Strong gets his QB as prized recruit flips from Florida State to Texas

Strong gets his QB as prized recruit flips from Florida State to Texas

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:42 p.m. ET

Charlie Strong finally has his quarterback for the 2015 recruiting class.

Kai Locksley, who had committed to Florida State some six months ago, announced Monday night he was flipping from the Seminoles to Texas. According to ESPN, the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Baltimore native called the Longhorns head coach Monday night to personally deliver the news.

"He was ecstatic," Locksley told ESPN of Strong's reaction. "He was like, 'You're joking around. Why'd you make me wait this long? Been trying to get you to say that for two weeks. Why you playing around?' He was happy to have that main piece in his recruiting class."

"My feelings stayed the same, and I was ready to let everybody know so I can always help recruit some of the other guys they're trying to get in this class," Locksley continued to ESPN.

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Locksley is the nation's 24th-ranked quarterback, according to Scout.com. Texas lost out on longtime quarterback commit Zach Gentry when the New Mexico native committed to Jim Harbaugh at Michigan. Last week, Strong struck out in trying to get Texas A&M commit Kyler Murray, the nation's No. 5 dual-threat quarterback, to hop across rivalry lines and commit to the Longhorns.

Just last week, FOX Sports College Football Insider Stewart Mandel wrote how Strong and Texas could steal Signing Day, particularly if the Longhorns landed a QB -- even naming Locksley as one of those possibilities. It appears mission accomplished on that front.

Locksley, the son of Maryland assistant Mike Locksley, who also coached with Strong on the defensive staff at Florida in 2003 and '04, gives Texas its much-needed passer in this year's recruiting class. Players can begin signing letters of intent when National Signing Day kicks off Wednesday morning.

Locksley visited Texas the weekend of Jan. 23 and as a mobile threat, figures to be a fit in Texas' rumored shift to a more spread-oriented attack that utilizes zone-read concepts.

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