Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - ANOTHER Class of 2026 In-State Commit: 3-Star WR Nate Sims Picks Kansas Jayhawks Football

Starting point is 00:00:00 On this bonus Locked On Jayhawks, Lance Leipold and KU Football did it again. Another in-state recruit for the class of 2026, receiver from Ottawa, Nate Sells. You are Locked On Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked On Jayhawks. Thanks for making it your first listen every day. Second listen since it's a bonus episode, hopefully.

Starting point is 00:00:32 Thank you every day. Here's catching each and every episode. And you can find us anywhere you get your podcasts or on our YouTube page. Bonus episode here is Nate Sims, who's another commit in the state of Kansas. Class of 2026. Receiver Burning Speed has committed to KU. Sims, who's another commit in the state of Kansas, class of 2026, receiver, burning speed, has committed to KU, and Lance Leipold keeps it rolling in state and for that class. If you just tuned in to the opening, you're like, oh, Kansas got a receiver from Ottawa,

Starting point is 00:00:55 and you weren't from Kansas, maybe you're a Jayhawk fan, or you're just like, oh, I'll just check out this cool video. You're like, oh, cool, Kansas got a receiver from Canada. Nope, Ottawa, Kansas, if you're not familiar with the area. So Sims hops on board to the class of 2026 to represent another in-state local commit for Kansas. And I want to get into his scouting report and the receiver room of the future and what this means for the class of 2026. But it's hard not to view this again from the frame, the lens of the in-state element and again he's from ottawa high school in

Starting point is 00:01:27 ottawa kansas he had offers from kansas state and then he picked up a late offer from oklahoma state uh who i think is clint bowen as as one of their coaches now so he probably was a little bit more familiar with with him being at the high school level recently um so now you look at k you have five commits for the class of 2026 and four of them are in state you have jj dunnigan who's from manhattan who's seen as a very highly level or high level recruit and level player jaylen mason who's the quarterback from the wichita area hunter higgins who's the defensive end from the wichita area and now you add sims Sims from Ottawa and it's not just like random in-state guys where it's not like when I say random I guess I was more referring like

Starting point is 00:02:12 it's not just like walk-on level guys right like these are good legit players that would wind up in a lot of cases like again like you look at Sims he has offers to Kansas State and Oklahoma State you look at Dunnigan and he has offers to other big schools. You look at Hunter Higgins, and he's picking Kansas over. At the end, it's what, Nebraska and Michigan, right? These are kids with real other offers to real other big-time schools who are seen as legit recruits that you didn't just, oh, you know, you got the local kid. You know, you got the local kid who is also really good at football,

Starting point is 00:02:43 and that's a really cool place to be for Kansas, where you basically have four recruits in the state, and these are top 10 level players in the state of Kansas. And on top of it all, they're in on a few more guys who are in the top 10 in the state of Kansas. Like, you look at it right now, in 24-7 sports, Dunnigan and Higgins are both top five recruits in the state. Mason is ranked 10th, so three top 10. If you look at rivals, Higgins and Dunnigan are top four in

Starting point is 00:03:11 the state of Kansas. Sims is number 10. So on rivals, you have three top 10 recruits. So either side you're looking at, you have three top 10 recruits in this class for KU. And again, a couple other guys that are in that top 10 list that they're at least in on that, you know, maybe they'll land a couple of them, maybe they'll land one of them. But it feels like the in list that they're at least in on that you know maybe they'll land a couple of them maybe they'll land one of them but it feels like the inroads that they have made for this in-state recruiting is taking time in the landslide pulled era it had to be built over a long haul because of all the bad football that preceded the landslide pulled era but it seems like they are finally cracking through i mean i shouldn't say finally because they've had other really good you know local recruits right you figure devon neal who technically was a less miles recruit but sit on

Starting point is 00:03:44 board you think of guys like Calvin Clements, who switches off Baylor. There have been other good in-state recruits. I don't want to take away from that, but there hasn't been this overwhelming pipeline just yet, and it feels like that might be happening right now, because Lance Leipold is rolling

