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.
In a normal year Nebraska starts slower in building its recruiting classes. The Huskers have always done better with recruits the more they visit campus and that takes time. So it’s not uncommon for the team to not have many commitments right now. The Huskers planned to have a lot of prospects coming through Lincoln during the spring and summer. Obviously, those visits did not take place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NCAA-mandated dead period has been productive for schools in the Big Ten. Several schools around the conference added a lot of players to their commit lists. Ohio State, Minnesota and Iowa started off hot. That made some fans question the direction of how things were going this cycle for Nebraska but now the Huskers are on their run. Offensive lineman Branson Yager committed to the team on April 27. Nebraska has picked up five commitments since then and currently sits at 10 total known commitments right now.
This cycle so unique with players committing before visiting a campus in person. I wondered how the Huskers pace for commits compares to last cycle. Here is the data from June 11 last year and this year:
| Year | Commits |
| 2020 | 3 |
| 2021 | 10 |
Running back Marvin Scott II was the 10th commitment of the 2020 recruiting class. That happened on August 24. So even through a pandemic the Huskers are off to a much better pace than last cycle based on numbers alone. As Scott Frost explained in his Wednesday appearance on Husker Sports Nightly, he is pleased with the progress.
“This is a unique year,” Frost said. “I think there’s about roughly three times more kids committed than any other year in recruiting history at this point in the process, so things have happened a lot earlier. We certainly want to try to get the right kids and we’re not in a hurry, but everything’s just moving faster. It’s kind of good for us that this year we’re probably going to sign a little bit smaller class so we’re able to be a little more patient and selective. I think we’re in a good spot right now.”
Nebraska is off to a good start with the number of commitments. There are a couple wild cards to how it finishes. First, will the Huskers be able to sway prospects with on-campus visits for games in the fall? Those game day visits go a long way to shaping prospects decisions. They would be especially important for any flip candidates out there.
Secondly, what type of season will Nebraska have? It’s difficult to predict the Huskers this year and the projections will have a wide range. A solid showing of improvement on the field would go a long way to elevating the third full recruiting class under Frost.
Recruit Watch
>> Nebraska made the cut for outside linebacker Patrick Hisatake from Oregon.
Top 8!
God is great!
Beyond blessed and grateful pic.twitter.com/XOG8OgOxD5— ‘21 Patrick Hisatake (@knkzz_) June 10, 2020
>> Georgia running back target Deshun Murrell is heading west to play for UCLA.
https://twitter.com/deshun_03/status/1271113071755395072
>> Bellevue West 2022 tight end Micah Riley received an offer from Wisconsin on Thursday.
After a call with @CoachTurnerUW I am extremely happy to announce I have received a scholarship offer from the University of Wisconsin! pic.twitter.com/acGUKfkCeJ
— 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐡 𝐑𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐲 ⁸⁸ (@micah_r_d) June 11, 2020
ICYMI
>> Nebraska added its 10th commitment of the 2021 class when outside linebacker Will Schweitzer joined the class.
>> It wasn’t all good news on the recruiting front as priority outside linebacker TJ Bollers committed to Wisconsin but the Huskers are in good shape at the position this cycle.
>> In this week’s Tom’s Time, the Huskers lost a half to looking ahead.
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.
