LAWRENCE — Cobee Bryant was already entering the Kansas football season with high expectations, and now he’s made the preseason watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.

Bryant, a senior cornerback, is one of the top players not just on the Jayhawks’ defense, but team in general. He’s a preseason All-Big 12 Conference selection this year, and someone who’s earned All-Big 12 recognition in the past, too. Should he win this award, he'd be named the nation's defensive player of the year.

RELATED: KU women’s basketball releases non-conference schedule for upcoming season, plus more news

RELATED: Kansas football opens fall camp in 2024 as contender for Big 12 Conference championship

Here’s more that’s happened recently across the KU Athletics landscape:

Kansas women’s basketball earns commitment from high profile recruit

Kansas women’s basketball’s success on the recruiting trail continued with a commitment from Libby Fandel. Fandel, who’s from Iowa, is one of the top players in the 2025 recruiting class. According to espnW, she’s the No. 41 player in the nation in her class and a four-star prospect.

Nicolas Timberlake signs professional basketball contract

Former Kansas men’s basketball player Nicolas Timberlake has signed a contract to play professionally overseas. Timberlake, who spent the 2023-24 season with the Jayhawks, will be with AD Galomar in a league in Portugal. After transferring in from Towson ahead of this past season, he started eight of his 34 games at KU and averaged 5.2 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

“It's a dream come true and should be really fun with great competition,” Timberlake said in a Towson release. “Everyone strives for the NBA, but getting paid to play basketball is a goal for anyone who has ever picked up a basketball. Coming to Towson was one of the best decisions I ever made. I was super happy Coach Skerry took a chance on me. We made some history when I was here — both with the team and individually.”

Kansas men’s basketball could play exhibition game against Arkansas

Last year, Kansas men’s basketball played an exhibition game on the road against Illinois. This year, the Jayhawks could be involved in another high-profile exhibition game. According to Arkansas head coach John Calipari, the two programs are in talks to have an exhibition game that would be played at Arkansas.

“We’re in the works with Kansas on an exhibition here in Bud Walton (Arena),” Calipari told reporters at a press conference, according to a 247Sports video on Youtube.

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.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football's Cobee Bryant is on Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list