Sophomore quarterback J.T. Granato has been officially cleared to play for Missouri State University after the transfer received his release from Rice University early Tuesday.
By receiving his full release from Rice, where he has been enrolled since 2015, he is now fully eligible to play with the football Bears this season. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Houston native is expected to be in uniform for Saturday’s season opener at Missouri (11 a.m. CT, SEC Network).
Granato opened fall camp with Rice, but enrolled at Missouri State in time for the start of the fall semester. He has been permitted to practice at MSU while waiting for his full release to be granted.
He played in four games as a redshirt freshman in 2016 for coach David Bailiff at the Conference USA program in Houston. He threw for a season-best 56 yards on five completions against Stanford in the season finale on Nov. 26, leading the Owls on a 92-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter. He completed his first passes against FAU on Nov. 5 after making his collegiate debut vs. Prairie View on Oct. 22. He led a scoring drive that was capped by his first career touchdown, a four-yard run on his only carry, in the Prairie View game. He redshirted in his first year with the Owls in 2015.
Granato was a three-time All-Southwest Preparatory Conference selection and the player of the year as a senior for coach Nathan Larned at Kinkaid High School in Houston. He completed 62 percent of his passes as a senior and compiled a 115.1 quarterback rating. He threw for over 9,000 yards and 81 touchdowns in his three seasons with the Falcons and led them to the SPC title as a junior in 2012. He was a member of the Houston Chronicle’s Houston Top 100 in 2014 and ranked by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football as the No. 10 quarterback in its postseason edition. He was a member of DCTF’s Texas Top 300 and was listed as one of the top 30 quarterbacks heading into his senior year. He also lettered in basketball and baseball.
