photo by: LSU Eunice

LSU Eunice infielder Tyson LeBlanc swings against Nunez Community College on Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Denham Springs, La.

Just as Kansas fans familiarized themselves with a whole new group of Jayhawks at the start of the 2025 season — which proved to be an ultimately rewarding pursuit, given how successful the fresh group of recruits ultimately was — they will have to do the same ahead of 2026.

The extent to which this particular roster will be revamped depends, as always, on the MLB Draft in mid-July. The unexpected professional signings of several key players last offseason led directly to the high degree of turnover that characterized the 2025 squad.

And of course, even if junior-college talent continues to form the core of their rosters, head coach Dan Fitzgerald, recruiting coordinator Jon Coyne and the rest will be hard at work in the transfer portal looking for players from four-year colleges. That’s how they acquired several key one-year starters on this year’s team, such as Tommy Barth (East Tennessee State), Brady Counsell (Minnesota), Ian Francis (Youngstown State) and Sawyer Smith (St. Cloud State).

“What we’ll look like next year, I don’t know,” Fitzgerald said on Saturday. “We’ve got a lot of pieces to replace. But I’ve got an amazing staff, and those suckers can really recruit. We will be very busy in the coming weeks.”

Already, though, KU’s JUCO class ranks as the best in the nation for the third straight season. The JBB announced it in December, and the Jayhawks have continued to add to it in the months since.

Here’s a look at the players who will form the foundation of next year’s roster, as the Jayhawks look to return to the NCAA Tournament with regularity now that, as Fitzgerald put it, they have raised the bar.

Signing-day announcements

Cade Baldridge: A middle infielder from Roff, Oklahoma, who joins KU from Cowley County Community College, Baldridge has a strong defensive pedigree, as he received a gold glove when he played second base as a freshman and has since started at shortstop as a sophomore. On the offensive side, he’s hit .333 in his career and hitting coach Tyler Hancock considers him a top-of-the-lineup bat.

Dane Ebel: Fitzgerald and pitching coach Brandon Scott have said they view Ebel, a righty from Lincoln Trail College, as a potential member of the Jayhawks’ starting rotation next year. He has a three-pitch repertoire of fastball, slider and changeup.

Savion Flowers: Flowers is a center-field candidate for next season’s roster who joins KU from Cisco College, where Coyne once worked as recruiting coordinator. Flowers is such an athletic “monster,” as Fitzgerald put it, that “when he came on his visit, everyone probably thought he was a football recruit or one of Bill (Self)’s recruits.” He hit .320 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs as a freshman.

Tyson LeBlanc: Fitzgerald, a former LSU assistant, joked that KU has been needing some more Louisiana flavor since the departure of Collier Cranford following the 2024 season. The Jayhawks will get it with LeBlanc, who is from Maurice, Louisiana, and played for LSU Eunice. Another middle infielder, he won a national title as a key contributor to the Bengals in 2024 and was even better at the plate as a sophomore, leading his team in both slugging percentage (.683) and stolen bases (39 in 45 tries).

Augusto Mungarrieta: KU will need to replace Ian Francis behind the plate and one answer could be Mungarrieta, a high-potential catcher of whom Fitzgerald said, “You look at him, and if he’s shaving, he hasn’t been shaving very long. There’s a big ceiling to him. Really excited about him.”

Jacob O’Day: O’Day is another pitcher Scott suggested could project as a starter, and he comes out of a program in Heartland Community College that KU has frequently mined for talent over the years. Fitzgerald praised his high strikeout rate, as in 2024 when he struck out 93 batters in just 14 appearances.

Jhamil Rivera: Rivera comes from the same Western Oklahoma State College team that gave KU two of its best players on the 2025 roster in Derek Cerda and Dariel Osoria, where he has played in the corner outfield spots and at first base.

Frankie Santiago: KU didn’t have to go far to find this Kansas City Kansas Community College product, although he is originally from Cayey, Puerto Rico. His defensive positional fit as a listed catcher and first baseman isn’t quite clear, but he’s clubbed 29 home runs across two years with the Blue Devils. Hancock said, “We expect him to come in and be a middle of the lineup bat.”

