Kenny Dillingham lost recruiting battle for Zach Wilson's brother
Apparently Kenny Dillingham is a really good chess player.
In his press conference Monday, Arizona State's head coach talked about beating Utah quarterback Isaac Wilson in chess - but ultimately losing the recruiting battle for the four-star quarterback.
"I played chess with him," said Dillingham when asked about potentially facing Wilson this week. "You can ask him about our chess match here. I beat him here. And then he beat me on chess.com. So he got me back. And I shouldn't have beat him ... he's really good actually."
Wilson, the younger brother of former No. 2 overall NFL Draft pick Zach Wilson, has started the last three games for Utah while seventh-year senior Cam Rising recovers from an injury to his throwing hand. A true freshman, Wilson has completed 55.7% of his passes while throwing 6 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions. It's unclear if Wilson or Rising will start Friday's game vs. Arizona State.
Dillingham said Wilson was one of their top class of 2024 recruits, but Kyle Whittingham and the Utes won the recruiting battle.
"We lost," said Dillingham. "We recruited him. He was one of our top guys."
Dillingham had high praise for Wilson's football acumen and expects to see a different version of the true freshman on Friday - if he plays.
"He's a smart guy. He's savvy. He's confident. He extends plays with his legs," said Dillingham. "He's just a very confident guy back there. ... He can make all the throws, that's why we recruited him. I know the bye week, what it did for Sam [Leavitt], is gonna do the same thing for him. They're going to double down on what he's good at. They're going to play to his strengths coming off a bye.
"I think we're going to get a better version of him or we're going to get one of the best quarterbacks in college football in Cam Rising."
Dillingham made it clear the Sun Devils are preparing for both quarterbacks. During his weekly press conference Monday, Whittingham said "there's a chance" Rising will play this week.
"We'll see what happens this week, but there's a chance," said Whittingham when asked if Rising will play vs. the Sun Devils. "It's still early in the week, but we're crossing our fingers and hoping for the best, as is Cam."
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Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.