2023 Fort Worth d-line hybrid Kaleb James breaks down recent offer from CU
Colorado recently issued an offer to Class of 2023 DT/DE Kaleb James, a prospect out of Fort Worth (Nolan Catholic) Texas.
During James’ freshman year at Nolan Catholic, Darian Hagan was on campus checking out some upperclassmen the Buffs were looking at at the time, during which time the Buffs expressed interest in him right off the bat.
To say the next 12 months were tumultuous would be an understatement; Colorado underwent a coaching change, with Karl Dorrell taking the reins in Boulder in late February of 2020.
Within weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic began nationwide lockdowns and an NCAA recruiting dead period that largely stalled James’ recruitment by the Buffs.
“About a week or so ago, they contacted my coach and told him that they wanted to offer me. They got busy with spring ball up there but did offer me this week.”
Area recruiter and Buffs ILBs coach Mark Smith got things back in order in making contact with James, who was then forwarded to defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Chris Wilson, who ultimately issued the offer.
The Buffs join a growing list of programs after James, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound prospect now with a dozen offers in total.
Utah was his first Pac-12 offer and he also holds scholarship opportunities from Oklahoma State, Maryland, Baylor and Cincinnati, among others.
At the current moment, in-state institutions Southern Methodist and Texas Tech have been coming after him the hardest.
That said, James expressed an interest in leaving his native Lone Star State when it comes time to pick a college.
“I’m looking to travel and kind of want to get out of Texas,” he said. “...I want to take all my visits, travel as much as I can and I really like to learn about programs, learn about their schooling and things of that nature.”
On Twitter, James lists himself as a hybrid defensive tackle and end.
When asked for clarification as to what exactly his role is within the Vikings’ defense, James explained that he sees interior and exterior action on the d-line, depending on what package is being run.
“The defense we run is multiple fronts,” he said. “We can be in a 3-4, we can pretty much be in any type of defense at any moment in a game. Right now, I’m playing tackle and on some blitz schemes, I’m playing end.”
Coaches, Wilson in particular, seem to be gravitating towards James in part due to his ability to play multiple positions.
“They really like my versatility, that I can play both tackle and end,” James said. “They really like my get-off and that I am relentless to the ball.”
While Colorado now prepares to host a plethora of 2022 prospects on-campus over the summer, 2023 recruits that the Buffs are interested in, such as James, will look to get more immersed in the program via virtual tours and visits.
James and Smith discussed just that recently and a virtual visit to showcase Boulder, CU's campus and the Leeds School of Business (James said he wanted to major in business with a minor in economics) could well be on the horizon.