Former Jayhawks football recruit Russell ‘exploring different options’

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Onetime Kansas prospect Jayden Russell says he has been granted a release from his letter of intent and is “exploring different options.”

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound defensive back made the announcement Tuesday on Twitter. He wrote that Kansas told him there was a chance that his score on the ACT could get flagged because of a 10-point jump between the second and third time he took the college entrance exam. If he arrived on campus during the flagging process, he said, he would have to leave and potentially give back everything he received.

He says the school wanted him to report in January. But he didn’t want to wait and decided instead to look for options to compete this fall.

As a senior, Russell helped lead St. Thomas Aquinas in Overland Park to its first state football title.