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Freshman liked what he saw at Kansas

By B.J. Rains

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Anyone needing proof that Kansas football is moving in the right direction can look no further than freshman offensive lineman Ben Lueken.

The St. Louis native choose the Jayhawks over four prominent college football programs – Michigan, Alabama, Missouri and Nebraska.

“I don’t know who else he was looking at,” coach Mark Mangino said. “But he took a liking to us and we liked him. He came from a smaller Catholic school in the St. Louis area and probably, if he had been at a bigger school, he may have gotten more looks. We’re glad that we have him.”

Lueken came to Kansas expecting to be a redshirt this season but impressed Mangino and the coaching staff from the beginning of fall camp. He played a few series in the opening game of the season against Florida International to help sub for the injured Jeremiah Hatch and even saw action in the second half of Saturday’s game against Iowa State.

“He really is a tough competitor,” Mangino said. “He plays hard every play, even if he makes a mistake, he goes hard, and as coaches, we really like that. Anytime a guy will play with fire every play and go hard every snap, he’s going to get better and be a really good player. And he’s going to be really good for us.”

The 6-6, 300 pound Lueken was named first team All-State as a senior and was an All-Conference selection for three straight years. And as one of the top lineman in the St. Louis area, he had interest from some of the top programs in the nation.

“Recruiting is a tough process and unfortunately some things fell through,” Lueken said. “Coaching changes, things like that, but Kansas was always in the back of my mind even when I was visiting other places. KU was the first school to contact me and they stayed strong with their pursuit of me.”

“The program just showed a lot of respect and it’s a real blue-collar environment and that’s the way I was raised. I wanted to be coached by a hard working, no fancy business kind of program.”

Lueken, who is majoring in exercise science, hopes to return to his hometown of St. Louis to open his own personal training facility when his time in Lawrence is done. But for now, he’s battling with redshirt freshman Hatch and Jeff Spikes for playing time on the offensive line.

“Every day I just approach it like I am coming to work, and if you work as hard as you can, then good things will happen,” Lueken said. “I still have a lot to learn but I am learning every day. The older linemen have really helped me out. We’ll see.”

— - Edited by Arthur Hur

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