West Virginia coach Neal Brown didn’t waste any time replenishing his roster at a position where he may need some depth.
Brown, who was announced as Dana Holgorsen’s replacement Jan. 11, said Friday that quarterback Austin Kendall has enrolled for West Virginia’s spring semester and will have two years of eligibility as a graduate transfer. He will compete for the starting job with rising junior Jack Allison, who directed the WVU offense in the Camping World Bowl in the absence of Will Grier.
Grier, who was the West Virginia quarterback the past two seasons, opted out of the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft. Allison completed 17 of 35 passes for 277 yards and one interception in the 34-18 loss to Syracuse.
Kendall, 6-foot-2, 219 pounds, was a backup to Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray last season, appearing in six games and completing 12 of 17 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. He also appeared in two games in 2016 after throwing for 7,088 yards and 72 touchdowns at Cuthbertson (N.C.) High School. He was rated a four-star prospect and the No. 4 pro-style quarterback in the nation by Rivals.com while receiving scholarship offer from West Virginia, Auburn, Clemson, Miami, N.C. State, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
