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Mississippi State, just two weeks before National Signing Day, has offered a scholarship to St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL) quarterback John O'Korn, according to Chris Nee of the 247 Sports network. O'Korn later confirmed the offer himself on his Twitter account.
Per Chris Nee of 247Sports, MSU offered 2013 Houston commit and quarterback prospect John O'Korn today 247sports.com/Player/John-OK…
— Paul Jones (@PJ247Sports) January 22, 2013
O'Korn has long been a target of the MSU coaching staff, but now he appears to have the official offer that had been looming out there as a possibility for some time now. O'Korn has been a Houston commit since the summer of 2012, and currently holds other offers from Louisville, North Carolina, Syracuse, and Wisconsin, among interest from others. He is rated as a 3-star prospect by 247 Sports, and is rated as the 34th best pro-style prospect by 247 for the class of 2013.
But with just two weeks left until National Signing Day, the O'Korn offer raises more questions than it provides answers as it pertains to MSU's 2013 football recruiting class. The general consensus all along is that State would push for 4-star Arizona State commit Joshua Dobbs to flip to MSU to give the Bulldogs two quarterbacks for this class -- an extra in case Manatee QB Cord Sandberg opts for Major League Baseball this summer. Dobbs reportedly met last night in his home with new MSU defensive coordinator Geoff Collins. Although we don't yet know the results of that visit, the general assumption (can't stress the assumption part enough) is that Dobbs may have told the MSU staff one of two things: 1) he is sticking with his commitment to ASU, or 2) he is not ready to make his decision yet. Either makes sense with the O'Korn offer coming today, as MSU either simply could not wait any longer on Dobbs' decision, or have moved on to their next option at the quarterback position.
The other major question raised by this offer is this: is there enough time left before February 6th for MSU to flip O'Korn? As we said, he is currently a Houston commit, and it is unclear at this time if he will visit Starkville in the final two weekends, or how much influence this offer has on him. Clearly to some degree an offer to play in the SEC has to appeal to the young man, but we don't yet know if the offer is coming too late, or if he likes what he sees with the MSU coaching staff.
No matter which way this recruiting drama turns for Mississippi State, we should begin to get answers this week. The key may lie in whether or not MSU can get either Dobbs or O'Korn to visit campus in the final two weekends leading up to National Signing Day. If they visit, the feeling is that more than likely one will join MSU's recruiting class.
Will Dobbs visit? Will O'Korn visit? Can the staff flip either of the two to State before February 6th? These are the questions we hope get answered soon, and they are important questions as MSU goes into the fall of 2013. With Jamil Golden transferring out to a junior college to work on his grades, and Cord Sandberg possibly opting for baseball over college, it's vital to MSU's quarterback depth next fall to land at least one of these two quarterback recruits. So which will it be? Only time will tell. And with little time left before National Signing Day, time should tell us pretty soon.
You can check out some highlights on quarterback John O'Korn below:
John O'Korn QB- 2nd Half of 2012 SEASON (via AquinasPlayers)