2008 KANSAS JAYHAWKS FOOTBALL
Rvan McGeeney/KANSAN
Jocques Crawford won't run from the hype
The JUCO transfer wants to make people forget his troubled past and give the KU backfield depth and star power
BY CASE KEEFER
ckeefer@kansan.com
Heads turn and people follow Jocques Crawford as he searches for a seat in Mrkonic Auditorium to participate in Kansas Football Media Day.
The junior running back sits at the end of the first row and immediately cameras and microphones are placed right in front of his
face. The media wants Crawford to explain the aura surrounding his arrival in Lawrence.
There are the accolades - Crawford received the National Junior College Player of the Year Award at Cisco Community College in Texas last season. There's the hype - rivals. com ranks Crawford as the best recruit in coach Mark Mangino's new class.
And then, there's the number. Crawford is wearing a blue Jayhawk jersey like the other
25 players in the room, only his is imprinted with the No. 3 in the middle.
"I've always wanted to wear three," Crawford says. "I've worn three since high school."
But that number carries an extra significance in Lawrence lately. The last two Jayhawks to wear the digit - Charles Gordon and Aqib Talib - became college stars and now play in the NFL.
"I've been told," Crawford says.
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www.kansan.com | Thursday, August 28, 2008