Week Eight Jayhawk Spotlight: Next in Line for the Ring of Honor

With Kansas having the week off, we’ll do something a bit different for the weekly spotlight. In the last home game, Kansas honored former stars Tony Sands and Nick Reid, making them the latest inductees into the illustrious Ring of Honor at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Aqib Talib, Darrell Stuckey, and Todd Ressing have been some of the most recent inductees as well, but who could be next? We examine a few potential candidates.

Dezmon Briscoe, Wide Receiver

Played: 2007-2009

Accolades: 2008 Second Team All-Big XII, 2009 First Team All-Big XII, 2009 Honorable Mention All-American

Wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe is probably the top choice to be the next inductee into the Ring of Honor. He is the Kansas all-time leader in receiving yards by quite a distance, accumulating 3,240 over his three year career on Mount Oread. Briscoe holds the top two individual seasons in KU history as far as receiving yards goes, with 1,407 in 2008 and 1,337 in 2009. Briscoe also has the record for most yards receiving in a single game with 269 in a game against Oklahoma in 2008 (he also has the second best mark at 242 against Mizzou in 2009).

And Briscoe racked up all this yardage without even making the most catches in KU history. He’s second on that list and even his spectacular 2008 and 2009 seasons were only good enough for third and fourth best in KU history. This shows just how much of a big play receiver Briscoe was for Kansas.

Oh, and there’s also the little issue of touchdowns. Briscoe is the all-time leader in TD receptions at 31. The next best is 19. Dezmon also holds the single season receiving TD record with 15 in 2008. If you take all of this into consideration, Dezmon Briscoe is the obvious next in line to be enshrined in the Kansas Ring of Honor.

Kerry Meier, Wide Receiver/Quarterback

Played: 2006-2009

Accolades: 2008 Honorable Mention All-Big XII

Kerry Meier, the quarterback turned big time wide receiver is the next logical candidate although his resume isn’t as decorated as that of Briscoe.

In 2006, Kerry Meier set the Kansas record for touchdown passes by a freshman when he tossed 13 TDs. Of course, he was replaced at QB in 2007 by current RoH member Todd Reesing, but Meier got even more productive after the position change.

Meier is first on the all-time receptions list at Kansas with 226, holds the top two spots in the single season receptions category (102 in 2009, 97 in 2008), and also has the best game as far as receptions are concerned (16 catches against Iowa State in 2009). In 2007, Meier became the first Jayhawk to pass for a TD, run for a score, and catch a touchdown pass in the same season.

His 2,309 receiving yards are good enough for the third best ever in the KU record books. But more than the statistics, Meier is known for the catch he made at the end of the Missouri game at Arrowhead Stadium in 2008, the iconic call of Bob Davis still echoing in the minds of Kansas fans everywhere. Kerry Meier has a solid chance of receiving the highest honor a KU football player can achieve.

June Henley, Running Back

Played: 1993-1996

Accolades: 1993 First Team All-Big 8, 1995 Second Team All-Big 8, 1996 Second Team All-Big XII

If it weren’t for lifelong legal problems, June Henley might already be in the Ring of Honor. That said, Kansas isn’t going to induct Henley into the Ring of Honor, but his statistics certainly warrant consideration. Henley is the all-time leading rusher at Kansas with 3,841 yards. He has the most rushing TDs in a Kansas uniform (41) including the most in a single season (17 in 1996).

There’s no chance that June Henley will be enshrined at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium (rightfully so), but from a strictly football perspective, he stacks up with any former player.

Mark Mangino, Head Coach

Accolades: National Coach of the Year in 2007 (9 national publications)

Years in Lawrence: 2002-2009

Record: 50-48

While no coaches are in the Kansas Ring of Honor, Mark Mangino might be the best candidate. Universally acknowledged as the man who turned Kansas football around (the first time), Mangino has a special place in the hearts of many Jayhawk fans. The 76-39 win over Nebraska in 2007 was a particularly emotional release, but there was so much more to come from the Mangino-led Jayhawks.

That magical 2007 season where Kansas went 12-1, was ranked as high as number two in the polls, and eventually hoisted the Orange Bowl trophy in Miami was the pinnacle, but the Tangerine Bowl appearance in 2003 and the Fort Worth Bowl win in 2005 were giant stepping stones for Kansas football.

And since his unceremonious firing in 2009, the Kansas administration has reached out to Mangino, the most recent example being a key presenter as Nick Reid got inducted into the RoH. Getting Mangino involved in KU football again is a telling move and one that could potentially include the old coach’s induction into the Ring of Honor at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. It would be warmly received among the Kansas fanbase, and as the only KU coach with a winning record since the 1960s, it would be a well-deserved honor.

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