Avery Johnson, nation's No. 3 dual-threat quarterback, commits to Kansas State Wildcats

Maize High School (Kansas) quarterback Avery Johnson is staying home.

On Tuesday, the nation's No. 3 dual-threat quarterback announced his commitment to the Kansas State Wildcats over Oregon and Washington.

"The main reason behind it... you hear all the time, 'Go where you are wanted the most.' I feel like they always wanted me the most," Johnson said. "They've been here since I first started getting recruited. They started recruiting me at the end of my sophomore year and have been hard on me every since. I just felt it was the right place for me."

"Kansas State is really excited to have me. They can't wait. They are always on my Twitter, retweeting everything. The fanbase shows a lot of love and is like to other. I haven't gotten love like that from any other school. When my announcement comes I think the whole state of Kansas is going to be on fire." 

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound signal-caller has developed a close bond with offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Collin Klein. 

"I have a lot of great relationships with the coaches on staff," Johnson said. "But I've spent a lot of my time talking to coach Klein. He's just such a genuine person. He's always telling the truth and is always straight-forward with me - even when it's not something I want to hear. He's always honest because that's how he was raised. I feel like I can always trust him. That's from a personal standpoint, but whenever we're together we talk ball. You can just tell he puts so much time and effort into that." 

Johnson raised his stock recently at the Elite 11, where he was selected to the illustrious group after three days of competition. 

"I've always known what I was capable of," he said. "I tried to take as much as I could out of that Elite 11, learning as much as I could and being confident in myself and displaying my talents. I had a lot of fun at the Elite 11 and I was happy to be around those people and preform like I did." 

Johnson said he intends to graduate early and enroll at Kansas State in January, where he hopes to hit the ground running on his collegiate career. 

If his junior season was any indication, he may be able to accomplish that with relative ease.

Last season he threw for 2,550 yards and 20 touchdowns with just six interceptions, adding 1,080 yards and 22 scores on the ground. 

Junior season highlights