The Future50 event put on by the Warren Academy this week was a great opportunity to connect with a lot of the top players in Nebraska and southeast Iowa. The range of prospects there made for some pretty interesting conversations. There were players that are committed to Nebraska and others that are committed elsewhere. Several future prospects hoping to get on the radar attended.
Let’s run through some of the notes from the interviews.
>> Nebraska 2023 offensive line commit Gunnar Gottula was at the event this week. The Lincoln Southeast standout committed to the Huskers this summer. That doesn’t mean he is sitting by and not using the opportunity to get better this summer:
“I’m just working on my strength, speed and agility,” Gottula said. “Obviously also trying to get better technique and working on that every day.”
>> Elkhorn South star Maverick Noonan is a popular in-state player for the 2023 cycle. He’s been to Nebraska couple times this summer. He just visited Iowa State and will be at Missouri this weekend. He’s excited to see the places in person after talking to everyone on Zoom so much. Noonan plays defensive end for his high school but the Huskers would have other plans for him.
“They are mainly just talking to me about outside linebacker,” Noonan said. “I talked with Coach Dawson about how he wants to use me. Just the edge rusher-type player so it’d be their outside linebacker.”
Noonan likes that fit in Nebraska’s scheme. We’ll be hearing a lot more about the talented legacy prospect over the next year.
>> Lincoln High wide receiver Beni Ngoyi is a name to know for the 2023 recruiting cycle. He turned a lot of heads at Friday Night Lights this June. That’s not the only camp he went to. Ngoyi checked out Missouri, Northern Iowa, Wayne State, Wyoming and South Dakota. Ngoyi feels like that Huskers camp put him on the recruiting radar. That is what camp season is all about.
“It felt so good,” Ngoyi said. It’s just me feeling like all my work I’ve put in is starting to pay off.”
Lincoln High will be looking to have more success on the field this season. Players like Ngoyi could go a long way to helping achieve that goal.
>> Creighton Prep lineman Sam Sledge is one of the top offensive linemen in the state regardless of class. He worked out for the Huskers this summer at the Pipeline Camp. He worked mostly with the defensive line group that day which was a nice change for him. Sledge enjoyed working with Nebraska’s defensive line coach Tony Tuioti.
“It was a good time. He taught me a lot,” Sledge said. “I really need some help on defense technique. I played both ways before but it was great working with him. He taught me a lot.”
Sledge is taking his time in his recruitment but is hoping to have some game visits this fall.
>> One player that’s right on the brink of getting on the radar more is Elkhorn North offensive lineman Shan Acharaya. At 6-foot-5, 300 pounds Acharaya is an impressive looking prospect. He attended a lot of camps this summer. It stood out to me that he visited Ivy League schools Columbia and Brown.
“It’s crazy, because some of those schools are the first schools ever created,” Acharaya said. So the architecture, the location, and seeing how big the buildings are is unique. It’s crazy to just kind of be around the environment of an Ivy League school. Everything’s just kind of a little bit more stressful and more tense.
“I think it’s an East Coast thing. Being able to see those schools is like seeing historic monuments. So that was pretty cool. “
The lineman is getting walk on interest from the Huskers. We’ll see where things go with the Huskers but he has a bright future regardless.
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.
