LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — This is the number of Atlantic Coast Conference football programs that offered a scholarship to Evan Conley during his quarterback career at Kell High School in Marietta, Ga.:
One — and that was Louisville, only after the Cardinals hired Scott Satterfield from Appalachian State last December.
This is the number of other Power Five programs interested in Conley:
Zero.
This is the number of FBS programs that worked overtime on Conley:
Three — App State, Kent State and South Alabama.
This is the number of Ivy League offers that Conley had in his pocket:
Three — Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth.
This announcement is for all of those programs:
On Monday the Atlantic Coast Conference selected Conley as the league’s top freshman and top quarterback for his performance Saturday night at Wake Forest.
Conley passed for 196 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 79 yards, including a 41-yard burst in the final two minutes that pushed Louisville to its 62-59 victory over No. 19 Wake.
Formerly unbeaten Wake Forest, that is.
For the season, Conley is 24 for 37 for 422 yards and four touchdowns. He has completed nearly 65 percent of his throws with a single interception. Not bad for a guy that the recruiting gurus did not love because Conley is only 6 feet 2 and 207 pounds.
"He's a very cerebral player," Satterfield said. "He's a very even-keeled guy ... he knows what he's trying to do. He's a very hard worker ... here's a true freshman who just showed up and you can tell that (hard work) is all he's known. That's in his DNA and he is a competitor."
Please remember that the ACC is a conference packed with four- and five-star quarterback recruits, including Trevor Lawrence of Clemson, the guy who was on nearly every pre-season college football magazine and Heisman Trophy Watch List.
Louisville sophomore Hassan Hall was also named the top special teams player in the ACC for his performance against Wake. Hall generated 220 yards while returning kickoff. He took one 100 yards for a touchdown.
But Conley?
Apparently he was too short. Or too slow. It wasn't as if the recruiting gurus never had a chance to see Conley. He played in one of the best high school football areas of one of the best high school football states in the country -- suburban Atlanta.
Oh, they saw him. The guys at 247Sports saw enough of Conley to rank him the No. 183 prospect in the state of Georgia as well as the 65th best pro-style QB in the nation.
Overall, Conley was ranked as the No. 1,859 prospect in America. He came into Louisville as the third-team quarterback, behind Jawon Pass and Micale Cunningham.
Not any more.
Although Cunningham was listed on U of L's official depth chart for the Clemson game as the starter, with Conley on the second team, Satterfield said that either player might start when the Tigers visit Cardinal Stadium at noon Saturday. No reason to make life easier for Dabo Swinney with an advance announcement.
"Both of them have played really well," Satterfield said. "Whoever is the healthiest and gives us the best chance will play."
Satterfield said that he and his staff believed in Conley after he visited the Appalachian State football camp in the summer of 2018. The plan was to evaluate at least 8-to-10 quarterbacks during that camp -- and offer a scholarship to the best prospect.
Conley was the first guy to earn an offer from Satterfield, a former quarterback.
Satterfield said that Conley accepted the offer, even though he also had the three cracks at the Ivy League as well as interest from Colgate, Rhode Island and Eastern Kentucky.
App State is where Conley was headed until Louisville sacked Bobby Petrino for Satterfield. After looking at Louisville's quarterback roster, Satterfield decided the Cardinals needed more bodies. The best and the brightest prospects were taken. Maybe No. 1859 would listen.
He called Conley -- again -- and asked if he wanted to join him at Cardinal Stadium.
Satterfield said that Conley's only question was: Will I have a chance to play?
Satterfield said that he would.
And he has.
The rest of the ACC has noticed.
"Whether you're a freshman or a fifth-year senior, whoever the best player is is going to play," Satterfield said. "Obviously looking back, I mean, what a great find for us to be able to get in there because he's played great the last two games ... for sure, he's certainly been a bright spot for our football team."
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