The Kansas Jayhawks received a verbal commitment Thursday from linebacker Colton Goeas of St. Louis High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. A three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Goeas chose the Jayhawks over offers from Hawaii, Tennessee, UCLA and Washington State.

Goeas is not only important in and of himself. He is also potentially crucial to the commitment of four-star offensive lineman Reeve Koehler, who will make his decision between Kansas, Arkansas, Cal and Tennessee on Saturday. Goeas and Koehler were high school teammates at St. Louis High. As Matt Tait of KUSports.com reports, Goeas might well be the gateway to Koehler's commitment:

Throughout the recruiting process, teammates and analysts went on record saying that Koehler and Goeas were a packaged deal. Until the Volunteers fired head coach Derek Dooley, Tennessee was believed to be the destination for both. Now, the Jayhawks have landed one and, in a matter of hours, could add the other as well.

Hawaii has not been a recruiting pipeline for Kansas in the past; there are no players on the current roster from Hawaii and previous coaches have not targeted players from the state. However, Charlie Weis identified and recruited Hawaii talent while at Notre Dame, including such players as linebacker Manti Te'o, wide receiver Robby Toma, and defensive lineman Kona Schwenke. Now, it appears Weis is bringing those connections to Lawrence.