photo by: Slippery Rock University Athletics

Slippery Rock's Kanye Thompson is pictured during a game against Franklin Pierce on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Rindge, N.H.

The Kansas football team got a head start on portal season last year when it secured the commitment of Bangally Kamara, then transferring away from South Carolina, on Nov. 4, 2024; at the time, he was the first known pledge of the entire offseason cycle.

KU may not be quite as early this time around, but its transfer-portal recruitment for 2026 is well underway with the 2025 campaign still ongoing. Slippery Rock cornerback Kanye Thompson told the Journal-World on Thursday that he will visit KU on Monday.

Thompson has attracted plenty of attention since entering the portal officially on Tuesday, and also has offers from schools like Memphis, Pittsburgh, South Florida and Syracuse. The native of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, just wrapped up his season with the Lions at the Division II level. As a redshirt junior during the 2025 season, he recorded 60 tackles with three sacks, four forced fumbles and 10 passes defensed; he has also occasionally returned kicks and punts.

Thompson is a first-team all-conference cornerback, but he’s also a second-team All-American in Division II outdoor track and field. He has run the 100 meters in 10.13 seconds. Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant.com reported that KU has pitched Thompson on competing in both football and track (an arrangement the Jayhawks have made work recently with center Bryce Foster, a national qualifier in the shot put).

“I want to see the facilities, meet the track coaches, and see a different side of life,” Thompson told Kirby of his upcoming visit. “I’ve never been around this. Even coming out of high school, I wasn’t a highly touted division one kid. I’m just really excited to see what, you know, what that life is like and what to expect from the program.”

While KU will have a lot of holes to fill after the 2025 season concludes (the Jayhawks still have at least two games to go), KU is not expected to have a lot of vacancies at cornerback, where its top contributors have included redshirt freshman Austin Alexander, redshirt junior Syeed Gibbs, redshirt sophomore Jahlil Hurley and sophomore Jalen Todd. The main player exhausting his eligibility is sixth-year senior contributor D.J. Graham II, a transfer from Utah State.

The Jayhawks also have a pair of committed freshmen coming in with Lennie “Trey” Brown and Robert Reddick.

photo by: Slippery Rock University Athletics

Kanye Thompson of Slippery Rock competes in outdoor track and field nationals on Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Pueblo, Colo.