Starting point is 00:03:59 in-state for the class of 2026. Let's get to the Sim Scouting Report, future receiver position, and more on the class of 2026. This is Locked on Jayhawks. And today's episode of the show is brought to you by PrizePix, the place to get real money sports action. With over 10 million members and billions in winnings, PrizePix has changed the game in daily fantasy sports. Whether it's the playoffs or regular season, PrizePix has made it easier than ever to win big while enjoying all the football action now it's playoff time and there's no better way to get in on the action than with prize picks here's how it works you simply pick more or less on at

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Starting point is 00:05:24 Of course, if you're listening to this right now, it's possible the KUTCU game is going on right now okay uh so Nate Sims is scouting for six foot one 175 pounds I have seen two other places list him at six foot two so I guess we can say he's between six one and six foot two 175 pounds. This was listed on his recruiting profile in 24-7 sports. Ran a personal record 21.56 seconds in the 200 meter as a sophomore in the spring of 2024, which broke a Kansas 4A state record. So he already broke a Kansas 4A state record as a sophomore. Assume he's going to get faster than that, right? And his NCSA profile, which is like a recruiting database website for kids to enter and stuff,

Starting point is 00:06:09 kind of like a huddle, has him running a 439 40-yard dash, which I don't know if that's hand-timed or I don't know if it's laser-timed, for instance. But the fact that you're even around there, if somebody hand-timed him at a 439 at a camp, even if it's off, that could mean a 45 or-9 at a camp, even if it's off, like that could mean a 4-5 or a 4-5-5 or something, even if it's off by a little bit there. And even that, even if you're on a 4-5, that's fast for the high school level, right? Especially for the 4A Kansas level. Even 4-5 is fast for the college level.

Starting point is 00:06:39 It's not fastest, but it is fast for the college level. And that was him in high school, right? He's going to get faster, you would think, as he goes through. So speed is the name of the game here. That site also lists him as a 35-inch vertical. Now, you look at the size as well. Obviously, you'll look to add weight, and you want to add to that frame. But I wouldn't say he's like, again, like he's not the tallest receiver.

Starting point is 00:07:00 He's not Quinn Skinner or LJ Arnold, 6'4", 6'5". But a lot of times the receivers you see who are speed guys, 5'10", 5'9", 5'11", right? He's 6'1", or 6'2". So when you look at a guy who has a lot of speed, he has good height for a guy with a lot of speed, if that kind of makes sense. And he was used all over the field for them. So I guess hypothetically, like I almost view this as like an athlete for KU. Like, if it doesn't work a receiver, you can probably find somewhere else to use him because he was used as receiver.

Starting point is 00:07:32 He's been used as running back. He's been used as a return man. He's been used as defensive back. Oh, and he also punted for his school, and that's part of the game in 4A football, which, you know, it's not like it's 2A football or something where it's like, yeah, we only have 20 guys on the team. Like, you have to do everything. So it's not like it's 2a football or something where it's like yeah we only have 20 guys on the team like you have to do everything so it's not quite to that level but like he is being asked to do everything and he's pretty good at everything um by the way i love the idea you have the jalen pooch punt which obviously worked so well in the byu game and has worked

Starting point is 00:07:57 well for for kayu a couple other times what if you have a play where you motion um sims into taking the snap and then he's the one who pooch punts just adding another layer to confusion for the defense there knowing that is in his background but anyway you watch some of the film he's just better than a lot of the players he went against so it's tough to fully tell the translation but i'll tell you this like if you're like i'd rather he look like the best player out there than trying to be like well he doesn't always look like the best player but his his physical frame projects to that you know i i like being able to see what we have here this isn't necessarily a situation where you know you're investing in nfl

Starting point is 00:08:35 contract and the guy like you you are looking for more ready-made stuff in that sense to a little bit like certainly the the line is a little bit different but a receiver i think you know that that's a different ball game you saw his speed on tape um i really liked his route running i thought he used his speed well in the routes to really set up defenders so i i came away pretty impressed he's uh unrated on 24-7 sports he's listed as a 5.53 star on rivals um again it's probably tough to totally know where he should be rated based on the high school competition um which i don't mean this to come off like oh 4a football is just not very good in the state of canada no like 4a football is still very competitive there's a lot of good players and a lot of good teams in the state of kansas but it's not the consistent like

