Nebraska holds vibrant recruiting momentum at the moment. Bellevue West rising senior Daniel Kaelin flipped his commitment from Missouri to Nebraska last weekend and intends to act as a recruiter for the Huskers. His Thunderbird teammates Dae’vonn Hall and Isaiah McMorris are high on his list, as are Central lineman Caleb Pyfrom, Westside’s Caleb Benning and Ainsworth’s Carter Nelson.
Bellevue West head coach Michael Huffman told Chris Schmidt and Elijah Herbel on Monday’s episode of Hail Varsity Radio that Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule sat in his office back in January to discuss their plans. Huffman directly asked Rhule what they planned to do regarding Kaelin while also pursuing No. 1 recruit Dylan Raiola. Rhule explained how much the staff liked Kaelin while placing Raiola at the top of the recruiting board.
“If that doesn’t come through, we’ll be relentless in our pursuit of Daniel,” Huffman remembered Rhule saying. Raiola committed to Georgia on Monday, May 15. Within an hour, special teams coordinator Ed Foley called Huffman to schedule a Wednesday meeting. Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield was in California at the time and flew in to make the meeting. Rhule was in Carolina on Tuesday, packing his home to move his family to Lincoln, and returned to make the meeting. Kaelin threw for the coaches on Wednesday to validate what they all believed.
Satterfield brought up a comparison to Spencer Rattler who he just worked with at South Carolina. Huffman once told Kaelin to increase his mobility and work on explosiveness. The capable thrower did just that while working behind a young offensive line last season. Now he’s turned down an SEC offer to play for the Nebraska team he’s cheered for since eighth grade.
Next is the recruitment of Hall and McMorris, both of which looked prime to go elsewhere until the new staff reached out.
“Two months ago I would have said that it would be a long shot that these guys end up in the red,” Huffman said. “But this young guy, (Nebraska wide receiver coach) Garret McGuire, has just absolutely slayed it in their recruiting.”
Nebraska is now sitting alongside USC in McMorris’ recruitment with Oregon coming in strong. Hall is considering Nebraska with Arkansas and Tennessee. Their quarterback is now committed to Nebraska going into summer workouts together and a promising senior season ahead.
Recruit Watch
Refugio, Texas, rising senior Ernest Campbell locked in an official visit to Nebraska next month. The 3-star playmaker recently earned the title of “fastest man in Texas.” He ran a 10.22 in the 100 at the Texas State Meet, the fastest of all classifications. He also ran a 20.92 in the 200, the second-fastest all-classifications time. Campbell also ran on Refugio’s winning 4×100 relay team. Campbell is due to visit Texas A&M late next week and holds interest from Baylor, TCU, Florida State and Oregon. The wide receiver will visit Nebraska the weekend of June 23.
3x State Champion 🥇🥇🥇in the 100m!!!!!! My dad @titderrick told me to stay humble and go get the W the rest will come!!!!!!🚨2A record holder 10.22 pic.twitter.com/ZO7vzmMK4m
— Ernest Campbell (@Ernesttheflash) May 13, 2023
Speaking of state track results, some promising athletes shined at the State Junior High Track Meet in Gothenburg earlier this month. One is the boys’ Athlete of the Meet, Wyatt Liebentritt. He’ll be a freshman at Omaha Skutt in the fall, where brother Barrett attended. Barrett Liebentritt recently transferred from Notre Dame back to Nebraska. Wyatt won the 100 hurdles in 14.32 seconds, set a new meet record in the 200 hurdles at 26.14 second and finished second in both long jump (20-feet-0.75) and triple jump (39-feet-6). Brock Bailey, an eighth grader from Dundy County-Stratton, won gold in the shot put with a heave of 51 feet, 7.25 inches. He finished well out of the top flight in discus with a 116-foot throw, well below his personal best of 156 feet, 7 inches. Current Nebraska defensive back Phalen Sanford is also a graduate of Dundy County-Stratton.
Nebraska coaches extended a few scholarship offers earlier this week. One went to 2024 athlete Evan Taylor from Cuthbertson High in Waxhaw, North Carolina. It’s just the second Power 5 off Taylor has received so far. The Huskers also offered 2025 lineman Malachi Goodman from Paramus Catholic in Paramus, New Jersey. Dominic Kirks, a 2024 composite 3-star defensive lineman from Villa Angela-St. Joe in Cleveland, received an offer. He’s a high-end 3-star talent with a 4-star evaluation.
ICYMI
>> Nebraska enters the Big Ten Baseball Tournament on Wednesday with a first-round game against Rutgers. The Huskers, winners of six of their last seven games, hope to harness their momentum into a conference championship.
>> Dr. Rodney Bennett, the priority choice to be Nebraska’s next chancellor, spent the last near-decade as president of the University of Southern Mississippi. Court documents show he called out the alleged misuse of welfare funds to help build the school’s new volleyball facility.
>> The May issue of Hail Varsity is out now. This latest issue is all about turning points within each Nebraska athletics team’s season in the last academic year. Now’s also a good time to make sure you and the Husker fans in your life are subscribers so you all get this summer’s annual yearbook.
