When you know, you know.

Paityn Vidano, a talented 2028 catcher from Southern California who plays on Team San Diego – Vidano, coached by her dad Craig Vidano, was ranked No. 6 in the Line Drive Media 2028 HOT 100 which was published on Sept. 5.

Part of Paityn’s bio noted:

“Tools-wise, she has verified defensive tools including a 1.72 pop time and a 68-mph overhand velocity.”

“Offensively, she’s consistent and productive as her club stats this year show: a .404 batting average, a .455 on-base percentage, a 1.134 OPS with 11 home runs, 50 RBIs, 78 hits and just 10 strikeouts in 193 plate appearances.”

Not surprisingly, she had several major college problems interested in her but, as she notes in our exclusive interview with the junior at Poway (Calif.) High, it soon became apparent where her heart was.

One school has been following Paityn closely for over two years, showing up at games, talking to her coaches and thoroughly evaluated her skills.

That school was the Kansas Jayhawks and the Big 12 program led by Head Coach Jennifer McFalls ultimately was rewarded for its diligence in building a relationship with Paityn when she committed shortly after taking her official campus visit earlier this month.

Here’s more on how this relationship between a Power 4 program and a Top 10-rated prospect came to be…

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Line Drive Media: How did the Jayhawks first find you to start the recruiting process?

Paityn Vidano: My recruiting journey honestly started way before colleges could actually contact me.

In seventh grade, I set a goal for myself to be good enough to make varsity as a freshman. That was when I really started taking softball more seriously and realized that if I wanted the opportunity to play at the next level someday, I had a lot of work to do.

Kansas first started watching me early in my sophomore year. They had seen my team play and then started following me more through my videos on X. They also talked with our team’s recruiting coordinator and organization owner. As the spring and summer went on, I started noticing Kansas at more and more of my games.

That meant a lot to me because they weren’t just coming out to watch me once and making a decision. They kept showing up. They watched me throughout the summer and took the time to really evaluate me and get to know me as a player.

When September 1 arrived and college coaches could officially contact the 2028 class, Kansas was one of the schools I was really excited to hear from. Once I was finally able to have real conversations with Coach McFalls and the rest of the staff, our relationship grew pretty quickly.

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LDM: When did they actually offer you a scholarship?

PV: Kansas offered me during my official visit earlier this month.

Sitting there with Coach McFalls and hearing that Kansas wanted me was honestly a pretty crazy feeling. I had been working toward the goal of playing Division I softball for years, so when it was actually happening, I was excited, grateful and just trying to take everything in. It was all just so real.

What made it even more special was knowing how much time the Kansas coaches had already spent watching and recruiting me. Coach McFalls, Coach (Justin) Lewis, Coach H (Laura Heberling) and Coach (Drake) DeAngelo believed in me and saw something in me that they wanted as part of their program.

It wasn’t only about receiving an offer.

By that point, I had spent time with the coaches, players and people around the program, so I understood a lot more about what I would actually be saying yes to.

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LDM: Tell us about how you committed… did you accept right away or think on it for a while?

PV: I didn’t commit immediately when Kansas offered me because I still had other visits scheduled. My family and I wanted to go through the process keep our commitments and make sure I was making my decision for the right reasons.

Recruiting has a lot of highs and lows, and you learn pretty quickly that you can’t control everything that happens. There were a lot of conversations, phone calls and decisions happening at once. At 16 years old, it felt like one of the biggest decisions I had ever had to make.

Eventually, I stopped thinking about everything going on around me and really started thinking about what I wanted.

And I just kept coming back to Kansas.

I remember thinking:

“Why am I still looking when I already know how I feel about Kansas?”

I knew how comfortable I had felt there. I knew how the coaches treated me and my family. I knew how the players made me feel. Most importantly, I knew Kansas believed in me and wanted me to be part of what they were building.

So I texted Coach McFalls and asked if she was available to talk. She said she was, so I called her.

I told her I wanted to accept her offer, become a Jayhawk and commit to Kansas.

That was probably one of the coolest phone calls I’ve ever made!

After all the years of practices, lessons, tournaments, camps, traveling, videos, emails, phone calls and everything my family had sacrificed to help me chase this dream, I finally got to say that I had found my home.

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LDM: What was it about Kansas that made you decide it was the place for you? Did you have an “Aha” moment where it just clicked?

PV: For me, it wasn’t one huge thing. It was a bunch of little things that kept adding up.

The biggest thing was how comfortable I felt.

As soon as I got on campus for my official visit, it just felt different. The girls were amazing and made me feel welcome right away. I wasn’t sitting there wondering if I could fit in with them. I felt like I already did.

Whether we were having dinner, eating breakfast or just hanging out at the game, I felt comfortable being myself around them. I could actually picture those girls being my teammates someday.

I also loved the city of Lawrence, Kansas and the campus. There were trees everywhere, and I remember looking around and thinking about how beautiful it would be in the fall. It probably sounds like such a small thing, but the whole place just felt homey to me.

The coaching staff was a huge part of it too.

My conversations with Coach McFalls always felt genuine, and I felt the same thing from Coach Lewis, Coach H and Coach DeAngelo. I felt like they cared about getting to know me as a person and not just as a softball player.

They believed in what I could become, not just what I could do for them right now.

I don’t think I had one exact “aha” moment while I was standing on campus. I think mine came afterward. When I got home, I realized I kept comparing everything else back to Kansas. That’s when it really clicked for me.

I already knew where I wanted to be.

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LDM: What did the KU coaches say they liked about your game enough to make you part of their program?

PV: One of the biggest things Kansas liked about me was my versatility.

I’m a catcher and outfielder, and I’ve always taken pride in being the type of player who can help my team wherever I’m needed. I don’t want to be limited to doing just one thing.

They also really liked my bat and what I could do offensively. Hitting has always been one of my favorite parts of softball because I love competing in the box and finding ways to help my team score runs and win games.

But I think what meant the most was knowing they saw potential in me beyond the player I am right now.

I still have two years of high school softball left, and I know I have a lot of growing and developing to do before I get to Lawrence. Getting an offer from Kansas didn’t make me feel like I had made it. If anything, it made me want to work even harder so I can be ready when I get there.

This whole recruiting process taught me that everything isn’t always going to happen exactly how you picture it. There are going to be really exciting days, tough phone calls, waiting and a lot of unknowns. But I think all of those things helped me figure out what really mattered to me.

For me, everything kept pointing back to Kansas.

I’m especially thankful to Coach McFalls, Coach Lewis, Coach H and Coach DeAngelo for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. Knowing they watched me for months, got to know me and believed I could be part of their program means more to me than they probably realize.

I’m grateful they are trusting me with the opportunity to someday wear Kansas across my chest, and I’m going to work hard to make the most of it.

I’m also so thankful for my family, coaches, teammates and everyone who helped me get to this point. There were so many people behind the scenes who sacrificed for me, pushed me, supported me and believed in me. I know I didn’t get here by myself.

Now I have two more years to keep working, getting stronger and becoming a better player and teammate so I can arrive in Lawrence ready to contribute.

I can’t wait to call Kansas home.

Rock Chalk! ❤️💙