Six Jayhawks Selected to Athlon Sports Preseason Teams

(Courtesy of Kansas Athletics)

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Six Jayhawks were selected to the 2020 Athlon Sports Preseason All-Big 12 Teams, eclipsing the previous season’s mark of five selection, while Pooka Williams, Jr. and Kyle Thompson were recognized by the publication for the second-consecutive year.

Stephen Robinson, Jr., Andrew Parchment, Malik Clark and Dru Prox all earned recognition from Athlon for the first time.

Williams was Kansas’ lone first-team selection, earning the all-purpose nod, while being recognized on Athlon’s first team two seasons in a row. The New Orleans native finished the 2019 season with All-Big 12 First Team honors by the conference and the Associated Press, finishing with 1,061 rushing yards on 203 attempts with three touchdowns. Williams added 27 catches for 214 yards and two more scores, and concluded his sophomore campaign with a team-best 115.9 all-purpose yards per game.

Thompson was selected as the second team punter, and entered last season as the Athlon Preseason All-Big 12 First Team selection. The senior was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention following the 2019 slate, and finished with 57 punts for 2,538 total yards. Thompson tallied 18 kicks inside the 20 and averaged 44.5 yards per punt.

Robinson earned his first recognition from Athlon, and was named as the all-purpose selection to the third team. The Los Angeles, California, native hauled in 45 passes last season for 727 yards, while averaging a team-high 16.2 yards per catch with eight receiving touchdowns. Robinson was fundamental in the kicking game, leading KU with 22.5 yards per kick return, while finishing second on the team with 85.2 all-purpose yards per game.

Joining Williams, Thompson and Robinson were three fourth-team honorees in Parchment, Clark and Prox.

Parchment led Kansas in receiving yards (831), catches (65) and receiving yards per game (69.2) last season, while hauling in seven touchdowns.

Clark made 11 starts last season and 11 in his redshirt-sophomore campaign with the Jayhawks, paving the way for Williams out of the backfield.

Prox played in four games last season, recording 39 tackles and two sacks. The Kaufman, Texas, native played in all 12 games as a redshirt-sophomore, while playing in seven games as a redshirt-freshman.