New ASU QB Blake Barnett: ASU ‘was everything I could look for in a school’
Mar 25, 2017, 8:12 AM | Updated: Apr 4, 2017, 3:33 pm
Alabama quarterback Blake Barnett warms up before the start of an NCAA college football game against Southern California Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Arizona State football made a splash in the offseason, signing Alabama transfer and soon-to-be sophomore quarterback Blake Barnett.
The news got better almost two months later when it was reported that Barnett had a special waiver to play at the beginning of the season as opposed to a year after the day he dropped out of classes (Week 5 of the 2017 season).
Now, all the attention will be on if Barnett will be the starter, the position he had for the Crimson Tide at the start of last season.
Barnett joined Burns & Gambo on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Friday for the first time and is confident his past experiences put him a position to succeed in his battle to be the starter.
“I have full assurance of what it takes to become a starting quarterback,” Barnett said.
Barnett admitted the allure of national championship contenders like Alabama and other SEC schools kept him away from considering the Sun Devils in his initial recruitment, but the quarterback couldn’t speak higher about the program’s status.
“I really wanted to find a place that would help me grow as a player, a student and as a person,” Barnett said.
“Arizona State was everything I could look for in a school.”
The five-star prospect in Alabama’s 2015 class lost his job after two series of the team’s opener to USC to true freshman Jalen Hurts, who led the team to a 35-31 loss in the National Championship game.
Unfortunately for Barnett, like it was in Alabama, the path to him being the starter for the entire season is murky.
Last year’s starter Manny Wilkins is back, and along with him comes everyone he beat out for the job last spring. Dillon Sterling-Cole and Brady White did some relief work while Wilkins missed time, and both Bryce Perkins and four-star recruit Ryan Kelley will be in the picture despite those four other quarterbacks who took snaps last season.
Barnett wasn’t sure what happened last season with his quick removal, but he’s ready to move on.
“I’m a firm believer that things happen for a reason,” Barnett said.
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