photo by: Journal-World illustration

University of Kansas football recruiting

A week after declaring himself “1000% committed” to the Kansas football program, cornerback Nazir Pitchford is apparently no longer part of KU’s 2027 class.

Zach Blostein of 247Sports reported Pitchford’s decommitment on Sunday afternoon while noting that he was expected to flip to North Carolina — a school to which he was currently on a visit. Pitchford shared Blostein’s article on X and posted a photo from that visit.

Pitchford was part of the cluster of seven prospects who had traveled Lawrence over the weekend of June 6 and committed to the Jayhawks in the span of just over a day, along with defensive end C.J. Johnson; defensive tackle Quentin Dorsey; linebacker Elliott Neff; and wide receivers Maliek Brown, Tavares Powell and Jay Williams.

But Pitchford, from Palmetto High School in Florida, kept his trip to UNC on the schedule for the following weekend and soon deleted his KU commitment post.

Prior to pledging his services to the Jayhawks, he had previously been Kansas State’s first commitment in the class under its new head coach Collin Klein before backing out and picking KU over Boston College, Pittsburgh and North Carolina — for a brief moment.

A 6-foot-1, 175-pound corner, Pitchford tallied six tackles and a pass breakup on defense as a junior last season while adding 22 catches for 344 yards and seven touchdowns on offense. He had told Jon Kirby of JayhawkSlant.com that his relationship with position coach Brandon Shelby and the program’s broader trajectory helped sway him to KU.

Now, KU will have to ensure it retains Powell, from Bradenton, Florida, who is reportedly Pitchford’s cousin. It also no longer has a cornerback in its 16-man recruiting class and may need to pivot in another direction this summer. Two seniors at the position are set to exhaust their eligibility next year in Syeed Gibbs and Ball State transfer Roman Pearson.