Prolific Passer Practicing Patience

Gilroy (Calif.) quarterback Jamie Jensen was the second leading passer in California last fall and he's patiently waiting for his first offer. Jensen talks about his recruitment and the schools he's hearing from...

Only one California threw for more yards in 2007 than Gilroy quarterback Jamie Jensen (6-3, 210).

The strong-armed quarterback led Gilroy to the CIF-CCS title game on the strength of a 4,300+ yard season.

His eye-popping numbers caught the attention of several schools looking for a quarterback.

“I don’t have any offers yet, but it’s been pretty positive,” said Jensen. “Utah came down by the school and Tyrone Willingham of Washington came down. Northwestern, Ohio State, BYU and Oklahoma have all been showing me interest too.”

Jensen said while he doesn’t have a leader, the recruiting that Washington has done has been the most notable.

“Washington seems to be the most interested in me,” said Jensen. “They came and talked to my head coach and want to come and watch me throw. Utah wants to come watch me throw (this spring) too.”

Jensen said he’s hoping to attend some college Junior Days, but he’s kept his spring open from setting up any unofficial visits at this point.

“I’m open right now, and I don’t want to narrow my choices just yet,” said Jensen. “My top seven schools at this point would be Washington, BYU, UCLA, Cal, Utah, Oklahoma and Ohio State.”

Jensen, would however, like to make a decision prior to his senior year.

“I’d like to make an early decision but I wouldn’t mind going to a couple of schools and visiting them,” said Jensen.

This spring, Jensen will keep himself busy at a handful of camps, going to the Elite 11 at Berkeley, the Nike Camp at Stanford and the QBU Camp at Cal.

Playing in the spread offense, Jensen said he wouldn’t mind playing in a similar system in college, but he’s not exclusively focused on the spread.

“It would be nice to play in the spread, but I’m open to any offense,” said Jensen. “In a game, I’d be in the shotgun, but working with my quarterback coach, I’m working under center.”

Jensen works with renowned Bay Area quarterback guru Roger Theder and also with Peter Goodson, and said the work with them has been beneficial.

“They are good coaches and they’ve trained some good players. Coach Theder coached Trent Edwards so I got to go to his pro day at Stanford (last year),” said Jensen.

For Jensen, throwing for over 4,000 yards as a junior wasn’t something he expected, or even a goal he set.

“I had no idea I’d throw for that many yards,” said Jensen. “My freshman year was my first year playing quarterback and my sophomore year, I backed up on varsity, I had no idea I was going to throw for that many yards.”

Jensen threw for over 4,300 yards and threw 43 touchdowns.

Academically, Jensen has a 3.0 GPA and will take the SAT in May.