Looks like Rutgers has another quarterback a little earlier than expected.
Gavin Wimsatt, a senior at Owensboro High School in Kentucky, has left his school and enrolled at Rutgers for the fall semester. He will begin classes Monday, and is expected to sign an NIL deal worth six figures according to Kentucky Sports Radio.
Wimsatt played in three high school games this season, completing 46 of 80 passes for 583 yards and six touchdowns and rushing for 131 yards and two scores. He is expected to be eligible to play immediately, per NJ.com, but it's unclear if that will happen this fall.
"We love and appreciate Gavin and everything that he's done for OHS football and Owensboro High School," Owensboro coach Jay Fallin told the Louisville Courier-Journal on Friday. "In addition to being an outstanding football player, he's also just a great young man. It's been a pleasure to get to coach him over the last four years and watch him grow. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors."
According to Fallin, Owensboro has known that Wimsatt leaving to enroll at Rutgers was a possibility "for the last several weeks" – and after his Scarlet Knights crushed Temple 61-14 in their season opener, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano explained how and why Wimsatt followed in the footsteps of Ohio State's Quinn Ewers in leaving high school early to enroll at his committed university.
"Well, the way it came to be is you know the situation at Ohio State. The family asked and were curious. We looked into and it was possible. He did a good job academically," Schiano said. "He took some classes to accelerate it. He played in his third game on Friday. He's supposed to arrive on Sunday sometime and start classes on Monday."
Wimsatt was the No. 1 player in Kentucky and No. 11 quarterback overall in the Class of 2022 according to 24/7 Sports, and he was a 2020 First Team All-State pick after leading the Red Devils to an 11-1 record and the Class 5A state championship game.
However, Rutgers has six quarterbacks on their roster, including two freshmen, and the depth chart is currently topped by senior Noah Vedral, who had 138 passing yards, 58 rushing yards, and one passing score on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights will also heavily feature dual threat junior Johnny Langan, who had just two pass attempts on Saturday but also rushed five times for 19 yards and two scores, and sophomore Kyle Snyder saw limited action in the fourth quarter Saturday.
Exciting for Wimsatt, but Schiano is in no rush to push Wimsatt more than necessary.
"Look, he just played a high school game on Friday. We'll get him here and get him acclimated," Schiano said of Wimsatt's potential role. "It'll be a great opportunity to learn our culture, get exposed to our scheme, and about being a college football player. It'll be great to have him here and get a head start. He wanted to do it."
Vedral had high praise for Wimsatt, but is feeling no pressure from his arrival, as he is no stranger to strange journeys himself: he was a freshman on UCF's 13-0 2017 squad before transferring to Nebraska and earning an eligibility waiver halfway through that season, but after two years with the Cornhuskers, he transferred to Rutgers in 2020 (and was immediately eligible due to the NCAA lifting restrictions on transfers due to COVID) and is playing 2021 as a fifth-year senior under the NCAA mandate giving all athletes who were eligible in 2020 another year of eligibility.
"He's a really great kid. We'll take him in. I remember being the young guy, as long ago as that was, and we'll make him feel at home," Vedral said. "But there's a competition every day. It's been that way my whole career from when I was a true freshman. Every day is a competition. He's talented, but he has to get up to speed and stuff like that. I mean, there's a big jump from high school to college. He's a smart kid. I mean, every quarterback goes through kind of some growing pains, but I'm sure he'll pick it up."
"I told the quarterbacks and explained to them what is happening," Schiano added. "In our program, everything is about competition, everybody knows that. Nobody owns anything. You earn it. They'll accept him and help him learn."
Situations like Wimsatt's aren't necessarily new for college football, as many players over the years have enrolled in the spring of what would be their senior year of high school – but now, thanks in part to NIL rules, this may become a new normal Schiano will have to get used to.
"After doing this for 30 years, I'm a traditionalist, but you have to get with the times otherwise it'll pass you by. This is what college football is now," Schiano said. "Years ago it was a big thing starting in January. Now we had twice as many guys start in January than June. December is the signing day now. Things are changing quickly, but you have to keep moving forward."
"That's gonna be one heck of a story that he's gonna get to tell when he's old and telling his kids," Vedral added.
Wimsatt can play up to four games this season and still take a redshirt year.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
