Last week may have been slow on the recruiting trail, but this week started off with a bang when 4-star wide receiver Latrell Neville joined the recruiting class. The move was unexpected but it gave the Huskers another nice building block for the future of the team. That wasn’t all. Nebraska also picked up another commitment this week from defensive back Lardarius Webb Jr.
The biggest football news since the COVID-19 pandemic hit came this week when the Big Ten announced a conference-only slate for all fall sports in 2020. It’s the first major conference to make this move. We’ll be seeing the domino effect of that announcement for weeks to come.
Let’s get to the Recon.
Husker Commits
Gabe Ervin, Running Back, Buford, Georgia
Heinrich Haarberg, Quarterback, Kearney, Nebraska
Shawn Hardy, Wide Receiver, Kingsland, Georgia
Randolph Kpai, Inside Linebacker, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Henry Lutovsky, Offensive Lineman, Mount Pleasant, Iowa
Seth Malcom, Inside Linebacker, Tabor, Iowa
Latrell Neville, Wide Receiver, Houston, Texas
Patrick Payton, Outside Linebacker, Miami, Florida
Teddy Prochazka, Offensive Lineman, Elkhorn, Nebraska
Will Schweitzer, Outside Linebacker, Los Gatos, California
Lardarius Webb, Defensive Back, Jackson, Mississippi
Branson Yager, Offensive Lineman, Grantsville, Utah
2021 Needs
| QB | 0 | DL | 3 |
| RB | 1 | MLB | 1 |
| WR | 0 | OLB | 1 |
| TE | 2 | DB | 1 |
| OL | 1 | K/P | 0 |
The Recon:
>> There’s a confidence to Webb that is impossible to miss when speaking with him. That’s pretty much required in the cornerback position, so it’s nothing to worry about. When I asked him about what he’s looking forward to as a college football player, he had a fun answer.
“Playing in that big stadium,” Webb said. “GBR. That’s what I’m looking forward to. I really want a ring. I want to go to the national championship.”
>> There is something my mind immediately went to after the Big Ten announced conference-only play for fall sports: there is no end to the recruiting dead period in sight. If the conference is pushing games back with the idea that the best-case scenario is conference games only, it’s logical to think that the earliest we’d get on-campus visits again is around October.
While so many are saying “when things open up,” that may not be reality. Prepare to not have visits and be pleasantly surprised if we get them. I’ll have more on this topic over the weekend.
>> I don’t know if you’ve noticed but freshman running back Sevion Morrison has been working over the last year. Derek Peterson tweeted this during the week.
.@GregSmithHV took the first photo of Sevion Morrison a year ago.
Sevion shared the second photo last week.
Dude's been W O R K I N G pic.twitter.com/CN2WCHVgf5
— Derek Peterson (@DrPeteyHV) July 7, 2020
That’s impressive work by the Oklahoma native. Morrison is a talented back who can be a nice all-around weapon for the Huskers running and catching passes out of the backfield. The Huskers’ staff has always been excited by his long-term future. Now that he is ahead of of schedule physically, it will be even harder to handicap which freshman running back ends up contributing this season. A lot of people thought it would be Marvin Scott because of his power lifting background but don’t sleep on Morrison.
>> The Big Ten made the announcement on Thursday that all sports this fall would be conference play only. It was a move in the works for quite some time, even if certain conferences around the country are faking ignorance. Hello, SEC. Still, it was jarring to see and hear Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren speak in such somber tones about the fate of the season as a whole.
“This is not a fait accompli that we’re going to have sports in the fall,” Warren said. “We may not have sports in the fall. We may not have a college football season in the Big Ten.”
Kicking the can down the road on these decisions can only last for so long. Someone had to be the first to lead. It was the Big Ten who now has given themselves maximum flexibility for scheduling.
Greg is the Recruiting Analyst for Hail Varsity and has covered Husker athletics since 2013. He has always had a passion for sports while growing up in the Chicago area. As he got older and had to hang up his cleats and sneakers, he realized his passion for sports went beyond just watching and attending games. He has covered many events from the Rose Bowl to championship boxing matches. If he’s not talking sports, he’s hovering over his grill. He is married to an amazing woman, Kim, and they have a dog that barks when Greg yells at the TV during games.
