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Quinn Ewers, America’s highest-ranked high school football player for the 2022 class, is skipping his final year to enter Ohio State early. His father, Curtis Ewers, informed Yahoo Sports of his son’s decision.
Ewers’ move to college marks one of the first major repercussions – and unintended consequences – of passing legislation by the NCAA nearly a month ago to allow athletes to enjoy their name, image and likeness. He is expected to make nearly a million dollars next year from endorsements, which he cannot do while playing high school football in Texas. Ewers will eventually arrive at college in the class of 2021.
Prior to the NIL change, Ewers was heading into his final season at Southlake Carroll High School, located outside of Dallas. The school is a traditional powerhouse that reached the state finals last season, plays in a 12,000-seat stadium, and is set to open its season in a nationally televised game played at the Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium. from Dallas.
Ewers, 18, will enter Ohio state as one of the most compelling recruits in school history. He fits into a quarterback competition that’s wide open, as none of the three-quarter Ohio State scholars – Jack Miller, CJ Stroud, and Kyle McCord – have attempted a college pass.
Ewers is expected to join the Ohio State summer training camp program at some point in August. He is finishing his classes to get his diploma, which he has already started taking online. Some ambiguity remains as to exactly when he can start practicing, as it will be highly unlikely to officially join camp on Tuesday as he navigates the bureaucracy inherent in college admissions and NCAA clearance. There is always an expectation that he may be eligible at some point during camp.
On3 first announced that Ewers would be leaving high school early and heading to Ohio State.
The ewers will arrive on campus knowing virtually no aspect of the OSU offense. While it’s tempting to insert it as immediately competing for the starting position, the learning curve is so steep that one might reasonably expect to see it as a year of development. He will face three quarterbacks who have been on campus for at least six months, which gives them a huge advantage. Ewers will have a lot of work ahead of him to catch up, as he has to learn the playbook, bond with new teammates, and learn a whole new academic and social environment.
His raw talent is unmistakable, as he threw 73 touchdowns and 6,445 yards in his two seasons as a starter. Ewers, 6-3, 207 pounds, is considered in Texas recruiting circles as the best talented quarterback in the state since Vince Young.
He will bring with him the distinction of being a pioneer, albeit reluctant. Ewers is the first football prospect to move from high school to college early in order to take advantage of NIL. Whether this will become a trend remains to be seen. Ewers and his family made it clear in a previous interview with Yahoo Sports that they want Ewers to play his final year of high school and be able to capitalize on his NIL. “We don’t need the money,” Quinn Ewers recently told Yahoo Sports. “It’s just the principle.”
The family disagreed with the decision of the University Interscholastic Association, which manages high schools in Texas. UIL defended the ruling as an interpretation of recent state image and likeness law. A UIL official told Yahoo: “We don’t make state law.”
Some of the deals now available for Ewers include cash and equity from Holy Kombucha, a local company. Ewers had also planned major souvenir contracts and attracted interest from domestic companies.
His decision to quit high school football raises the question of whether the state of Texas, where the Friday night lights are an indelible part of the culture, is now disadvantaged at the highest level due to state rule. . The ability to make money with NIL remains state by state at the high school level. Texas is one of the few states that has a law that explicitly prohibits it.
That leaves Ewers in the Ohio State quarterback room under coach Ryan Day, the former NFL quarterback coach who helped OSU’s last two starting quarterbacks become first-round picks. of the NFL.
Ohio State has just played back-to-back college football playoffs in Day’s first two seasons and is a big favorite to win the Big Ten again in 2021.
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