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.
For the next two weeks, Nebraska will square off against teams that hail from the state of Illinois. The Huskers will host Northern Illinois on Sept. 14 then travel to Champaign to face off against Illinois in their first conference game on Sept. 21. This made me think wonder: how has Nebraska done with recruiting Illinois?
The Huskers don’t actually have a player on the current roster from the state. With Nebraska being in the Big Ten for several years now, I figured the Huskers would have made more inroads into the state within the conference footprint. Illinois has good high school football and the prospects in the state are generally open to leaving the state for college football.
| Year | Signed | Offered | 3-star and above in IL |
| 2019 | 0 | 6 |
57 |
| 2018 | 0 | 7 | 57 |
| 2017 | 0 | 3 | 68 |
| 2016 | 1 | 7 | 55 |
| 2015 | 0 | 6 | 51 |
Offensive lineman Brian Brokop was the last player from Illinois to sign with the Huskers. He was a 3-star prospect and left the program a year ago. As you can see from the chart there has been a choice by numerous coaching staffs to not make a strong push in Illinois. That trend is continuing into the 2020 recruiting class.
Nebraska has offered eight players in the current cycle from Illinois, including Iowa Western star defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey who is committed Oklahoma. The other players who have verbally committed are pledged to quality schools. They are heading to Purdue, Michigan, Oregon, Notre Dame.
I don’t think that it’s necessarily a bad thing that the Huskers aren’t recruiting Illinois as hard as they do Georgia, Texas, California, Florida or Arizona. It’s not a good thing either. It is more of an observation on recruiting strategy from multiple coaching staffs at Nebraska.
Recruit Watch
>> Husker linebacker target Desmond Tisdol has committed to play in the All-American Bowl in January.
Committed🤞🏽🖤 pic.twitter.com/C4upPVf88Q
— Desmond Tisdol⭐️ (@Des_Tisdol) September 11, 2019
>> Priority 2021 defensive end/outside linebacker target TJ Bollers picked up a big honor on Tuesday night.
I’m extremely humbled to have been selected 2019 pre-season
All American by Tom Lemming’s Prep Report! S/O @LemmingReport pic.twitter.com/RAvPI55j7y— TJ Bollers (@tj35ballin) September 11, 2019
>> Aaron Kurth, a 2020 lineman from Kansas, will be making the trip to Lincoln for an unofficial visit.
I’ll be attending University of Nebraska for a Game day visit! Thanks coach @coachwilhite! pic.twitter.com/iSuewH4k2Z
— Aaron Kurth (@Aaronkurth79) September 11, 2019
ICYMI
>> The Hail Varsity staff is back to answer your questions in the mailbag dissecting the Colorado loss and more.
>> Another defender is making his way to Lincoln for an official visit this weekend (Premium) and Hail Varsity has the details.
>> Derek Peterson has your practice report including Nebraska needing more from its wide receivers.
>> Jacob Padilla tracked down Nebraska’s defensive participation against Colorado and what it all means. (Premium)
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.