QB Dayne Crist will join Charlie Weis at Kansas

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Former Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist will be eligible to play next season for new Kansas coach Charlie Weis. | Michael Conroy~AP

Updated: January 24, 2012 9:53AM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas coach Charlie Weis landed two high-profile quarterbacks Thursday and one is former Notre Dame starter Dayne Crist.

Crist announced on Twitter that he would join the Jayhawks for his senior season after a checkered career with the Irish, shortly before news broke that BYU quarterback Jake Heaps also would transfer to Kansas.

Crist will reunite with Weis, who recruited him to Notre Dame, and be eligible to play next season because he’s already graduated from Notre Dame. Heaps will have to sit out under NCAA transfer rules but will have two seasons of eligibility left. Officials at Kansas could not comment on the quarterbacks until they enroll.

Crist visited Kansas and Wisconsin before making his decision, which came the same day Badgers offensive coordinator Paul Chryst was hired as the coach at Pittsburgh.

One of the country’s top recruits out of Sherman Oaks, ­Calif., Crist enrolled in South Bend in 2008 as part of a blockbuster recruiting class.

But Weis struggled to win games despite suiting up numerous top prospects at Notre Dame and was fired after the 2009 ­season. Crist had a season-ending knee injury his freshman year and another last year, after he completed 60 percent of his passes for 2,033 yards with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions under Weis’ replacement, Brian Kelly.

He came back from the injury to regain the starting job this season, but was benched at halftime of the opener against South Florida. Crist played only a handful of snaps behind Tommy Rees the rest of the way.

“After a long & difficult decision-making process, I’m incredibly excited to join the Kansas football team. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!” Crist wrote on Twitter.

AP