Recruiting never stops and it’s easy to miss the top stories day-to-day. Recruiting analyst Greg Smith recaps all things Nebraska recruiting news, analysis and more so you never miss a thing.
Two of the biggest storylines of the Huskers’ offseason have an interesting link.
The first is the thing that I have been talking a lot about recently. Official visits are being locked in on a daily basis around the country. Schools are lining up dates with top targets during June despite the fact that there has been no official word from the NCAA yet. The hope remains that the dead period will end on May 31, allowing visits to resume.
The other piece that links with those official visits is Nebraska’s scheduling controversy recently with the Oklahoma game. Reports surfaced that the Huskers were trying to get out of playing the game against the Sooners. In response, the Huskers have given a variety of reasons for altering the schedule.
When coach Scott Frost met with media on Monday, he noted the money that the athletic department had lost. He mentioned the logistics of not needing Week 1 off anymore. The team won’t be playing in Ireland during Week 0 against Illinois now, with the game having been moved to Champaign due to COVID-19. The local economy could also use the boost for another Husker home game and the fans are eager to see the team.
Recruiting was also mentioned by Frost.
“For recruiting, too, we need home games and the earlier the better,” Frost said. “Right now, as it sits we only have one home game scheduled before October and even for recruiting a lot kids will have made their decisions by then. I think we are looking at any and all options to get more home games and more home games early.”
I do think there is something to this. I’ll take it a step beyond Frost too. The only home game Nebraska has before October right now is against Buffalo. The Bulls have a fine program but that feels like a good chance of an 11 a.m. kickoff. That will make it hard to get prospects to Lincoln. Getting one more game early in the season would at least give the chance to have prospects see the atmosphere.
There is another reason this relates back to schools lining up summer official visits. Nebraska has to make tough choices on when to bring players in for those official visits. Generally, unless a player really wants to commit prior to his senior season, Nebraska is best served to have regular season official visits. The program’s best tool on those trips is the actual game day atmosphere versus a summer weekend.
Sometimes these points can be viewed as excuse making. In this case, many things are true at once. It was a bad look for Nebraska to get caught trying to reschedule the Oklahoma game. It’s also a good idea to find a path forward to secure an extra home game for recruiting purposes.
Recruit Watch
>> Husker legacy and 2022 top targe James Monds III has set his official visit to Nebraska for early June.
Nebraska Official June 4-6. 🌽 ☠️
— 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 III ✞ (@MondsJames) March 30, 2021
>> Florida athlete Treyaun Webb has accepted an invitation to play in the 2023 U.S. All-America Game in San Antonio.
To Say I’m Blessed Is An Understatement 🙏🏾…. See Y’all In San Antonio …. #Committed pic.twitter.com/BQVToJYtL4
— Treyaun Webb (@w_treyaun) March 29, 2021
>> Florida 2022 defensive back JaCorey Thomas showed off a cool edit the Huskers did for him recently.
Nebraska showing love❤️🌽@CoachChinander #GBR pic.twitter.com/qCXeYjv1CP
— JaCorey Thomas (@JaCoreyThomas2) March 26, 2021
ICYMI
>> The Husker volleyball team had another cancellation and another Huskers Code Red on Tuesday.
>> Improved special teams play (Premium) is the hope for 2021 with Mike Dawson taking over the unit this season.
>> Derek Peterson took a look into Nebraska’s culture (Premium) and the players stepping into the leadership void.
>> The creative roster building is already paying off (Premium) for the Huskers this spring.
>> The Huskers are counting on growth from the wideouts after a strong winter conditioning.