Eye On Kansas Football Recruit Prospects: Deandre Goolsby
By Dave Thoman
Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome to our third installment of The Jug’s series on uncommitted players from the state of Kansas that K-State will look to secure over the course of the next eight months. Earlier this week we looked at offensive tackle Peyton Newell, a defensive lineman from Hiawatha. Today we turn our sights on a player with a little more finesse – tight end Deandre Goolsby from Derby.
With offers from around the nation – including some of the SEC’s biggest hitters – Goolsby appears to have a plethora of options available. He’s been diligent in the recruiting process, and has not simply jumped at the opportunity to play for a team because he was really excited to see the Florida or Oregon logo on an envelope. According to 247 Sports he has paid visits to Nebraska, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Florida over the past few months (only the Oklahoma visit was official).
Despite the national interest in him, 247 Sports indicates Goolsby’s interest is limited to four teams – Arkansas, K-State, Kansas, and Oklahoma. This may just be an extrapolation of his activity – the two in-state schools were safe assumptions once they made offers simply because they’re in-state. Oklahoma has received his only official visit, while he has unofficially visited Arkansas twice. Rivals appears to be playing it safer, declaring medium interest in every school that has offered Goolsby.
Rivals ranks Goolsby the second best player in the state and the fifth best tight end in the nation. If he were to select the Wildcats, he would represent the only four-star athlete to commit to-date. Standing at 6’4″ and 225 pounds, he accrued an excellent highlight reel his junior year:
As you can see, Goolsby has a combination of size and speed that would add a lot of dimensions to the offense. Senior Andre McDonald should receive the majority of time on the field this year with junior Zach Trujillo getting some playing time as well. Other than those two, there are four freshman TEs on the roster – Austin Butterfield, Cody Small, Zach Heiman, and Dayton Valentine. While all four players could break out, none come to campus as highly touted on the national level. Once Trujillo exhausts his eligibility, the team will be in need of a new #1 tight end, and would certainly love it if Goolsby filled that role.