It isn’t hard to like freshman running back Toben Opurum.

Before he ever set foot on the Lawrence campus for school, he spurned the advances of one of the most storied programs in the country — Notre Dame — to commit to the Jayhawks. He looked at Florida.

Opurum, a freshman out of Plano, Texas, is perhaps the highest-profile recruit Kansas has landed in the Mark Mangino era. He isn’t flashy. He isn’t loud. He isn’t about to make any brash predictions of 2,000-yard seasons in his first year at the program.

Instead he quietly goes about his business, even at media day when journalists stand in a semi-circle around him with microphones and recorders comparing him to former Kansas running back Brandon McAnderson, though Opurum has never set foot on Kivisto Field for a college football game.

The comparison is easily, albeit prematurely, drawn, due to the fact that Opurum is big and strong and wears number 35, which hasn’t been seen on the offensive side of the ball since McAnderson’s departure.

But when a question is posed about the similarities, Opurum only chuckles softly and says he is honored to have comparisons drawn between himself and someone who saw so much success in his college career. There is no mention of the fact that should Opurum’s career pan out like the recruiting experts say, he very well could surpass any of McAnderson’s accomplishments.

Though humility may preclude him from admitting it, there are plenty of reasons for Jayhawk fans to be excited about Opurum on the field. For starters, he is the team’s best shot to have a consistent power back to complement incumbent starter Jake Sharp since McAnderson. Despite flashes of brilliance from Angus Quigley — I don’t think poor Texas defensive back Blake Gideon has managed to scrape himself off the Kivisto Field turf just yet — he never regularly performed to a level that coach Mark Mangino thought was necessary, and he’s now been flipped to the defensive side of the ball.

Opurum, on the other hand, already has Mangino, as well as senior captain Sharp, speaking highly of him. Both coach and captain praised Opurum’s work ethic.

“I’ve always said that if someone listens to their coaches and works hard, they’ll make it,” Sharp said. “He just puts his head down and gets to work.”

He’ll be able to work in a familiar offense as well, which should ease the transition to the college game. Opurum’s high school years were filled with the spread offense and he showed ability as a blocker, runner and receiver in the offense.

“The spread offense has taken over high school football,” Opurum said. “I feel like I’m pretty comfortable running it.”

Running it, whether it is the football or the offense, is something that he has proved to do well.

The only thing he doesn’t seem to run is his mouth.

— Edited by Lauren Cunningham