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.
The questions never stop in the recruiting world. No matter what time of year it is, there is always something to talk about so we take reader and listener suggestions on questions. I then answer the questions in a quick video. This week’s topic is a mix of questions that we got from Stephen Costello on YouTube. Steven wants to know our thoughts on Nebraska pushing close to the top 25 of recruiting rankings but only being eighth in the Big Ten. He also wants to know how the portal might end up playing into how we view that final ranking.
The question of where Nebraska will end up in the recruiting rankings is always on the minds of Husker fans. That is especially true for the 2023 recruiting class after the team finished 41st with the 2022 class. That was the worst ranking of coach Scott Frost’s tenure at Nebraska. Even though Nebraska is a developmental program it still has to bring in a base level of talent to begin with.
It’s true that the top teams in the recruiting rankings are the same teams at the top of the polls at the end of the year. There are exceptions to that and each of those programs are great at development. That’s where Nebraska needs to live because they are not going to be a yearly top-10 recruiting program.
When this question was asked the Huskers were sitting at 25 in the 2023 recruiting rankings. That was following the commitment of defensive lineman Riley Van Poppel. He’s the highest-rated defensive lineman for the Huskers since Ty Robinson. Things change quickly in the recruiting world. The Huskers have dipped to 30 as players commit around the country.
We are nowhere near panic time for where the class sits but there is an important takeaway right now. The Huskers are in a good position to move up the rankings. The team is at 30 with just eight commitments right now. The team’s average player rating is better than eight out of ten teams ahead of them per the 247 Composite. If the team continues recruiting at the level it currently is the program will shoot up the rankings.
Want more good news? Nebraska is in the running for a lot of good talent. There are four-stars Malachi Coleman, Omarion Miller, Kayin Lee and Adonijah Green. The team is in on high three-stars Maverick Noonan, DJay Braswell, Phil Picciotti and Hayden Moore. There are other good prospects that Nebraska has a chance to land this cycle. They won’t get them all but it’ll be enough to rise up the rankings unless the season falls apart.
There is one thing to keep in mind about where the Huskers currently fall in the Big Ten rankings. The Huskers currently sit in the eighth spot but have the least commits of those top eight teams. Northwestern is currently second in the conference with 18 commitments. It’s very unlikely that Northwestern will finish with the best class in the Big Ten West or the second-best class in the conference.
The portal could complicate things down the road. The reason we don’t talk much about Nebraska’s disappointing 2022 recruiting class is because the team did so well in the portal. There is plenty of time left for the rankings to sort themselves out. This is just a snapshot of where we are right now. Expect a lot of movement within the conference between now and December.
Recruit Watch
>> Former Huskers 2023 wide receiver target Andre Davis committed to Kansas State over the weekend.
I would like to thank all the coaches who have given me the opportunity play for them and their programs, it has been an amazing experience! With that being said I am excited to announce that I have committed to Kansas state university. #EMAW23 #Committed pic.twitter.com/t7NpF39uwF
— Andre Davis (@andre44davis) June 19, 2022
>> Lincoln Southeast 2024 offensive lineman Cooper Johnson learned a lot at Friday Night Lights.
Had a great Friday Night Lights camp! Big thanks to @DonovanRaiola for the great coaching. Big thanks to @SeanDillonNU @HuskerFBNation for the invite. pic.twitter.com/am8MnrNjKP
— Cooper Johnson (@Coop_Johnson56) June 20, 2022
ICYMI
>> Check out the Hail Varsity YouTube channel where we have behind the scenes footage of Garrett Nelson’s Yearbook cover shoot.
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.
