LAWRENCE — As quarterback Cole Ballard approaches his redshirt freshman season with Kansas football, there are areas in which his head coach thinks he can improve.

Speaking last week at Big 12 Conference media days in Las Vegas, Lance Leipold indicated Ballard needs to continue to develop an understanding on when and when not to take chances. Leipold pointed back to the Kansas State game last year, when injuries forced Ballard into a starting role. Although Ballard nearly helped KU to a win, Leipold mentioned there were times Ballard tried to make plays that weren’t there.

But while Ballard still has that room for growth, his emergence after arriving as a walk-on continues to draw praise from Leipold. It’s about more than just how Ballard, who was later put on scholarship, has studied the offense and devoted himself to the Jayhawks’ strength and conditioning program. It’s about how Ballard is viewed by his teammates.

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“Cole Ballard was accepted by the locker room as quick as any quarterback I’d ever been a part of as a freshman,” Leipold said, “the way that he had instant respect from some of the guys.”

With Jason Bean starting a professional career, Ballard is in line to be the backup to redshirt junior Jalon Daniels. Daniels is aiming to get through the 2024 season healthy, but in both 2022 and 2023 he missed time. Bean’s ability to step up helped ensure Kansas made back-to-back bowl games for the first time in more than a decade.

Ballard appeared in four games last season, throwing for 286 total yards and a touchdown while completing 55.6% of his passes. He did throw three interceptions, two of those in that 31-27 loss vs. Kansas State. But in that game, he also threw for 162 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 55 yards.

However much Ballard ends up playing this year, he can also help guide freshman quarterback Isaiah Marshall through his first year at KU. It helps that Marshall enrolled early, but Ballard brings game experience to the table, and that’s something Marshall – a 247Sports Composite three-star prospect – doesn’t have yet.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

5. RADOJA NAMED TO TEAM OF THE MATCHDAY

Sporting Kansas City midfielder Nemanja Radoja was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday on Monday as one of the top 20 players in Major League Soccer for Matchday 26 of the regular season.

Radoja assisted on both goals in Sporting’s 2-1 road win at the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday – setting up Erik Thommy in the 48th minute and providing a pinpoint pass for Alan Pulido in the 57th minute – as SKC won a third match in a seven-day span for the first time in club history.

The 31-year-old Serbian holding midfielder became the first Sporting KC player to record two assists in an MLS match this season and he did so against San Jose for a second time in as many years. Radoja, who has covered the most distance of any SKC player during the regular season (146 miles, per Sportec), leads Sporting with 2,183 minutes played this year in all competitions.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) officers and Missouri State Highway Patrol (MHP) officers are heading to Milwaukee, Wisconsin Monday morning for increased security at this year’s Republican National Convention.

KCPD confirmed they are sending 30 members to aid the overnight perimeter security alongside local, state, or federal law enforcement partners from July 15 to July 18.

No one was available from KCPD to speak on camera Monday morning, but they did provide some insight about their involvement.

“KCPD’s role in assisting agencies outside the immediate metro is not new. Some events to note, KCPD helped during the Joplin tornado, the pope’s visit to St. Louis, and the 2021 presidential inauguration,” said KCPD Sgt. Phil DiMartino. “KCPD will again be helping in the 2025 presidential inauguration.”

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No one was available from the Missouri Highway Patrol to speak on camera Monday, but along with KCPD, it is confirmed they are assisting with security in Wisconsin.

MHP Captain Scott White writes, “Our primary purpose will be to protect life and property, maintain order by being highly visible, and protect the constitutional rights of everyone at the event.”

As previously reported, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Police Department has confirmed that Kansas City metro area law enforcement agencies are among the more than 100 law enforcement agencies set to enforce security at the Republican National Convention.

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