Panthers big on Texas QB with stellar throwing game

FIU might have its quarterback of the future.

When the regular signing period begins Wednesday, the Panthers figure to officially add Texas prep quarterback Grayson James.

As a junior, James completed 53.1 percent of his passes for 217.2 yards per game, 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. But, as a senior, James transferred to national power Duncanville and completed 65.3 percent of his passes for 298.3 yards per game, 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Gabe Brooks, a Texas-based national scouting analyst for 247 Sports, said James has an 85 rating, which puts him right in the middle of three-star recruits. Brooks saw James play at least three games, start to finish, this past season. Duncanville went 10-2, reaching the Class 6A state semifinals.

“He’s well-built and stout,” Brooks said of the 6-1, 200-pound James. “He can throw from different arm angles, which is increasingly desired in today’s football as more quarterbacks become improvisational.”

Brooks said this is a loaded season for Texas quarterbacks, with 30 good enough to play D1 FBS football — twice as many as usual. Among those, Brooks ranks James in the top 15.

The next step for

James is to improve his deep throws.

“He has good touch, and his vertical arm strength is adequate,” Brooks said. “His throws down the seam and over the middle are areas where he can get better, but he’s a good ‘get’ for a Conference USA team.”

COMEBACK STORY

FIU women’s basketball standout and England native Kyla Nelson is having a tremendous comeback campaign.

Last season, while playing for Pitt, she missed all but four games to have two surgeries. The first was to remove her appendix. The second was much more serious: to remove a cancerous tumor found during the appendectomy. .

“I woke up one day feeling nauseous and vomiting and with excruciating stomach pain,” Nelson said. “I was in agony for about 12 hours before my roommate forced me to go to the hospital.”

Doctors removed her appendix on Aug. 28, 2019, and Nelson thought the ordeal was over.

However, the doctor kept calling Nelson for what she thought was a routine follow-up visit. She ignored the calls at first, but she soon learned that a tumor had been found.

“I’m usually quite level-headed,” Nelson said. “But I was numb. I called my mom, and she was in shock and in tears.”

On Oct. 1, 2019, surgeons removed the right side of her colon and some lymph modes, but Nelson has since made a full recovery.

Nelson, a 5-11 senior guard, is averaging a team-high 15.6 points for FIU, which is 7-7 overall and 4-4 in Conference USA under new coach Jesyka Burks-Wiley. That’s already more wins than the Panthers had in each of the past two years under the former coach, when FIU went a combined 11-47.

THIS AND THAT

FIU has added two

●

linebackers from the transfer portal: Hal Vinson of Texas State and Eric Mitchell of UCF. Vinson was seventh on his team in tackles and third in tackles for losses last year. In 35 games at UCF, Mitchell had 18 tackles for losses, five sacks and one interception. He was sixth on the team in tackles this past season.

FIU defensive end

●

Alexy Jean-Baptiste

has withdrawn his name from the portal.

Offensive lineman

●

Reynard Burnett ,a two-year starter at Houston Baptist, is transferring to FIU.

Former South Broward

● wide receiver Dennis Robinson — now in the transfer portal — has received an offer from FIU. The 6-5, 210-pounder spent the past four years at Northern Illinois University.