Dayne Crist during his visit to Kansas
After weeks of courtships and traveling, 5-star quarterback transfer Dayne Crist released a statement via twitter Thursday afternoon saying he will be playing for the Jayhawks in 2012.
Crist, a red-shirt senior, has spend the previous 4 years in South Bend playing for Notre Dame but announced several months back that he would be transferring. Kansas only showed up on Crist’s radar when Charlie Weis was announced as the Jayhawks new skipper.
TheShiver.com caught up with Crist shortly after his announcement and asked him what everyone wanted to know: Why Kansas?
“It’s something I’ve been going back and forth on for awhile”, Crist told TheShiver.com. “I was just ready to make a decision. I slept on it last night and knew (Kansas) was where I wanted to be. So I called Coach Weis today and let him know what was going on”.
Although Crist seemed like a bit of a pipe dream when his name first popped onto the Kansas radar, it became apparent that the Jayhawks were the front-runner based off of his criteria.
“It came down to Wisconsin, Delaware, and Kansas”, said Crist. “At the end of the day, I just had the best feeling about Kansas and knew it was the best fit for me. Being able to play for Coach Weis again, and being familiar with the offense, and playing with the other guys at Kansas, is going to be very exciting and is something I just couldn’t pass up.”
Crist told TheShiver.com several weeks back that this decision was one of business—one that he took very serious. From that standpoint, Kansas made more sense than any other university. Crist has aspirations to play at the next level though he says he simply relishes the opportunity to continue to play the game that he loves for at least one more season.
Although he comes with a name most NFL scouts will recognize, Crist will have to hit the ground running and Kansas gives him the best opportunity. With his previous two seasons under Weis at Notre Dame, as well as new Kansas quarterbacks coach Ron Powlous, Crist will have a firm grasp of the offense and terminology.
“It’s not something I’ve forgotten”, said Crist on his recollection of the Weis’ offense. “I played in it for two years and have a real familiarity with it. I’m excited to see the rest of the guys on offense. We watched a little bit of film while I was there and I’ve already seen those guys play a little bit so it’s going to be exciting to put it all together.”
Crist made his first visit to Lawrence in early December to meet with Weis and take in the Kansas/Ohio State basketball game. Although he was impressed by the glamour of top notch college basketball, Crist wanted to climb off Cloud 9 before committing.
“I knew it was going to be a tough decision but knew I had other places to go. So I just really wanted to take in all the information and have a clear picture before I made a decision”.
Crist is unsure as to when he will be arriving in Lawrence and is heading back to his hometown of Los Angeles to meet with his family, figure out the logistics of the move, and enjoy the holiday weekend. More than anything however, Crist says he is just ready to play some football.
“I couldn’t be more excited (to be a Jayhawk)”, said Crist from the airport. “It’s just a great feeling and I’m so excited to meet my teammates and get to work”.
Judging by the way things have gone the past several weeks, it appears getting to work is exactly what Kansas football is about to do.
Update: In one big day, Coach Charlie Weis seems to have not only locked up the Jayhawks quarterback situation in 2012, but for 2013 and 2014 as well. It was also announced today that BYU sophomore quarterback Jake Heaps will be transferring to Kansas for this upcoming season.
Heaps however will have to sit out the usual full season due to his transfer but will be the odds on favorite to fill the shoes of Crist after his one and only season.
In two seasons at BYU Heaps accumulated 3768 passing yards with a 24:17 touchdown to interception ratio, a 57% passing percentage, and a quarterback rating of over 110 in each season.
With these two moves today, it is becoming more realistic that incumbent starter Jordan Webb will remain at Kansas though nothing has been confirmed as of this time.
Keep up to date on the latest from Kansas Athletics following @JoshScotten and @KUTheShiver on Twitter.
