Kansas linebacker Trey Lathan is turning tackles into donations this season, and he’s making sure two children’s hospitals benefit every time he brings someone down.
Lathan said last Friday, just before Kansas opened the year against Long Island, that he will donate $50 to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and $50 to WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s Hospital for every tackle he records during the 2026 season.
“This season, I’m proud to give back to something bigger than football,” he wrote in a post on X.
A native of Goulds, Florida, Lathan spent his first three college seasons at West Virginia before joining KU in 2025. He briefly thought about entering the transfer portal during the winter, but ultimately came back to Lawrence for his fifth and final year of eligibility.
Last season, he led the Jayhawks with 86 tackles. If he had matched that total under this year’s pledge, the donations would have reached $4,300 for each hospital. Through KU’s blowout win over LIU to start the season, he has three tackles so far after playing limited snaps.
The announcement drew a strong response online, especially from West Virginia fans who showed appreciation for their former linebacker despite his transfer.
“It was positive,” Lathan said on Monday. “A lot of great feedback.
A lot of people willing to match my donation and stuff like that. So it was definitely a good feeling.”
Lathan said he has done charitable work before, including a back-to-school drive for children back home, but this is the first time he has tied donations directly to his tackle total.
The connection to WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s Hospital also carries personal meaning. West Virginia’s football program has a well-known relationship with its children’s hospital, including the pregame tradition of players waving to patients as they enter the stadium. Lathan brought that up while talking about the new effort Monday.
He also pointed to his family. Lathan has five siblings and said two young nephews experience sickle cell crises. Sickle cell disease is a hereditary blood disorder that changes the shape of red blood cells and can lead to severe pain and other health problems.
“So they’re constantly always at the hospital, but when they’re at the hospital, the hospital really (takes) care of them,” he said. “So I just wanted to do something nice and just help the kids out - also help the hospital.”
Kansas is scheduled to travel to Morgantown, West Virginia, on Nov. 14 for a matchup with the Mountaineers, a rematch of last year’s lopsided KU win in which Lathan had a sack and an interception.
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