O'Korn says he connected with Houston coaching staff, felt comfortable running Cougars' offense
By Brendan Sonnone, Sun-Sentinel
St. Thomas Aquinas quarterback John O’Korn verbally committed to the University of Houston Friday afternoon.
“It’s great to get it off my shoulders finally,” said O’Korn, who visited Houston this past week. “I really fell in love with the university.”
During his visit, O’Korn developed a strong bond with Houston head coach Tony Levine and the rest of the Cougars coaching staff, influencing his decision to commit.
“They really took care of me,” O’Korn said. “I was their highest priority of any position and that felt good to me. Their entire staff is genuine, they weren’t trying to sell me on anything that wasn’t true.”
O’Korn (6-3, 210) also likes that Houston has a similar offensive system to what St. Thomas Aquinas runs.
“Once we started talking football, I realized that their offense is nearly identical to what we run here at St. Thomas,” O’Korn said. “I feel like I’m going to go there and develop in the system and turn into an even better quarterback and start for a long time there.”
O’Korn held scholarship offers from UCF, USF and North Carolina. He is ranked a three-star prospect by 247Sports.com, which also rates him as the No. 58 pro-style quarterback in the nation.
He has developed into a sought-after signal caller despite the fact that he was part of a two-quarterback system last season with Max Lescano.
In his first season with the Raiders after transferring Huntingdon (Pa.), O’Korn threw for 377 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions.
“A lot of work went in to trying to prove that I can be that guy and be able to go out and lead a college program,” O’Korn said.
Now that he has his college picked and is St. Thomas’ unquestioned starter at quarterback, O’Korn is ready to guide the Raiders to what he hopes will be a deep postseason run.
“It’s a big relief to me to finally be the guy and take the offense under my belt and be the leader out there and not have the guys wondering who’s going to be in the game at any particular time,” O’Korn said. “I think that’s going to allow us to settle down more as an offensive unit.”
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