On Wednesday, 4-star linebacker Randolph Kpai signed his letter of intent to become a Husker. He is my No. 2 player for an Early Signing Day edition of Greg’s Guys.
Randolph Kpai, Welcome to #TheGoodLife
Follow: @d_kpai#GBRXXI pic.twitter.com/4scUrB7zUG
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFBNation) December 16, 2020
Kpai committed to the Huskers on Feb. 2, 2020. The defender attends Washington High School in South Dakota. That’s the same high school that sent the Huskers Nate Gerry and the Farniok brothers. He received a lot of recruiting attention early on. The schools in the Midwest knew about him but he also received national attention when Oregon offered.
His high school coach, Chad Stadem explained to Hail Varsity what it is that evaluators and college coaches saw in Kpai as a prospect.
“His length. He’s 6-3 and he runs well,” Stadem said. “He’s very flexible, he can bend extremely well. I just remember watching him, there are two other linebackers here and two going to South Dakota State. I remember watching them at a combine last year doing agility drills and how they were told to get low. They couldn’t get as low as Randolph. He could get low and keep his flexibility, speed and quickness. Those guys were good football players and linebackers. There’s the difference right there. I noticed it right away.
“His ability to play against offensive lineman. We used him as a hybrid this year because we had injuries. We moved him all over the place. He was defending wideouts one-on-one in some spots. He was running with tight ends down the pipe. He can do a lot of different things. That’s why I say he’s a hybrid-type. When we had him in the middle, which wasn’t a ton, I’ve found that he is really good at running through holes. He will see a hole and run through it. I think that’s a natural thing. We’ve never taught him how to do that. He finds a way to get to the ball really well.”
Kpai will get a jump start on his Husker career in January when he early enrolls.