Dylan Schlotterback: Dylan Schlotterback and his brother Gavyn have each manned the corner infield spots for Paris Junior College, whose head coach Clay Cox is “one of the great infield coaches in our sport,” according to Fitzgerald. Dylan led his team in nearly every offensive category, including tallying 12 home runs and a whopping 81 RBIs, and Fitzgerald believes he can become a “special player”; Hancock said that he “can also defend at a high level and has a tremendous work ethic.”

Ty Thomson: This signing means a little extra for Fitzgerald, since his first head-coaching gig was at Thomson’s program, Des Moines Area Community College. It’s also a good one for Scott, who said, “Ty is exactly what I look for in a left-handed pitcher,” based on the combination of his size and his ability to generate swings and misses with a fastball. Thomson’s ERA of 2.91 and WHIP of 0.97 were the lowest among the Bears’ frequently used pitchers.

Added since then

Caleb Deer: Deer announced his decision on May 21 as the Jayhawks were getting ready for the Big 12 tournament. He is a teammate of Santiago’s at KCKCC, a 6-foot-6 left-handed pitcher who started in six of his 19 appearances during the 2025 season with a 2.45 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched.

Brennan Haman: Thomson’s teammate at DMACC, he pitched just 2/3 of an inning in two appearances in 2025, but in 2024, the righty only allowed one earned run between March 11 and May 25. On the year, he tallied 42 strikeouts to 14 walks and had a 1.04 ERA.

Anthony Mazza: Another very recent addition to KU’s class, Mazza just completed his freshman season at Hutchinson Community College. The Prairie Village native, a catcher, was an on-base machine who hit .424 with seven home runs and 57 RBIs.

Mathis Nayral: Nayral is the only player on this list whose signing has not been announced by KU, although his institution, Cochise College, said he has signed a letter of intent. Regardless, Nayral will add international flavor to the 2026 roster as he is originally from Montpellier, France. In 2025 he showed significant improvement as a starter for Cochise, striking out 84 batters in 80 innings of action with a 2.70 ERA.

Boede Rahe: Rahe did not allow an earned run in his first six starts of the season for Kirkwood Community College before Southeastern finally got four across against him on April 3. He finished the year with a 2.58 ERA and 97 strikeouts to 21 walks and was a first-team All-Region selection.

Gavyn Schlotterback: KU lists the more recently signed Schlotterback as a catcher and pitcher, and he showed that same two-way aptitude at Paris, where he also played a lot of first base. Schlotterback batted .365 with nine home runs while holding opposing offenses to a 3.19 ERA in his 19 appearances in 2025. He issued just eight walks on the season.

KU also has one known incoming freshman, Cru Huenfeld, a multi-sport standout from St. Thomas Aquinas. He’s a lefty who plays first base and pitches. Hancock said of Huenfeld, “Cru has an advanced approach at the plate and a good awareness of the strike zone. He is a guy we believe has a really bright future and can be a power bat in the lineup.”

photo by: Cowley County Community College

Cowley County Community College infielder Cade Baldridge swings at a pitch against Highland on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Arkansas City.

photo by: Cisco College

Savion Flowers bats for Cisco College in this undated photo.

photo by: Northwest Florida State College

Northwest Florida State College catcher Augusto Mungarrieta prepares to bat during a game against Pearl River on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Panama City, Fla.

photo by: Heartland Community College

Heartland Community College pitcher Jacob O’Day releases a pitch against Illinois Central College on Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Normal, Ill.

photo by: Kansas City Kansas Community College

Kansas City Kansas Community College infielder Frankie Santiago slides against Fort Scott on Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Kansas City, Kan.

photo by: Paris Junior College

Paris Junior College’s Dylan Schlotterback connects with the ball against Bossier Parish on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Bossier City, La.

photo by: Des Moines Area Community College

Des Moines Area Community College pitcher Ty Thomson winds up against Northeast on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Boone, Iowa.

photo by: Des Moines Area Community College

Des Moines Area Community College pitcher Brennan Haman throws in a game against Southeastern on Sunday, May 12, 2024, in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

photo by: Sammi Carpenter/Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Hutchinson Community College catcher Anthony Mazza throws during a game against Barton on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in Salina.

photo by: Kirkwood Community College

Kirkwood Community College’s Boede Rahe celebrates in this undated photo.

photo by: Paris Junior College

Paris Junior College’s Gavyn Schlotterback celebrates against Blinn on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Brenham, Texas.