photo by: Journal-World illustration

University of Kansas football recruiting

Kansas is on the board in the 2027 recruiting class.

The Jayhawks earned the commitment on Wednesday night of Derek Gonzalez, a consensus three-star offensive lineman from Nogales High School in La Puente, California.

Gonzalez announced his decision in a post on social media. He chose KU over offers from Arizona, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas Tech, and Vanderbilt, among others.

Listed at 6-foot-7 and 280 pounds, Gonzalez was an all-league lineman in the Montview League during his junior season. He visited Lawrence for the weekend of the Sunflower Showdown in late October.

Gonzalez’s commitment becomes KU’s first for 2027, more than three months later in the cycle than they picked up their first 2026 commitment, Jaylen Mason, back in October of 2024. It is also a bit of a departure from recent years in the sense that KU opened up with quarterbacks in both 2026 (with Mason) and 2025 (with David McComb). Fellow quarterback Isaiah Marshall was also the second commitment in the class of 2024.

Gonzalez will follow in the footsteps of a trio of offensive linemen from the 2026 class in Malachi Mills, Kaden Moody and Kaden Snyder. He is KU’s latest recruit from Southern California, following cornerback Trey Brown in the 2026 class.