It has been documented the Kansas coaches were looking for a wide receiver from the transfer portal. On Monday the coaching staff landed their top target in Doug Emilien who is leaving the University of Minnesota.

The Jayhawks started making contact with him once he entered the portal in early April. Last weekend Emilien took an official visit to Kansas.

“I loved everything,” Emilien said. “The atmosphere, the coaching, the people, the buildings, and the college living. Just everything, like the movement and everything, I really enjoyed it. It's not too compact and it’s a real college experience.”

When Samuel was on the visit he met with new wide receivers coach Terrence Samuel, who was hired before spring football. Emilien got to see the offense and the plan in place for him when he joins the team.

“Coach Samuel is really a great dude,” he said. “He sees a lot for me. He sees a lot of potential in me over these two years, and I respect his game plan. I see the people that he developed over the years that he helped overall. He’s genuine.”

Kansas general manager Rob Ianello played a key role in working with Emilien through the process. Ianello helped evaluate and gather background information on Emilien and talking with him about Kansas.

“He did a great job checking up on me, hitting me up every day just really trying to get to know me as a person,” Emilien said. “And I really appreciate him. I thank him still to this day. He really got me hooked on Kansas.”

Emilien signed with Minnesota out of high school where he was a high, three-star receiver at American Heritage High in Florida. He had offers from several schools including Miami (FL), West Virginia, Pitt, North Carolina State, Kentucky, Cincinnati and Iowa State. When he entered the transfer portal there were several schools who reached out to him.

“I had a whole lot of schools calling,” he said. “I’m not going to say too many names, but I had plenty of schools from the SEC, ACC, and PAC 12.”

Emilien had a good connection to the Kansas program in Ky Thomas. The two were teammates to Minnesota before Thomas transferred to Kansas in January.

“That's back home for him so that was big for him,” Emilien said. “He gets to play in front of his family and everything. He said he likes it there and we talked about that.”

The Kansas coaches enjoyed the good news when he called to commit.

“Man, they were excited, and they are ready to get this going just like I am,” he said. “They passionate about it just like me.”

He will leave Minnesota at the end of the semester and move to Lawrence. He plans to arrive early in the summer to go through workouts with the team.

“I'm confident in myself,” he said. “I'm ready to get it going. I'm ready to get to work.”