It’s been a wild week on the recruiting trail for the Cornhuskers, as head coach Mike Riley and company have seen their visitor list shuffled around more than their favorite deck of cards. Despite all the movement, the coaching staff has managed to put together an impressive five-man visitor list headlined by the Georgia duo of Jeremiah Holloman and Jaquan Henderson.
In addition to a big recruiting weekend ahead, a Nebraska commit experienced a well-deserved rise in the recruiting ranks, a longtime running back target committed elsewhere and much more.
Huskers Set to Host Five This Weekend
Heading into the Minnesota weekend, the Nebraska coaching staff is set to host five official visitors as of Wednesday night. While there will be a full preview of the visitors on Hail Varsity’s website, here is a quick rundown on who will be in town Saturday evening.
Jeremiah Holloman (Covington, Ga.)
WR | 6-2, 185 Top schools: Georgia, Miami (FL), Nebraska
Jaquan Henderson (Covington, Ga.)
OLB | 6-1, 210 | Currently committed to Tennessee
Noah Elliss (Littleton, Co.)
DT | 6-3, 320 | Top schools: Nebraska, Utah, Colorado
Kamren Curl (Muskogee, Okla.)
FS, 6-2, 180 | Top schools: Nebraska, TCU, Washington State
Quran Hafiz Jacksonville, Fla.
CB | 6-1, 170 | Top schools: Nebraska, Miami (FL), Indiana
While this may not be the most star-studded visitor list—that honor belongs to Fresno State—there are several high quality prospects planning to be in town and a couple that may pull the trigger and commit to Nebraska before leaving Lincoln.
Jamari Peacock Commits to Virginia
Nebraska lost out on one of its top running back targets for 2017 Monday evening, as Jamari Peacock verbally committed to Virginia. Peacock had held a Nebraska offer since February 17 and he turned some heads with an impressive performance at Nebraska’s Friday Night Lights camp in July. Peacock had originally listed a top three of Nebraska, Virginia and Louisville but stated that it was down to the Huskers and the Wahoos in mid-October. Peacock had been planning to visit Nebraska this weekend but cancelled his visit just hours before committing to Virginia. Losing out on Peacock shrinks Nebraska’s target pool at the running back position, as only one running back prospect has visited Nebraska this season.
Stephen Carr remains Nebraska’s dream target at the running back position, but he does not appear to be in any hurry to decommit from USC. After Carr, there is a plethora of possible targets: Patrick Queen (LSU commit), Kylin Hill (Mississippi State commit), Alaric Williams (Auburn commit) and Nathan Tilford (Arizona commit). All four are targets that Nebraska is looking to flip from their current schools, as there are no uncommitted prospects that Nebraska is currently in the picture with at this time.
Porcher IV Experiences a Huge Rating Bump
Nebraska won a major recruiting battle last July when John Parrella beat out Michigan and USC for Orlando, Florida, defensive end Robert Porcher IV. Porcher was coming off a tremendous junior season in which he tallied 92 tackles and 11 sacks while playing Class 8A football in Florida, one of the highest levels of competition in all of high school football. Despite these stats and his NFL pedigree, Porcher was rated as a two star recruit by Rivals recruiting site.
Porcher has been in the process of proving analysts wrong this fall, as he has tallied 65 tackles, 24 TFL and 10 sacks through 10 games this season. The staff at Rivals has apparently noticed, as they bumped Porcher up to a 4-star recruit earlier this week. This now gives Parrella two 4-star recruits in his first ever recruiting class, joining Miami, Florida, rush end Guy Thomas. Porcher will look to keep performing at a high level this Friday, as Dr. Phillips will host Manatee in the 1st round of the Florida Class 8A playoffs.
Rahyme Johnson Gets the Offer He’s Waited For, Can the Huskers Stay in the Picture?
After his decommitment from UCLA in mid-May, many people thought Los Angeles, California, outside linebacker Rahyme Johnson was a Husker lock. The linebacker prospect was a longtime friend of current Husker commits Keyshawn Johnson Jr. and Tristan Gebbia, while also having a strong relationship with Nebraska linebacker coach Trent Bray. Despite everything pointing Nebraska’s way in recent months, one school looked to be a darkhorse, Oregon. The ducks made their move on Johnson the day before Halloween and immediately vaulted to the top of his list of schools.
While Nebraska has a pair of Johnson’s friends in its recruiting class, the Ducks can boast two of Johnson’s high school teammates in their own class in Deommodore Lenoir and Nick Pickett. Nebraska, along with Texas A&M and Florida, remain in the picture but the Ducks offer has forced Nebraska to look at some other options to fill the final opening in its linebacker class.
Muskegon, Michigan, outside linebacker Andrew Ward has been on Nebraska’s radar for a while and visited for the Oregon game. He may be the most attainable linebacker target on Nebraska’s board at this point. Two other names to watch are Jaquan Henderson and Isaac Slade-Matautia. Henderson is currently committed to Tennessee but will be visiting for Nebraska’s game against Minnesota. Slade-Matautia has yet to visit Nebraska, but has a strong relationship with Mike Cavanaugh and Bray, leading to him expressing interest in visiting Nebraska following the season.
Trio of Husker Targets Set Decision Dates
Nebraska has been waiting almost 50 days for another commitment, leading many fans to become restless. Fear not as three Husker targets have announced the dates when they will be announcing their commitments.
Isaiah Hodgins, a 4-star wide receiver out of Walnut Creek, California, will be announcing his college commitment on November 19, choosing between Nebraska, Oregon State and Oregon.
Aaron Banks, a 4-star offensive tackle out of El Cerrito, California, tweeted that he will be making his college commitment sometime between December 4 and December 19. He will be deciding between Michigan, Notre Dame and Oregon with Nebraska being the dark horse.
Quran Hafiz, a 3-star cornerback out of Jacksonville, Florida, will be announcing his decision on December 19. Nebraska is believed to be the clear front runner for Hafiz, though a late push from Miami (FL) may make things interesting over the next month. Hafiz will be an early enrollee and will participate in spring ball.
