#KUFallCamp Day 4: Pleasant Surprises
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – The fourth day of Kansas football’s fall camp gave the Jayhawk coaches, including third-year head coach David Beaty, another chance to look at the development of the players while the team practiced in helmets and shoulder pads while working through the acclimatization schedule.
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The four days has given Beaty and staff time to evaluate every period and identify what the coaches like to call “pleasant surprises” on the team.
In Beaty’s post-practice press conference he identified a number of players that are beginning to out-perform early expectations.
Quan Hampton, a freshman wide receiver from Texarkana, Texas, is one of those pleasant surprises. At Texas High School, Hampton set school records in receptions and receiving yards, as well as the record for most receptions in a single-game, earning all-district honors in 2015 and 2016.
“(Hampton) has been really, really good to this point,” Beaty said. “He has a lot more route-running ability than we thought. We didn’t know that he knew that much about the position, but he’s prepared, no doubt about it.”
Other names Beaty mentioned as impressive young players were offensive linemen Andru Tovi and Earl Bostick Jr.
A sophomore that transferred to KU after a year at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona, and a native of Halawa, Hawaii, Tovi started all 10 games at right guard last season for Pima. At Mililani High School, Tovi helped his team to its first-ever state title in 2014.
Bostick is a 6-6, 270-pound freshman out of Barnwell High School in Barnwell, South Carolina. Transitioning to the offensive line from playing tight end and defensive line in high school, Bostick is impressing coaches with his size and skill. Helping his team to a 12-2 overall mark in 2016, Bostick earned all-area selection honors his senior season at defensive line, as well as all-region accolades as a tight end both his junior and senior campaigns.
“I think Earl Bostick is going to be a really good player,” Beaty said. “He is a massive human now, he’s going to be a really big dude. Every day the light is coming on brighter and brighter which is really good. He doesn’t really know a whole lot about that position yet, he played a little more tight end in high school, but he is going to be a big kid. He’s a great kid, very conscientious.”
Two walk-ons, sophomore junior college transfer Moses Marshall IV and freshman Vaughn Taylor, have caught Beaty’s eye.
Marshall is a tight end that came to Kansas from Erie Community College. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Marshall played in all 10 games for the Kats before transferring to KU.
Taylor, a product of Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington, D.C., who just arrived in Lawrence at the start of fall camp, has made an impression on his coaches already.
“(Taylor) looks like a guy that I think might be able to help us this year,” Beaty said. “He’s got to get some weight on him, he’s light right now, but he’s conscientious, he’s smart, he really works hard and stay on top of all of the little details which is good.”
Left-footed kicker Liam Jones has also sparked excitement from Beaty in the first four days of camp. Hailing from Choctaw, Oklahoma, Jones finished his prep career at Choctaw High School with 174 points, leading the team in scoring in both his junior and senior seasons.
“Liam Jones is a very talented guy,” Beaty said. “I am a very happy guy, I mean I have a smile on my face that he is here.”
Beaty’s full press conference can be found on the Kansas Football Facebook page at Facebook.com/KansasFootball.
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