Turner Baty: Next Stop, Kansas

football odyssey is taking him to Lawrence, Kansas. The strong-armed quarterback who was part of New Canaan's state championship team in 2009, signed a letter-of-intent to play at Kansas University.

"It's kind of the end to a long and sometimes strange journey," said Baty, who helped lead City College of San Francisco to the Junior College National Championship this past year. "This is what I worked so hard for. I'm so excited to be playing for Kansas and in the Big 12."

is a profile of perseverance and commitment. The northern California native didn't receive any scholarship offers after his one season with the Rams. But he had an unwavering belief in himself and appeared to be on a vision quest."

"The kid chased his dream," New Canaan head coach told Patch. "He was offered by Dartmouth after his senior year, but he wanted to play at a Division I, FBS school and get a scholarship. You have to give him a lot of credit. Turner didn't listen to all the naysayers or the criticism. He just continued to work hard to make things happen."

Baty played at New Canaan amid controversy. He moved into town just as the season was starting and left soon after it was over, going back to Florida and his friends at St. Thomas Aquinas High School  Baty, who passed for more than 2,800 yards and 30 touchdowns in his one season in junior college, didn't let the negative things said about him on his way out, effect him on or off the field.

"People always have told me that I just wasn't good enough or my arm wasn't strong enough. To sign with Kansas really feels awesome," he said.

According to Baty, Kansas "came out of the blue." The Jayhawks are coming off a dismal 2-10 season and brought in Charlie Weis to be their new head coach. Weis has an impressive resume that includes a head coaching stint at Notre Dame and offensive coordinator positions with the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Florida Gators.

"Weis and a bunch of his coaches came out to visit with me here in San Francisco, " said Baty. "That was really impressive and meant a lot to me. Then I took my official visit to Kansas. I fell in love with the place and I committed to them."

Baty has three years of eligibility at Kansas and has been told by Weis that he'll head into summer camp as the number two quarterback behind Dayne Crist, who played for Weis in South Bend before transferring to Kansas this year.

"I know Dayne, he's a real good friend of mine," said Baty. "But Coach Weis said that I'd get a chance to compete for the job and that's really all anybody can ask for. I'm just going to work as hard as I can and see what happens."