Kansas’ wide receiver room has the look of a group built for the long haul, and assistant coach Terrence Samuel isn’t hiding his excitement about the top four options he’s working with in camp.
Cam Pickett, Keaton Kubecka, Nik McMillan and Nahzae Cox have separated themselves early, at least in Samuel’s eyes, and the Kansas assistant pointed first to the work they’ve put in away from the field.
“This is the first time in a while that I’ve had four guys that could all probably jump into a bodybuilding contest,” Samuel said Monday.
The praise kept coming. Samuel described McMillan as “an aggressive guy that snatches the ball, has really good ball skills and a strong frame.” He called Kubecka “strong frame,” said Pickett is “rocked up,” and labeled Cox “a beast.”
Pickett, a 6-foot, 195-pound senior from Chicago, is back after tying for the team lead in receptions with 45 last season. He turned those catches into 476 yards and three touchdowns in his first year at Kansas after starting his career at Ball State.
Kubecka, a 6-2, 205-pound junior from Austin, Texas, caught 17 passes for 157 yards and one touchdown in 2025. Samuel said his confidence has taken a clear step forward.
“Going to some of those games and feeling like the 50-50s didn’t come to him the way he wanted them to … I think this year he’s been really aggressive in attacking 50-50s so he’s seen more success. This is by far his best camp,” Samuel said.
McMillan arrives from Buffalo after posting 62 receptions for 981 yards and three touchdowns a year ago. Cox, a 6-3, 215-pound senior transfer from Fresno, California, had 40 catches for 473 yards and five scores last season at Middle Tennessee after beginning at Fresno City College.
There’s still plenty of room for movement behind them. KU has 14 wide receivers on the roster, so the depth chart is far from settled. But with associate head coach Andy Kotelnicki back running the offense after two seasons at Penn State, Samuel thinks the group can fit the style Kansas is about to lean into.
“Guard your grill and knuckle up. Here we go.
Let’s just go,” Samuel said. “When Andy comes in and we’re going to start calling plays the way he does and how aggressive he is, we’re going to need to be right there with him with an aggressive stance and be ready to go hit whoever’s in front of us.
“Everybody that’s been here (as offensive coordinator) ... they all have been great play callers. The only thing is Andy’s personality just overrides a lot of things.
That’s infectious. So it makes it easy.
He’s coaching everybody. He’s a part of everything.
So it makes it to where that relationship piece … our guys feel Andy, and that’s a good thing. It’s good to have him being around giving his wisdom to guys all the time.
And if they’re not doing it the right way he’s letting them know.”
Samuel, a former Purdue wide receiver who lettered from 1991-94, also spent time discussing the younger players in the room. Kansas has a large group of freshmen receivers, including Kansans Bryson Hayes of Maize High, Nate Sims of Ottawa High, Tyren Parker of Shawnee Heights, AJ Batiste of Wichita Collegiate and Griffin Baker of Wichita Northwest.
Corbin Glasco and Jackson Cook are freshmen from Denton, Texas, and Loganville, Georgia, respectively. Tate Nagy is a sophomore from Blue Valley West High, Donald Collier is a sophomore graduate of Trinity Academy in Wichita and Israel Moses is a junior from Minneapolis.
Glasco has stood out at camp, mostly because of his speed.
“That speed is different,” Samuel said. “I mean he (Glasco) is one of those guys that has got to understand the speed of the game.
Coming out of Dallas he had a lot of success. He had to practice hard, but nobody could catch him in practice.
“But here, knowing that these guys are just as fast … he’s maybe one of the fastest guys we have on the team, but he’s got to learn how to play with that speed all the time. Most of my wide receivers when they come in young, it’s the speed of the game.
“Can you make plays under duress with a defender all over you and can you use that speed? Do you have good conditioning with that speed?
Because one of his things that we’re trying to work on is make sure he’s got good condition. I mean, he can run 22, 23 miles an hour, but if you get tired, you only give me one rep a quarter.
So he’s got to understand the college game. He’s got to have his body right.
He’s got to have his understanding of the offense so he plays fast. If he plays fast, he’s going to be different.”
Kansas opens the season Sept. 4 against Long Island. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
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