According to a post on X.com from Virginia Pilot reporter Michael Sauls, Norfolk State starting quarterback Otto Kuhns has been suspended for the first four games of the year due to an NCAA ruling, this includes the Week Zero HBCU football season opener, the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, which is set to kickoff live on ABC on Aug 24 at 7:30 pm.
Norfolk State has not released its depth chart for the 2024 season but Otto Kuhns was the presumed starter after being the man under center for 19 games in two years at Norfolk State. The Senior from Columbus, OH went 96-192 with 1,244 yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 2023 after a 2022 Sophomore campaign where he threw for 1,418 yards and 11 touchdowns with nine interceptions.
Kuhns made his way to HBCU football after a Freshman season at Eastern Illinois where he started 7 games throwing for 1,134 yards and six touchdowns with 10 interceptions, including opening the season with 253 passing yards against Indiana State.
The news of the possible suspension comes less than a week before Norfolk State is scheduled to kick off the 2024 HBCU football season in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge against reigning HBCU National Champions, the FAMU Rattlers.
Sauls’ post indicates that Spartan head coach Dawson Odums has already announced that Garden City Community College transfer Jalen Daniels will start in place of Kuhns for the foreseeable future.
Jalen Daniels, a 6 foot 5 220 pound Mesa Arizona native played in eight games in 2023 for Garden City CC, completing 120 of 210 passes for 1,282 yards with nine touchdowns with a 57.1 completion percentage.
While the nature of the NCAA ruling has not been released, Michael Sauls’ post indicated that more info on the story would be coming in the Virginia Pilot newspaper. We will also continue to monitor this story and post updates to hbcugameday.com.