Former three-time All-South Dakota high school star and national offensive lineman of the year Will Farniok is taking his talents to Tulsa, he announced on Twitter Friday morning.
The Sioux Falls Washington graduate spent the last three seasons at Nebraska, where he redshirted in 2018 and played in four games for the Huskers the past two seasons. The 6’3, 295 lb. Farniok started at center in the 2020 opener at No. 5 Ohio State but would not appear in any of the remaining seven games. He entered the transfer portal in January and has two years of eligibility remaining.
Tulsa competes in the American Athletic Conference, a Group of Five league in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Golden Hurricanes finished 6-3 last year, reaching as high as No. 18 in the AP poll and qualifying for the Armed Services Bowl. It was just the second winning season in the last seven years at Tulsa, whose head coach Phillip Montgomery will enter his seventh season in 2021.
A three-star prospect, Farniok committed to the Huskers in April 2017 over other suitors like Minnesota, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, and Virginia. That autumn, he played a major role in the Warriors’ third consecutive state title in his senior campaign. Farniok then played in the Offense-Defense 88 All-American Bowl and was named the national offensive lineman of the year by the organization. He also participated in the Nike Opening Combine, the U.S. Army All-America Combine and the Rivals Camp Series.
Farniok was listed by both ESPN and 247Sports as the No. 1 prospect in South Dakota, and he was ranked as the No. 7 center prospect in the nation at one point before his senior season by ESPN. He is the fourth of four brothers out of Washington to play on a Power Five school’s offensive line, joining Tom (Iowa State), Derek (Oklahoma), and Matt (Nebraska).
Matt Farniok announced in January he was making himself eligible for April’s NFL Draft, forgoing the extra year of eligibility he could have taken with the Huskers this autumn (a result of a new NCAA rule adjusting to the pandemic for seniors) after starting all eight games in 2020 — seven at right guard and one at center.
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