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.
Tuesday has been a pretty important day for Nebraska recruiting, and not just because of all the places that the Nebraska coaching staff has visited today. The staff has been all over the place today, including stops in California, Georgia, New Jersey and Florida. However, it’s the stop in Kentucky that has people buzzing.
Running backs coach Ryan Held is scheduled to go in-home with 4-star Kentucky running back commit Wandale Robinson on Tuesday night, as reported by Hail Varsity last week. Most know that Robinson spurned Nebraska at the last minute and verbally committed to in-state Kentucky in a move that left many recruiting analysts searching for answers.
The lines of communication have stayed open between Robinson and Nebraska since that commitment though, leading us to this visit from Held. It’s a good idea for Nebraska to let Held gauge if there is indeed any chance that Robinson would explore flipping to Nebraska. All of the things that made this a great fit prior to his Wildcats pledge still exist. Frost’s offense is still the perfect vehicle to showcase his talents. Adrian Martinez is still the quarterback that Robinson would play with. The fan support in Lincoln is still one of the best in the country.
One question lingers: Why isn’t Scott Frost going joining Held tonight?
During the contact period, head coaches only get one in-home visit with a prospect. In theory, Nebraska would not want to use that one visit for an exploratory meeting with Robinson. They’d want to send the closer (Frost) toward the end of the process to seal the comeback victory if one could be had.
We will know a lot more after tonight’s visit but for now, Wandale Watch has resumed.
Recruit Watch
>> While Held is in the area, he might as well hit Skyline Chili (a chili restaurant chain all over Kentucky and Ohio).
Had to do it. 👀😎 pic.twitter.com/1tfBoB2Q3N
— Ryan Held (@CoachRHeld) November 27, 2018
>> USC cleaned house today with the assistant coaches. It is important to note that the Trojans dismissed their two best recruiters in Tee Martin and Kenechi Udeze. That is normally not that important as it relates to Nebraska, but it’s very significant now because 4-star defensive end Ty Robinson told Hail Varsity after he visited Nebraska that he had a strong relationship with Udeze.
OFFICIAL: Tee Martin, Kenechi Udeze and Ronnie Bradford are no longer on the USC football coaching staff.
Bryan Ellis has left the staff to pursue another opportunity. pic.twitter.com/crznSP6S8r
— USC Trojans (@USC_Athletics) November 27, 2018
>> The best running back in the state of Nebraska, Zander Gray, released his senior highlights on Tuesday. He ran for 1,555 yards and 20 touchdowns this season.
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/8311155/5bfd5bfbf31cc50b343a7a12
>> In more news to keep in mind, Arizona Western head coach Tom Minnick has accepted the vacant head coach job at Garden City Community College.
Tom Minnick @tcminnick11 HFC @ Arizona Western JuCo @AWCMatadors accepts Garden City JuCo @GCCC_FOOTBALL HFC position pic.twitter.com/uzHkaX9hDv
— JuCo Football Forer (@JuCoFootballACE) November 27, 2018
This is good news for Nebraska for keeping the relationship strong with Garden City after Jeff Sims left. The Huskers have a good relationship with Minnick too, with one current commit from AWCC in Desmond Bland, plus two from the last cycle. Garden City is home to both Willie Canty and Dominick Watt from the last cycle that didn’t make it to Nebraska.
ICYMI
>> Erin Sorensen says that Devine Ozigbo is Nebraska’s poster child for offseason work.
>> James Palmer Jr led the way for Nebraska basketball’s win over Clemson.
>>The Varsity Club has all the information you’ll need to keep up with who the Huskers’ staff is visiting while on the road recruiting.
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.
