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Oklahoma relents, QB Austin Kendall expected to attend West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Graduate transfer quarterback Austin Kendall is expected to enroll at West Virginia on Thursday, a program source told MetroNews on Wednesday.

Kendall is immediately eligible to play for the Mountaineers for the next two seasons thanks to Oklahoma reversing course on its decision to block him from transferring within the Big 12.

Kendall, who entered the NCAA transfer portal Jan. 11, finally received permission from Oklahoma to transfer within the conference on Wednesday evening after mounting external pressure led the Sooners to cave from their original position blocking Kendall’s move to a conference school.

The Big 12 has no specific rule pertaining to the ability of graduates to transfer within the league, which allowed Oklahoma to inhibit Kendall’s movement even though he already earned his degree. But on the same day the Sooners accepted the transfer of Alabama’s Jalen Hurts, and a day after Kansas State’s Alex Delton announced he was heading to Big 12 foe TCU, Oklahoma was roundly criticized for its stance.

According to USA Today, the official version is that Oklahoma “worked through its concerns over a transfer within the Big 12 to arrive at its decision.”

MetroNews confirmed West Virginia’s administration was poised to seek a waiver on Kendall’s behalf before Oklahoma’s reversal. Kendall reportedly visited Auburn this week and would encounter no eligibility hurdles there because the Tigers aren’t among the schools OU initially restricted.

A rising junior, Kendall has played sporadically in his three years for the Sooners, as one would expect for a quarterback stuck behind Heisman Trophy winners Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield. The most action he saw was against Louisiana-Monroe in 2016, when he went 12-of-15 for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Kendall redshirted in 2017.

West Virginia’s new coach Neal Brown has an established relationship with Kendall, whose older brother Ryan was a walk-on receiver at Kentucky when Brown was the offensive coordinator in 2014.

Like Will Grier, the transfer quarterback who preceded him at West Virginia, Kendall is a native of the area surrounding Charlotte, N.C.

Kendall is poised to join a Mountaineers roster with just two scholarship quarterbacks — redshirt junior Jack Allison and redshirt freshman Trey Lowe.





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