Andre Carter likes the Detroit pipeline at Kansas, recaps visit

The Kansas coaching staff is making a push for one of the most sought-after defensive linemen in the transfer portal.

Last weekend Andre Carter took an official visit to Kansas and saw some familiar faces. Carter went to high school at Cass Tech and knows several players from Detroit on the Kansas roster.

Cornerback Kalon Gervin was his host and the two played together at Cass Tech.

“I know Marvin Grant, Lorenzo McCaskill, Rich Miller, and Kalon,” Carter said they are all from Detroit. “I know Lonnie Phelps too because he played at Miami, Ohio.”

The Jayhawks have built a pipeline to the Detroit area over the last two years since Chris Simpson arrived on campus. The KU linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator has recruited the area for years.

Carter, who played at Western Michigan, said having a connection in Detroit is a big factor for him.

“It means a ton to me just because they understand and know what type of player they're getting,” Carter said. “And what type of person they're recruiting and what they're looking for in that player specifically. They know they're going to get a dog, a hard worker, someone who's going to come in and compete every day and understand that this college football is a grind.

He continued: “And that's why I love the Detroit pipeline has grown strong with them. Because obviously I know what I'm getting myself into, just as much as they know what they're getting.”

Simpson and Carter had no problem getting reconnected after he entered the transfer portal. Simpson recruited him when he was in high school.

“It was pretty easy because he's recruited me before college,” Carter said. “In high school, he recruited me when he was at Buffalo. He offered me and recruited me heavily then. And it was just amazing, honestly, being able to reconnect with him at a bigger conference and a bigger school and seeing the same interest and seeing the same love that he has for coaching.”

Carter left Lawrence with a good experience after seeing everything they offer their players.

“What stood out to me was just everything overall and the way the program is run schematically and it's just hard for people to fail if you go to Kansas,” Carter said. “That's how I feel at the end of the day. I feel like you go there, they have a great program, to where it's set up to where you have no choice but to be successful.”

There were several things that stood out to Carter but on that caught his attention was watching practice and seeing the players interact with each other.

“Watching the practice squad, the teammates, the guys in the locker room, and that practice was unbelievable,” he said. “Just to watch them get out there was probably my favorite thing throughout the whole trip. I wish I could have made it to see the second practice, but I had to make it back for a flight. But the first practice was pretty live, and it was good to see the Detroit guys that I haven't seen in a while.”

The Kansas coaches are scheduled for an in-home visit sometime today. Carter is mapping out his next week and trying to finalize his visits. He has offers from several schools including Ole Miss, Kansas, Nebraska, Auburn, Cal, Iowa State, Indiana, and Virginia Tech.

He said he is still deciding whether to take one or two more visits.

“I will see but the schools that I am looking to visit are Ole Miss, Cal, Auburn or Indiana,” he said.

The 6-foot-5, 263 pound defensive end is coming off a solid season with 70 tackles and seven sacks.