The Huskers have another Lincoln Southeast Knight heading to Nebraska to play for coach Scott Frost. Nebraska picked up its second commitment of the day on Sunday. Defensive athlete Jake Appleget committed to the team. He is the seventh member of the 2022 recruiting class.
Appleget took his official visit to Nebraska this weekend. Something told him heading into the trip that he’d be a Husker.
“I went up there on June 1 and they wanted right away to see what I had,” Appleget said. “That meant something to me. It showed me that they’re truly interested. After that I was pretty sure I was going to commit. Today just really sealed the deal. Coaches showed great hospitality making me feel like I’m at home.
“Getting to meet the players just feeling the vibe around campus with the players and coaches. It just made me feel like this is where I want to be and some clicked and made the decision.”
Appleget said it wasn’t awkward at all being around the coaching staff after spending so much time talking on Zoom. He felt they were the same people on the phone over zoom calls and in person. There’s nothing fake about Nebraska’s staff and they’re completely transparent and honest. How easy it is to talk to the staff is part of what really drew him to pick Nebraska.
Being an in-state player, Appleget knows the landscape of Husker football well. That doesn’t mean nothing surprised him on the trip.
“One thing that kind of shocked me was the vibe around the place,” Appleget said. “Obviously, Husker football had had a rough past couple of years but what Coach Frost and the coaching staff is trying to do with this program, the way they’re trying to turn around and what they believe in is something I got behind and something I believe in as well.
“When things start going well for the Huskers, which they will, I want to be I want to be behind this staff when that happens.”
Garrett Snodgrass was the player host for the Huskers’ latest commit over the weekend. Appleget appreciated the way that Snodgrass made Nebraska feel even more like home. It was also nice for the defender to be on the visit with fellow in-state linebacker commit Ernest Hausmann. The pair are already friends from playing against and with each other growing up. Like Hausmann, Appleget will also be ready to put his peer recruiter hat on if needed.
“If the staff wants me to reach out to someone and put in a good word for the good life, this great place then I will,” Appleget said. “If I know someone I may go out of my way to tell them why this is the place to be.”
It wasn’t settled on which position the Huskers preferred for Appleget coming into the visit. Now he’s got clarity on that situation as he prepares to enroll next summer.
“They’ve narrowed it down to outside linebacker,” Appleget said. “I like it. I got to sit down and watch the film with Coach Dawson today and really see what I’d be doing and where I’d be playing for them. I really like it.”