By JOHN LEMBO - jlembo@bradenton.com
Brion Carnes has made his choice.
The Manatee High quarterback said Saturday he has committed to Western Kentucky, where he was taking his official visit this weekend.
The decision caps a whirlwind recruiting process for Carnes, who verbally committed to University of South Florida last winter but was told Friday the Bulls had withdrawn their scholarship offer.
Carnes never rescinded his commitment after Bulls coach Jim Leavitt was fired earlier this month, but opened his options. After USF dropped him, his choices were down to WKU and Nebraska.
He chose the Hilltoppers, home to a pair of locals — WKU head coach Willie Taggart was a standout player at Manatee, and the team's new defensive line coach, Raymond Woodie, was the head coach at Bayshore and Palmetto.
Carnes became the first freshman quarterback to start at Manatee under head coach Joe Kinnan in 2006, and helped the Hurricanes to the Class 5A state final four that year en route to throwing for roughly 6,000 yards in his career.
This past fall, he threw for 2,245 yards and 24 touchdowns in helping of the Hurricanes go 13-2 and reach the state final for the first time since Taggart helped the Hurricanes do so in 1993.
After competing in the Football Championship Subdivision — formerly Division I-AA — WKU is now a Division I program and a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
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