’s powerhouse schools).

According to JayhawkSlant, Leyton had offers from Arkansas State, Old Dominion and Texas State in the portal and had gone on an unofficial visit to Texas A&M with Linkon.

Leyton Cure is the third player to join KU in the spring portal window after former Michigan offensive lineman Amir Herring and former Michigan State defensive end Bai Jobe.