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By Eric Bailey, World Sports Writer
5/7/2008 12:44 PM


Tulsa has received a commitment from a Texas recruit who could be the Hurricane's quarterback of the future.

G.J. Kinne, a redshirt freshman from the University of Texas, has announced he'll transfer to TU next season. He'll sit out one year due to transfer rules and have three years of eligibility remaining.

Kinne was a two-time Class 3A offensive player of the year, and finished his prep career ranked second in Texas high school history in passing yards (11,695) and TD passes (130).

"We definitely investigated a lot of schools and a lot of situations, but we really felt like Tulsa was a great fit not only athletically but academically," said the quarterback's father, Gary Joe Kinne. "It offers a great opportunity to compete and play on a team that's not only had a lot of success, but will have further success and compete on a national stage."

G.J. Kinne, a 6-3, 220-pound right-hander, announced in early April that he was leaving UT. He was on a depth chart behind Colt McCoy, John Chiles and Sherrod Harris at the time.

The quarterback considered a number of schools before deciding on Tulsa.

What may have helped Tulsa's effort was the relationship Gary Joe Kinne had with TU's coaches, particularly Todd Graham. The two were high school teammates at North Mesquite High School, and current Tulsa assistant Brent Graham was a former defensive coordinator of Gary Joe Kinne, a high-school coach.

The Kinne family also was impressed with Tulsa co-offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn.

"That was probably a huge factor," Gary Joe Kinne said. "We think the world of him and he's a tremendous asset to that program."

Bigtime pickup. And here we thought he was going to La Tech.

Too bad SMU couldn't have convinced him SMU was the better situation. Tulsa is going to have about 3 pretty highly regarding QBs next season and 4 in the year he can start competing. SMU has a very tenuous relationship with Willis and about 3 other guys named Joe. Tulsa is really loading up to become a perrenially top National Passing Offense like they were last year. They've got Big 12 talent at QB, RB and all WR positions-and much of their talent is very young.

Dammit. I posted that he was considering a transfer from Texas about a month ago. Sucks that we couldn't get this kid. He was a terrific high school quarterback who would have thrived in JJ's offense.

not too concerned about this. we'll be getting more hype than tulsa when this kid starts taking snaps

Hype aside, I wanted this kid at SMU. I watched him play a few times at Gilmer and while he was unquestionably playing on a team that was head and shoulders above the teams they played in 3A (Gilmer had like seven or eight D-1 prospects that year), he was exceptional. Just would have been nice to nab him. However, I've heard that we are throwing our hat in the ring for some really big QB prospects. It wouldn't shock me if we landed one in this next recruiting class.

It's good for CUSA, don't worry, JJ will take care of the qb position.




Fear the mob boss!

StallionsModelT wrote:Hype aside, I wanted this kid at SMU. I watched him play a few times at Gilmer and while he was unquestionably playing on a team that was head and shoulders above the teams they played in 3A (Gilmer had like seven or eight D-1 prospects that year), he was exceptional. Just would have been nice to nab him. However, I've heard that we are throwing our hat in the ring for some really big QB prospects. It wouldn't shock me if we landed one in this next recruiting class.

And they somehow managed to lose in the first round of the playoffs. Never would have believed it.

Yeah that was pretty unbelievable. I didn't attend that game but I certainly heard about it. What the hell happened there?

Stallion wrote:Too bad SMU couldn't have convinced him SMU was the better situation. Tulsa is going to have about 3 pretty highly regarding QBs next season and 4 in the year he can start competing. SMU has a very tenuous relationship with Willis and about 3 other guys named Joe. Tulsa is really loading up to become a perrenially top National Passing Offense like they were last year. They've got Big 12 talent at QB, RB and all WR positions-and much of their talent is very young.

And yet we, with our G*d-awful defense had them in the bag last year for most of the game, and handed them a beating the year before.

They can have Kinne, they're still Tulsa.

Wasn't he more of a running QB in high school? I know he put up good passing yards, but I thought his strength was tucking it and running ... in which case Coach Jones' offense might not be the ideal system for him, right?

I love these if and butts games. Big players make big plays. Two of those big time players caught over 100 yards in passes-last yeas big play QB for Tulsa threw for over 335 yards and drove the team on a 99 yard TD drive in the final minutes. Quite frankly other than Tulsa big play threats Tulsa is a very very mediocre team. Big plays by big players were the difference. SMU needs to complement Sanders and Willis with more of their own. Tulsa is loaded at the skill positions already.