Kansas has taken a hit in the middle of its defensive front before the season even begins.
Head coach Lance Leipold said earlier this week that Tre’Von McAlpine, the former Texas Tech and Tulane transfer, will miss the entire year after undergoing ACL surgery in the spring.
“Tre’von was injured in the spring, had surgery, and he will not play this season. We have filed a waiver and everything in place, and all things [hoping] that he'll be a Jayhawk next year.”
McAlpine was supposed to bring real punch to the nose tackle spot. At 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, he was expected to help eat up blocks inside and free up the edge rushers behind him.
His track record suggested he could do it. In 19 games at Texas Tech, McAlpine posted 32 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. After that, he moved on to Tulane and put together a strong lone season there, finishing with 35 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack and 1 fumble recovery for a team that reached its first College Football Playoff before losing to Ole Miss.
The big question now is whether he gets another year of eligibility. With the NCAA situation still unsettled, Kansas is hoping that McAlpine will be granted extra time and able to suit up for the Jayhawks next year.
For this season, though, the job in the middle is open. Eamon Smalls and Jibriel Conde are the most likely candidates to step in at nose tackle.
Smalls comes to KU through the NCAA Transfer Portal after three seasons at UAB. His redshirt sophomore year included 50 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1 sack. He was rated as an 85-overall transfer and the nation’s 1,573rd-best prospect in the portal.
Conde, meanwhile, finished his final season at Grand Valley State with 30 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. He was ranked as the nation’s 536th-best transfer.
Kansas’ defensive front has already seen how much damage a patched-together line can cause. Last season, the Jayhawks allowed 184.1 rushing yards per game, ranked 105th in the nation, while the pass defense gave up 225.4 yards per game, good for 68th nationally. That left Kansas 95th in total defense at 409.5 yards allowed per game.
Now the pressure shifts to second-year defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald. This is his first major test, and how Kansas handles the loss of McAlpine could go a long way toward determining whether the Jayhawks can steady themselves in the race for bowl eligibility.
In Other News...
Former Jayhawk Brett Ballard Seriously Hurt In Crash
Brett Ballard, a former Kansas guard who now leads the Washburn mens basketball program, was seriously injured in a car accident Monday on Interstate 470 near Topeka. According to the report, Ballard was driving a Ford F-150 when the vehicle left the roadway and struck several objects before coming to a stop, a frightening scene for a coach who has remained a familiar name in Kansas basketball circles.
Washburn University president JuliAnn Mazachek said the school is concerned about Ballard and asked for privacy as he recovers. The university said it will provide more information when appropriate, leaving the focus for now on Ballards recovery and on a basketball community that will be watching closely for any update. [Read more 🡒]
KU Camp Roster Offers An Early Hint At Rising Young Talent
Kansas wrapped up its summer conditioning program at the end of July, and the first camp roster update offered a quick look at how much some of the younger Jayhawks have changed in a short time. The numbers attached to the high school newcomers and early enrollees point to a group that spent the offseason reshaping their bodies, with several players arriving on campus noticeably bigger or leaner than they were in the spring or back in high school.
For a program trying to build depth, those shifts matter because they hint at who is adapting fastest to the college game before the real competition ramps up in camp. Roster changes can be routine from year to year, but this kind of early physical progress is often the first sign that a few rising young talents are ready to make themselves part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Just Took A Painful Hit At Linebacker Ahead Of 2026
Kansas was already mapping out its linebacker picture for the upcoming season, and Landyn Watson had looked like a veteran piece worth counting on after transferring in from Kentucky. Instead, the Jayhawks now have to adjust without him after his bid for one more season of eligibility ran into trouble, a setback that lands especially hard for a position group that leans on experience and continuity.
Lance Leipold said he was disappointed by the ruling and pointed to missing documentation as a complication that made the process difficult to get through. With Watson sidelined from the mix, Kansas will turn more heavily to redshirt senior Trey Lathan to anchor the linebackers, a reminder that even before the season begins, depth charts can change in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]