Prized Husky QB Recruit Kienholz to Visit Ohio State
Lincoln Kienholz, the 4-star quarterback from South Dakota and a centerpiece for the University of Washington's latest recruiting class, has indicated he will take an official recruiting visit to Ohio State this weekend, leaving Kalen DeBoer's staff none too pleased.
The 6-foot-3, 185-pound player from T.F. Riggs High School in the state capital of Pierre gave his verbal commitment to the Huskies following his official visit in June, but he's not officially in the fold until signing a national letter of intent in December.
Now the Buckeyes are making a push for the record-setting Kienholz and will host him for their home game against Michigan.
The young quarterback was far from firm about his college football intentions when he did a recent interview with 247Sports.
“Right now I’m still 100 percent committed to Washington,” Kienholz told the recruiting website. “I want to take this visit as an opportunity to go check it out and if I really like it go from there. Right now it’s a possibility.”
While he couldn't mention Kienholz by name or talk about specifics, as per NCAA restrictions in recruiting, DeBoer was asked hypothetically about a situation such as this — and he clearly wasn't thrilled about the potential for one of his recruits getting poached from under him.
"I mean when you're committed, you're committed," DeBoer said. "Every situation is different. That's a part of times changed, but also they still stay the same. When you give your verbal commitment, that's that. Everything is different. Every situation you run to has its own little pieces to it."
Former Husky coach Chris Petersen had a policy of pulling a scholarship offer if a committed recruit continued to look around and he reportedly lost linebacker Nick Bolton to Missouri for that reason.
Bolton from Frisco, Texas, pledged to the UW in 2017 and wound up signing with the SEC team after looking elsewhere. He now plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, alongside former Husky corner Trent McDuffie, who would have been his college teammate.
Petersen's predecessor, Jimmy Lake, reportedly did the same thing with O'Dea High School offensive tackle Mark Nabou, now a 6-foot-4, 345-pound freshman at Texas A&M, likewise an SEC team.
Kienholz, who hails from the same state from which DeBoer was born and raised, has a skill set that's been compared to previous UW quarterback Jake Locker, who became an NFL first-round draft pick, only this prospect might be a better passer.
Yet Ohio State has now gotten in the way of this seemingly smooth South Dakota connection between coach and quarterback. The Buckeyes are one of several Big Ten teams to show interest in Kienholz, among them Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. He also holds offers from Pittsburgh, Kansas State, Wyoming and Washington State.
“I think just their past culture and tradition with their quarterbacks, that’s huge,” Kienholz told 247Sports in regards to the Buckeyes. “Also their success they’ve had with their quarterbacks and success they’ve had with their football team, as well. Also I think it will be a really cool atmosphere seeing Ohio State versus Michigan going to a game.”
He comes off a senior season in which he lead his Riggs team to a state championship, completing nearly 67 percent of his passes for 3,422 yards and 46 touchdowns, and had just six interceptions. He ran for another 1,436 yards and 24 touchdowns. His career stats and accolades are enormous.
The idea in Montlake was that Kienholz would come in and some day wage a furious battle with Sam Huard to become the future Husky starting quarterback at some point, most likely in 2024.
That same season, the UW will host Ohio State at Husky Stadium, which means Kienholz likely will show up for that game in one uniform or the other.
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