Grissom To OU

Hutchinson High defensive end Geneo Grissom committed to Oklahoma University last night over the phone to defensive coordinator Brent Venables, according to Hutch football coach Randy Dreiling.

Grissom said in this morning's edition of the Hutch News that the selection process had become "not even fun" and "stressful." Grissom had narrowed his choice to Oklahoma and Kansas as of last week, removing LSU from the process, according to the Hutch News' Salthawk beat writer Vance Janak.

Grissom, currently starting at center for the 4-2 Hutch basketball team, originally committed to KU football in the summer of 2009. When KU football coach Mark Mangino was fired in December 2009, Dreiling said he opened the process back up in order to "protect" Grissom. That's when LSU and OU re-entered the process.

"Once the coaching change happened, we, in order to protect him, opened it up again," Dreiling said, "and for whatever reason he chose OU over KU. Both were good choices. There's nothing we were unhappy with or wrong with KU. He just felt OU was the place to go."

Grissom was not a Top 11 football selection in Kansas. He was Vype's No. 4-ranked player in south central Kansas. Blake Bell, also expected to sign with OU on Feb. 3 national signing day, was Vype's No. 1 player. Hutch slot back Deveon Dinwiddie and defensive end Justin Goetz were ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Vype based its rankings on on-field high school performances.

Grissom was dominant in his senior season, in which Hutch won its state-record sixth consecutive state title. The second-ranked defender for Hutch High behind Goetz, Grissom compiled 7.5 sacks, 24 tackles for loss and 20 pressures.

National Signing Day is Feb. 3. Report signings to editor.centralks@vype.com.