Kansas stars Dominick Puni, Austin Booker opt out of Guaranteed Rate Bowl

A pair of major contributors in the trenches won’t be playing for Kansas against UNLV on Dec. 26 in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Head coach Lance Leipold shared on Sunday that offensive tackle Dominick Puni and edge rusher Austin Booker didn’t travel with the team and have thusly opted out of the bowl game.

Puni, a redshirt senior, is likely to enter the 2024 NFL Draft after a strong finish to his career. He’s started the past two years at tackle for the Jayhawks after transferring to Lawrence ahead of the 2022 season.

Booker also transferred to Kansas, but ahead of this past season, joining the Jayhawks after beginning his career at Minnesota.

He put together a strong debut season at Kansas, playing in 12 games and starting one. He recorded eight sacks and 12 tackles for loss, plus a pair of forced fumbles.

Leipold recently discussed the outlook for Kansas’ next recruiting class

Leipold wrapped up the No. 42 recruiting class when national signing day ended. That number might not pop off the page — but considered Kansas‘ No. 70 finish in last season’s class, the Jayhawks have had a phenomenal recruiting cycle.

Their class is good for No. 4 in the Big 12 as it stands, up 10 spots from their No. 14 finish in 2022. According to Leipold, it’s only up from here as he will be in Lawrence through the 2029 season.

“We are very excited about this class,” Leipold said during national signing day. “I think we hit our needs of course … but I think this is a special class in a lot of ways. It’s extremely talented. I think this group has gotten close already. We will have more midyear enrollees than we’ve ever had in our time.

“All but two committed, I think, before Fourth of July, and they all stayed (together),” Leipold said. “I think that speaks about them and their word — their process. (It speaks to) the job our assistant coaches have done building those relationships and equally the trajectory of this program and the things that are happening with a lot of people still trying to recruit them.”

Leipold’s class is headlined by a pair of four-star EDGE rushers in Deshawn Warner and Dakyus Brinkley, as well as four-star safety Austin Alexander. Overall, Kansas has signed 17 recruits and is far from finished, according to the Kansas headman. He expects to add more recruits throughout the spring season, not to mention talent from the transfer portal.

“I really appreciate the efforts of everyone associated in the recruiting process for us,” Leipold continued. “It’s probably as good of a class as I’ve been a part of as a head coach. We have some guys playing on some very successful teams in their own states. That’s exciting when we have those types of competitors and guys that have been in those winning cultures coming to our program.”