Texas State notebook: G.J. Kinne makes most of little time recruiting for Texas State

SAN MARCOS — When G.J. Kinne’s tenure at Incarnate Word came to an end with a loss in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs at North Dakota State last Friday, he was left with an empty recruiting class at his next stop, Texas State, five days before early National Signing Day.

Kinne made the most of those five days, flying to San Marcos from Fargo to host a recruiting visit for several prospects that Saturday. By Monday, he secured pledges from seven recruits and would officially sign nine Wednesday — four high schoolers in Horn defensive back Amarion Atwood, Horn receiver Chris Dawn Jr., Timberview offensive lineman Bami Badusi and Independence tight end Jake Simpson, and five transfers with Incarnate Word left tackle Nash Jones, Oklahoma defensive lineman Cedric Roberts, Boise State edge Deven Wright, Houston Baptist running back Ismail Mahdi and Kilgore College running back Donerio Davenport.

“Something I take pride in is recruiting,” Kinne said. “I’m not going to let any head coach in the country out-recruit me, is kind of what I’ve told myself every morning. So we get after it, me and my staff. We’re on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat — any social media platform where I’m talking to high school coaches and coaches around the country, guys who are in the portal. It’s a challenge, but it’s part of my job so I take pride in it. I really enjoy it, to be honest with you.

“We wanted to show them campus. We wanted to show them the football part of it. Offense and defense, show them video. Really, the biggest part, though, was just getting in front of these guys and talking to them and sharing my vision with their families. Just getting to know them. Both sides. Us getting to know them, them getting to know us.”

The Bobcats signed all but one committed player, South Oak Cliff defensive back Taylor Starling. Starling opted to sign on National Signing Day in February after receiving late offers from UNT and UTSA.

Atwood, Dawn, Davenport and Badusi all had reported offers from Incarnate Word and were recruited by Kinne when he was with the Cardinals, while Jones started every game at left tackle last season for Kinne. Now at the FBS level with Texas State, Kinne was able to re-recruit and convince those prospects to follow him.

“It changed once we got here,” Kinne said. “Maybe some guys that we were on early at UIW we weren’t able to get, but now that we’re at Texas State we can rekindle that relationship and sign a couple of these guys.”

Kinne said the Bobcats are far from finished, but he isn’t sure how many more Texas State will sign by the next signing day on Feb. 1.

“It’s a fluid situation right now, especially with the portal and all that stuff,” Kinne said. “We’re definitely going to add a couple — a lot more between now and the start of the football season. That’s probably the best thing I can tell you. I don’t want to tell you a number because it will change. … I think for us, it's best available right now. We’re just scouring the state and the portal and figuring out who’s the best fit for Texas State. Not necessarily positions. We’re targeting all positions right now. We feel like we can continue to add great talent at all positions.”

Basketball: Both the men’s and the women’s teams will end the nonconference slate of games with a winning record. The men’s team (7-6) won its final nonconference game Wednesday against the University of Arts and Sciences, 87-72, while the women’s team (8-3) defeated UNT-Dallas 58-39 Thursday after beating Houston Christian on Tuesday, 67-61. The men’s team opens its conference slate on Dec. 29 at home against ULM, while the women’s team will start on the road that same day against Georgia Southern.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: G.J. Kinne makes most of little time recruiting for Texas State