McFeely: South Dakota prep QB narrows college offers to Wisconsin, Washington, Wyoming ... and NDSU

FARGO — North Dakota State is in the running for a high school quarterback who also has Power Five programs Wisconsin and Washington among his four finalists.

Pierre, S.D., junior Lincoln Kienholz posted on Twitter that his four finalists are NDSU, Wisconsin, Washington and Wyoming. The 6-foot-3, 185-pounder had nearly a dozen offers from Football Bowl Subdivision programs, according to his Twitter timeline. His two Football Championship Subdivision offers were the Bison and South Dakota State.

Considered a three-star recruit by 247 Sports , Kienholz passed for 3,359 yards and 37 touchdowns with six interceptions last season. He also ran for 1,156 yards and 12 touchdowns, making him the dual-threat QB most college programs covet.

Kienholz is also a 1,000-point scorer as a point guard on the Governors' basketball team. He was offered a basketball scholarship by the University of South Dakota.

Wisconsin has long been one of the stronger programs in the Big Ten. Washington of the Pac-12 is led by first-year coach Kalen DeBoer, who has South Dakota ties. Wyoming of the Mountain West is coached by former NDSU head coach Craig Bohl.

Among the other schools that offered Kienholz were Minnesota and Illinois of the Big Ten, Kansas State of the Big 12, Colorado State of the Mountain West, Arkansas State of the Sun Belt, Washington State of the Pac 12 and Pittsburgh of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

SB Nation reports that Wisconsin has Kienholz as its No. 1 QB target for 2023 after missing out on other quarterbacks.

The BadgerBlitz blog says Kienholz will visit the four finalists in June, starting with the Badgers on the weekend of June 3.

Bison offensive lineman Grey Zabel, a promising sophomore, is from Pierre. Zabel's brother Jett is a tight end/defensive end for the Governors who will graduate in 2024.