DALLAS — As one of the most highly recruited quarterbacks in his high school class, Parish Episcopal's Preston Stone could've played collegiate football in any corner of the country. He had offers from every power-five conference: the ACC, SEC, Big-10, Big-12, and Pac-12.
Still, he elected to go to SMU, a member of the American Athletic Conference at the time he enrolled.
"Dallas is my hometown, Dallas is my city," Stone reasoned.
As a Dallas native, Stone grew up as a self-proclaimed "SMU fan [his] whole life." And when he got the chance to play in his hometown, it was a no-brainer.
"I'm 100% SMU -- 100%," Stone told WFAA.
However, with the Mustang's recent move to the ACC, Stone will now get to play for his hometown team while also playing amongst the country's best conferences.
"When it comes to college football in Texas -- since I've been a kid, SMU has always kind of been the little brother that's trying to claw their way up, fight their way to the level of Texas, TCU, A&M. Now, this will be the first year where we're in that power four conference… and this is the first year where we have the schedule that lines up with, week in and week out, we're going to have the competition that proves us as the best team in Texas".
While the conference move feels like a massive hurdle to overcome, it wasn't the first one the 22-year-old has had to deal with during his time in University Park.
Stone suffered a collarbone injury in 2022 as a redshirt freshman before suffering a left leg injury during the 2023 season.
"Lower body injury is a whole different animal not being able to walk," Stone explained. "But being able to go to school in my hometown, being able to stay with my mom and dad while I was going through the bulk of the recovery process was a huge help."
Now back to 100% health, Stone is ready to resume his place as the Mustangs' starting quarterback and lead them into uncharted territories.
"It's going to be a championship-level football game every week."
Watch our interview with Preston Stone in full: