Great Bend Post
Jul 03, 2025

Eight Jayhawks Named to Athlon Preseason All-Big 12 Teams

Posted Jul 03, 2025 1:09 PM

KUAthletics.com

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas football had eight players selected to the Athlon Sports Preseason All-Big 12 teams, highlighted by seniors Bryce Foster and Dean Miller picked as All-Big 12 first team selections.

Kansas had eight selections total to the Athlon Preseason All-Big 12 teams, including Foster (Offensive line, First Team), Miller (Defensive end, First Team), Daniel Hishaw Jr. (Running back,  Second Team), Laith Marjan (Kicker, Second Team), Kobe Baynes (Offensive line, Third Team), Emmanuel Henderson Jr. (Wide receiver, Fourth Team), DJ Withers (Defensive line, Fourth Team) and Joseph Sipp Jr. (Linebacker, Fourth team).

All of Kansas' selections are first-time honorees by Athlon, while Foster was named First Team Preseason All-Big 12 by Phil Steele Magazine, Marjan earned Second Team honors and Miller earned Third Team honors.

Foster, a native of Katy, Texas, enters his redshirt senior season after starting all 12 games and paving the way for 211.4 rushing yards per game and allowing just 10 sacks as a unit in 2024. Foster was named Second Team All-Big 12 at the end of the 2024 season, before competing in track and field for the Jayhawks, earning Second Team All-America honors in the shot put at the 2025 NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships.

Miller enters the 2025 season following a breakout junior campaign, in which he was named Second Team All-Big 12 for compiling a career-high 6.0 sacks, which were tied for the sixth most in the Big 12 Conference. Miller started all 12 games at defensive end, adding 32 tackles and 10.0 tackles-for-loss.

Hishaw Jr. enters his redshirt senior season as Kansas' leading returning rusher, carrying 65 times for 376 yards and three touchdowns as a redshirt junior in 2024. Hishaw was named to the Doak Walker Award Preseason Watch List in 2023 and 2024.Marjan, a transfer from South Alabama, was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award and was named Second Team All-Sun Belt in 2024. Marjan connected on 16-of-17 field goals in 2024 with his only miss coming from beyond 50 yards and was 42-of-44 on extra points. Baynes has started 14 games at guard for the Jayhawks over the past two seasons, including 12 in 2024 and three in 2023.

Selected to the Fourth Team, Henderson Jr. enters his first season at KU after three seasons at Alabama, where he played in 33 games for the Crimson Tide. Sipp Jr. arrives to Kansas from Bowling Green, where he was an All-MAC First Team selection in 2024. Sipp appeared in 37 games as a Falcon, compiling 171 tackles and 15 tackles-for-loss over his career. Withers started seven games at defensive tackle in 2024 for the Jayhawks, recording a career-high 21 tackles and 4 tackles-for-loss.

The Kansas Jayhawks will kick off the 2025 football season on August 23, 2025 as they debut the new David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium vs. Fresno State. The season-opener serves as the first of seven games coming to Lawrence in 2025.