The Huskers had several visitors on hand for the Red-White Spring Game on Saturday. The prospects got the chance to be among the 36,000 fans on hand to see the White Team storm back and win the game. One of the prospects in town was Kansas athlete Jaren Kanak.
It was Kanak’s (6-2, 210) first time on Nebraska’s campus. He made the trip with his family, as well as teammate and Husker target Gavin Meyers’ family. The duo was limited in what they could do while on campus due to the NCAA-mandated dead period. That did not stop Kanak from enjoying the atmosphere.
“Even though there was a capacity limit, it was a really cool environment,” Kanak said. “There were a ton of people still in the big, amazing stadium. It was definitely a good experience to see the place and all that.”
Nebraska’s coaching staff has talked to the Kansan about the atmosphere at Nebraska. They’ve told him it’s a unique place so he enjoyed getting a taste of that. Kanak is a priority recruit for the Huskers, so he’s hearing from many coaches on staff. He says that he hears from coach Scott Frost the most of anyone on staff. Running backs coach Ryan Held and offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Matt Lubick are also in communication with him quite a bit.
“I’ve been talking to them for quite a while now, so I’d say we have a pretty close relationship,” Kanak said. “We talk pretty often.”
Something interesting happened after the game was over. Freshman quarterback Heinrich Haarberg found Kanak and Meyers. He wanted to give them a message from Frost.
“Heinrich said that Coach Frost wished that he could be there to talk to us in person,” Kanak said. “He just wanted to make sure that we knew he was just as genuine in person as he is over the phone and that he was thankful we took the time to go up for the game. It was nice to hear that. It was a big deal.”
Kanak is a prospect that colleges like on both sides of the ball. The Huskers haven’t been too specific on which position they’d like Kanak for. Frost and Lubick have told him that there is a lot he could do in their offense though. Nebraska mainly likes him as a player and will figure out a position later. It does make Kanak feel good to know that they view him as that type of player.
The athlete has seen his stock rise over the last few months. He has an official visit set with Nebraska right now on June 4th. There only thing that could throw a wrinkle in that plan. He is getting new interest from Clemson recently. He said that he is hearing from them quite a bit. Kanak will take an unofficial visit to Clemson on June 1 and see where things go from there.
Whatever happens in his recruitment from here, relationships are key for Kanak.
“I think the biggest thing is a relationship,” he said. “Because when it comes to the Nebraska they’ve been doing a good job of building that. All the schools have good facilities and all, but the most important thing is how the coaches get along with their players.”