Seven linemen, the national junior college offensive player of the year and a highly touted Kansas quarterback highlight the 2008 KU football recruiting class announced by coach Mark Mangino Feb. 6.

"We are pleased with our class overall," Mangino said. "We have been able to meet some immediate needs and some long-range needs."

Kansas signed 16 high school players, three junior college transfers and one major college transfer.

"We feel strongly about our transfer players, who should make an impact very soon," Mangino said.

Among those transfers is Jocques Crawford, who led the National Junior College Athletic Association in rushing with 1,935 yards and was that division's offensive player of the year as a sophomore last season. Crawford ran for 19 touchdowns while playing at Cisco (Texas) Junior College.

The signing class includes seven players from Texas, four from Kansas and two from Missouri. KU signed one player each from Nebraska, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, Florida and Oklahoma, along with a native Australian.

The four players from Kansas include McPherson tight end Tanner Hawkinson, Wichita North defensive tackle Darius Parish, Dodge City quarterback Kale Pick, and Rossville defensive end Duane Zlatnik.

Kansas signed four offensive linemen and three defensive linemen.

"We have been able to sign offensive and defensive linemen in this class who possess not only size and power, but great quickness and athleticism," Mangino said.

Four of the players are already on campus—junior college transfers Nathan D'Cunha and Rod Harris, and high school players Pick and Nick Plato.

Click here for complete bios of each player.

Football ceremony set for March 8

The public celebration for the 2007 KU football team has been moved to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 8, in Allen Field House.

The date of the recognition was changed to accommodate KU players' participation in the NFL Combine.

"We originally thought that we could schedule around our players' commitments at the combine," said KU Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony. "When we realized we couldn't, we looked for another date to give those players the opportunity to attend the celebration."

The event at Allen Field House is free to the public.