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 last Monday’s recruiting notebook, I wrote about the bond being built between the commits of Nebraska’s 2019 recruiting class. On Saturday night, a tweet from commit Garrett Nelson’s mom, Holli, showed another example of how tight this class has become.
Congratulations @mccaffrey_luke on your state championship!! Glad we got to be a part of it. @MichaelLynn77 had a great game as well. #GBR @LisaMcCaffrey6 @87ed @gnelson763 @chrisenelly pic.twitter.com/LaAP3o0gUW
— Holli Nelson (@hollianelson) December 2, 2018
Nelson was in Colorado to see the Class 5A state championship, featuring both Valor Christian quarterback Luke McCaffrey and Cherry Creek offensive tackle Michael Lynn. Both are also committed to Nebraska and the bond within the class is ultimately what led Nelson to visit.
“I love football and I love those guys,” Nelson told Hail Varsity. “So I wanted to go watch them play. It’s a three-hour drive so it’s not that far to watch those guys play instead of some videos I see on Twitter. I wanted to see them with my own eyes.
“Luke was very impressive. He had an incredible game and I loved watching him play. I was happy for him to win it. Mike was very dominant. They always say it’s a good thing when you don’t notice an offensive lineman but obviously I watched him. He did a fantastic job of driving people down the field, pulling and picking up guys getting hats on hats. I was sad for Mike to see him lose but it was a good game.”
Nelson is also the creator of the group chat that the 2019 Nebraska commits use. After trying to find a way to keep everyone together, a conversation with McCaffrey put the wheels in motion. The two decided to get everyone in on a group chat, and it took off from there.
And now the group chat is a big reason why the class is so close.
“We are always in contact with each other and checking in,” Nelson said. “We talk and ask for advice or send something funny. We are going to be teammates and be around each other all the time so we might as well get as close as possible right now. I definitely think it’s a contributing factor as to why we are so close.”
When Nebraska started its season 0-6, Nelson said he learned a lot about his future teammates during that stretch of time.
“After every game or even during games we’d be talking to each other about how it was going to change and what we are going to do,” he said. “We made a personal choice to know we have to turn things around ourselves when we get there. I knew this was going to be a special class when everyone would be on the same page after a loss. If we weren’t this, I knew some bad things were going to happen.
“I wanted to make sure everyone was tight-knit and understood what was going to happen. Everybody knew. I’m really proud of those guys for understanding what their roles and jobs are in this in the future.”
Nelson will be one of Nebraska’s early enrollees in January and can’t wait to get to work. There is more to come from our conversation later in the week.
Recruit Watch
>> McCaffrey wasn’t the only Husker commit to win a state title this weekend. Wide receiver commit Darien Chase led his team to a championship, making some big plays along the way.
https://twitter.com/NWBallers/status/1069102930601500672
>> Junior college defensive tackle commit Tony Fair played his last game at Pima over the weekend and shared a nice message on Twitter.
Last Game as an Aztec.Blessed and Thankful to have Been able to send My Head Coach @JimMonaco5050 Out with a Bang!Never again will Me and My Brother @Maddog_56 be able to do this again at this Level. Thankyou🙏🏾.Were On To D1 to Make something Happen Next . #NebraskaComittGBR🔴🔴 pic.twitter.com/RWSoX4I9LX
— Tony Lamar Fair (@TFair__) December 1, 2018
>> Linebacker commit Garrett Snodgrass took his official visit to Nebraska this weekend and had a blast. Wonder who won at bowling?
Official visit this weekend was a blast! pic.twitter.com/u6PyG4hAR2
— Garrett Snodgrass (@GarrettSnodgras) December 2, 2018
>> Jamie Nance, the wide receiver commit from Oklahoma, put out his senior season highlights. You can see exactly why offensive coordinator Troy Walters and coach Scott Frost are excited for him to arrive in January.
He put together a sensational season with 3,952 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns.
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/6369699/5c044b76d225a20a24bf12c6
ICYMI
>> Nebraska picked up its 22nd commitment of the 2019 class when 3-star OLB Jamin Wright joined the class. Wright is a good-looking athlete, sporting an 85-inch wingspan. You can’t teach that length and his athleticism.
>> Mike Babcock gave a fitting salute to ‘Officer Stan.’
>> Jacob Padilla took a good look at Nebraska’s returners on defense for next season.
