Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, himself a former OSU quarterback, has had a knack for finding the right players to lead his team’s explosive passing offense. Now he has one headed in with the kind of high wattage profile that has often eluded the Cowboys.
On Wednesday, Norco (Calif.) four-star, pro-style passer Shane Illingworth committed to Oklahoma State ahead of scholarship offers from programs like Louisville, Arkansas, Arizona State and a handful of other options.
At 6-foot-6, 225 pounds, the Under Armour All-American commit picked Oklahoma State less than a week after taking an official visit to Louisville, speaking to the comfort level he felt with the Cowboys.
Illingworth will will find himself in a battle with incumbent players under center, and possibly his new coach’s own son (walk-on to be Gunnar Gundy) but will hope to see time on the field in the fall of 2020. Given his remarkable high school career — he finished with 2,739 yards, a 63 percent completion percentage and 29 touchdowns to just seven interceptions, per stats compiled by 247Sports. That’s an impressive season in a tough region of arguably the toughest high school football state in the country.
So Illlingworth won’t be intimidated by anyone in front of him on the depth chart, and if Gundy continues to be infatuated with live arms, he might just settle on the Californian’s come fall 2020.