Starting point is 00:09:19 you look at 4a football who you're going to be going up against versus once you get on campus at ku it is going to be very different, obviously, right? So I fully trust Lance Lightpool developing, you know, diamond in the rough in-state kids with good physical tools. And that's kind of how I view this. Like, Rivals rates him as the No. 9 player in the state of Kansas. So I like this gift for KU who continues to add to that receiver room with a lot of young talent.

Starting point is 00:09:41 You're bringing four freshmen this year. Let's get to more of what that receiver room could look like moving forward for KU. This episode of the show is brought to you by Talkspace. Therapy is a game changer. It can help manage stress, improve sleep, and communicate more effectively. But finding the right therapist and fitting sessions into a busy schedule can be a challenge. That's where Talkspace comes in. Talkspace is the leading virtual therapy provider and it makes getting the help you need easy, accessible, and affordable. With Talkspace, signing up is simple. You can match with a licensed therapist who fits your needs, usually within 48 hours, and it's convenient. You can have sessions from the comfort of your home,

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Starting point is 00:10:50 That's Talkspace.com slash LockedOnCollege. Promo code SPACE80. All right, let's finish up here, the receiver room and what this means overall for the class of 2026 for KU. I mentioned that KU for incoming freshmen for the class of 2026 for KU. I mentioned that KU four incoming freshmen in the class of 2025, right? You look at it now for KU bringing on all these players. And you obviously brought in a lot of transfers, a lot of new faces in the receiver room. But a lot of those are even seniors, right? So this year's team for 2025, when I refer to this year's team, Emmanuel Henderson will be a senior.

Starting point is 00:11:24 Bryson Canty, Doug Amelia, and Levi Wentz will all be seniors. So those guys all graduate. And then at that point, you look at 2026 when Sims comes aboard, you'd have like a redshirt junior, Keaton Kabeca. You'd have a redshirt junior, Cam Pickett. You'd have the second year versions of all these freshmen you just brought in with Jaden Nickens, Bryson Hayes, Tate Nagy, Jackson Cook. Then you have a redshirt junior, Bryce Cohoon, who is a walk-on right now, but former

Starting point is 00:11:50 power five player from Syracuse who was previously on scholarship there with the Orange. So you look at it and basically it comes down to once you get to 2026, 2027, 2028, it really just comes down to that class that's coming in this year again with nickens hayes naggy and cook and the guys that you're going to bring in in the class of 2026 as who's going to kind of hit the ground running who's going to perform best in the competitions and the practices and earn the most playing time but he will be in that group with all those players uh in terms of you know trying to get that playing time and trying to connect with whoever the quarterback is at the time is it marshal is it david colm who is it you know jaylen mason coming to the class of 2026 as well and as far as that class obviously mason who i just mentioned as well uh five commits and they're all at different positions for ku i

Starting point is 00:12:39 guess technically you could say lenny brown and dunagan are both defensive backs uh dunagan could end up being a corner so that'd be the same position, but I feel like Dunnigan's going to be a safety, so with Lenny Brown being a corner, those would be different positions. But regardless, it's a great start for KU in the class of 2026. It's a great start in the state, and I think especially when you know in years past, Kansas has done so much work in the summer leading up into that fall of the upcoming, the final high school season for that class of players, getting commits that they've done so much work in the summer,

Starting point is 00:13:14 but they seem to be ahead of schedule this year. They're even further along. They're getting all this work done in the winter to even set themselves up even better for those summer gets that they get for that class of 2026. So good work from Lance Lightbulb and company. That'll do it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks. Stay around. We'll have a post-game recap of KUTCU later tonight. So check that out right here with Locked on Jayhawks.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - ANOTHER Class of 2026 In-State Commit: 3-Star WR Nate Sims Picks Kansas Jayhawks Football

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