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Goal No. 2: UNSELFISHNESS. There is no "I" in TEAM.
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#20 Denzel Goolsby |
Position: Defensive Back Previous College: None Projection: Scout Team Status: On Scholarship |
Denzel Christopher Goolsby (b. Jan. 25, 1997) is a young, athletic player who transitioned from running back to wide receiver during his redshirt season in 2015. He switched again to defensive back during fall camp this month.
Goolsby, who will compete for playing time at safety and add support on special teams in 2016, continues an underrated, but tough-nosed family pipeline at K-State. He caught one pass for 26 yards in the 2016 spring game.
He has two cousins who played football at K-State — Jarard Milo, a starting safety on the Big 12 Championship team who lettered in 2011 and 2012, and Brian Goolsby, a popular fullback who lettered from 1995 to 1998.
A third cousin, DeAndre Goolsby, is a junior tight end at Florida and a former K-State recruit who I had hoped might be a candidate to transfer back home now that the coach who recruited him, Will Muschamp, was no longer there.
A four-year starter for Bishop Carroll under head coach Alan Schuckman, Goolsby was named the 2014 Gatorade Kansas Football Player of the Year and American Family Insurance All-USA Kansas Offensive Player of the Year.
Goolsby rushed for 1,641 yards and 31 touchdowns to go with 251 receiving yards and seven scores as a senior, helping the Eagles to earn a perfect 13-0 record and a Class 5A state championship. He also was dangerous in the return game in 2014, when he scored five touchdowns on 13 punt returns and one TD on his only kickoff return.
He was named one of the top 11 players in the state and to the All-Class 5A teams by The Topeka Capital-Journal and The Wichita Eagle. He also was named a first-team All-Metro performer by The Wichita Eagle.
Goolsby was rated the fourth-best player in the state by Scout.com, and named as one of the top 12 players in the state by the Kansas Football Coaches Association and to the organization’s all-state Class 5A team.
He rushed for 495 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior, despite missing three games due to injury. In all, he helped Bishop Carroll to go 47-2 during his four-year career, with two state championships (in 2012 and 2014).
In addition to football, he also ran track, placing second in the state in 2012 in the 4x100 and third in the 4x400.