Burgess ready to enroll at Tulsa
Greenwood (Ark.) quarterback Jabe Burgess has signed a financial aid agreement with Tulsa and has been admitted to the school. He graduated high school early and will enroll for the spring semester that begins at TU in January 2014, allowing him to participate in spring drills.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder led Greenwood to a 12-1 record as a senior. The loss was his first as a starting quarterback, as his team fell 37-34 to Pine Bluff two weeks ago in the Arkansas state playoffs, snapping a 51-game winning streak for the Bulldogs.
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"Jabe has all the tools to be an excellent collegiate quarterback," said Tulsa head coach Bill Blankenship. "He has shown to have really good accuracy, makes good decisions and has come up huge with clutch performances in his prep career."
In his career, Burgess completed 72-percent of his passes for 5,238 yards and 47 touchdowns, while compiling a two-year mark of 26-1 as a starter. The three-star prospect is rated as the No. 22 pro-style quarterback nationally by Rivals.com.
This season, Burgess completed 152-of-221 passes for 2,110 yards and 21 touchdowns with only eight interceptions. He is expected to be honored as the Class 7A-6A Conference Offensive Player of the Year, while earning all-state and all-conference accolades. He was a preseason first-team selection to the 2013 ArkansasVarsity.com all-senior team and was ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the state of Arkansas by Rivals.com.
As a junior in 2012, Burgess completed 74-percent of his passes (219-of-296) for 3,128 yards and 36 touchdowns with only five interceptions. He led his team to a state championship and a 15-0 record.
"Jabe is great in the clutch and he's obviously a winner," Greenwood head coach Rick Jones said in a release. "He has a good arm and is a good decision-maker from the quarterback position. He's been great in the clutch for us. In three of the last four games, Jabe has led us on long scoring drives late in the game."
Burgess committed to Tulsa on May 2, 2013, picking the Hurricane over offers from Illinois and Louisiana Tech. He also had interest from Auburn, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Indiana and others.
"The coaches, overall, trust in me," Burgess told InsideTulsaSports.com after he committed in May. "I wanted a place that wanted me as bad as I want to play college football. I felt comfortable on every visit I've taken there, and I'm really excited to be a Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
"Coach Blankenship and the staff have told me they are all for my early graduation. I will be enrolled after Christmas and will be working out with the team for the spring semester."