Kansas football signs three junior college players during midyear signing period

The Kansas football program signed the first members of its 2016 recruiting class Wednesday, landing three junior college players on the first day of the midyear signing period.

The Jayhawks’ haul included defensive tackle DeeIsaac Davis, a Wichita native who spent last season at Highland Community College. Kansas also signed defensive tackle Isi Holani of Riverside (Calif.) City College and athlete Stephan Robinson of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.

Davis and Holani, a native of Hilo, Hawaii, will be juniors in 2016. Robinson will be a sophomore and will have three years of eligibility remaining.

“We are very excited to be adding DeeIsaac, Isi and Stephan to our program,” Kansas coach David Beaty said in a news release. “It is our goal to build Kansas football by addressing our biggest needs and at the same time finding the right people who fit the profile of who we want to be Jayhawks. All three of these guys help us accomplish that.”

Before Wednesday, Beaty had 13 players committed in his 2016 recruiting class. The official national signing day for high school athletes is Feb. 3.

All three players who signed Wednesday, meanwhile, could have an opportunity to compete for time in 2016 as Beaty begins the second year of a long rebuilding process. Davis, who finished his high school career at Andover and is listed at 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds, was rated as ESPN’s No. 12 overall junior college defensive tackle. He had 82 tackles and five sacks for Highland in 2015.

Holani, 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, was rated as the nation’s No. 15 junior college defensive tackle, per ESPN. He had 26 tackles in 2015. Robinson, listed at 5-foot-11 and 173 pounds, could project as either a receiver or defensive back. He played on both sides of the ball at NEO, finishing with 20 catches for 192 yards and eight tackles in just six games.

“Having the opportunity to get these guys on campus in January was huge for our program moving forward,” Beaty said, “and then also knowing we would have Stephan for three years was an added bonus.”

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 6:36 PM with the headline "Kansas football signs three junior college players during midyear signing period."