Kansas trending for 2026 DL Hunter Higgins, top-5 recruit from Sunflower State

Wichita (Kan.) Maize South 2026 three-star defensive lineman Hunter Higgins is set to announce his college decision in 10 days, and one Big 12 team is trending heavily to land his commitment.

Following multiple expert predictions were logged favoring Kansas, the Jayhawks are now the overwhelming favorite to land Higgins in the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine with a 94.8 percent chance.

Higgins is the nation’s No. 386 overall prospect in the 2026 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking — a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 42 defensive lineman in the class and the No. 5 recruit from the state of Kansas.

On Dec. 13, Higgins narrowed his list to Nebraska, Kansas, Wisconsin and Michigan. He broke down those four schools with Husker Online last month.

On Kansas:

“It’s a little bit crazy because I grew up a fan of Kansas State,” Higgins told On3. “When I started, I approached the recruiting process as unbiased as possible and wanted to find what was best for me. And I planned to treat Kansas like every other school. I really respect them a lot; they have a young group of passionate guys who fight hard for the recruits they want. I have friends in the area attending KU, and they love to tell me what it’s like to be part of something brand new or something that hasn’t happened in a while, so that’s kind of the cool thing with them.”

Higgins is set to announce his decision at 3:15 p.m. Eastern on Jan. 15.