Broncbusters land major Kansas commitments on National Signing Day

Garden City, KS-First-year Garden City head football coach, Kiyoshi Harris and his staff hit the ground running when they arrived in early December.

Those long trips across the state and country have definitely paid off. 

The Broncbusters landed 24 recruits on national signing day, including 17 from Kansas, solidifying a new direction for 2024.  

"There are a lot of good football players in the state of Kansas," Harris said. "We made that a focal point in our recruiting." 

Harris's first order of business was securing his own backyard, signing Garden City's Sebastian Lopez, a Shrine Bowl selection and 6A state wrestling champ, along with Ethan Allen, who earned three varsity letters for Carlos Prieto on the Buffalo wrestling team while becoming an all-conference player in football three consecutive years.  

"Both Sebastian and Ethan were big-time local gets for our program," Harris added.  

Some big news came early in the day on Wednesday when 3A defensive player of the year, Karson Butts, a three-time state champion linebacker from Andale High School signed a letter of intent. He was a first-team All-State selection for the Indians during their 13-0 state-title run in 2022. He'll team up with with Teegan Haines, a 6'5 prodigy from McPherson High School where he was a Shrine Bowl selection and a first-team All-State pick. His 15-tackle, five-interception performance vs. Buhler in the state playoffs last November, which included two pick-6's, will go down as one of the greatest individual defensive games in Kansas High School history.  

Garden City also landed Olathe West wide receiver Elijah Hakim, who along with having a tremendous senior season where he caught 50 balls for 660 yards and 11 touchdowns, was the 6A high jump champion. He joins Samuel Sneed, a defensive lineman who began his prep career at Wichita Southeast before transferring to 6A powerhouse Derby for his senior season, and nose guard Cortez Chambers, an all-region selection from Bartlett High School in Memphis, TN.  

"We have to be able to stop the run," Harris explained. "These are the prototypical guys who I know can help us get that done." 

The newest signing class also brought in running back Jeremy Colbert Jr., an all-state honorable mention from Field Kindley High School in Coffeyville, along with 5'9 wide out J'Kharri Thomas, who was the 6A offensive player of the year at Owasso High School in Oklahoma where he racked up 1,221 all-purpose yards. Up front, Harris nabbed Siosaia "Leni" Lapuaho, one of the top offensive linemen in Utah along with 1^st-team All-Region tackle, Steven Moore from Memphis and dual-sport athlete, Jayden Sutton from Winfield, KS.  

"We have to be able to run the football," Harris said. "We put a major emphasis on that and were very intentional in the recruiting process."

Signing Day Roster