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 landscape of college football is changing around us. Things have slowly been shifting over the years. Early official visits, the December signing period, relaxed transfer rules and the transfer portal are just a handful of big rule changes to college football in recent years. Each rule has dramatically shifted the sport in its own way.
Right now, it seems like one of the hottest topics in college athletics is how to handle the transfer portal. Each week more and more players pour into the portal in search of greener pastures elsewhere. Everyone loses transfers. No school is immune. Would it be wise for programs hold spots each recruiting class to add transfers? Kansas State seems to think so.
Gene Taylor tells us on @TheGameKMAN that Chris Klieman plans on holding 10 spots out of a 25 man recruiting class for players in the transfer portal moving forward.
— John Kurtz (@jlkurtz) April 19, 2021
The first thought when seeing the Wildcats plan to save ten spots for transfers might be that number is a bit high. Is the program getting ahead of the curve or going too far? Saving ten of a potential 25 spots is a big change to how programs build recruiting classes. Kansas State or any program attempting to bring in that many transfers each cycle needs to have a strong culture in place. There would need to be a plan in place on how to onboard those players to make the transition as smooth as possible.
Scouting would also change. In this scenario, a program is only looking for 10-15 high school and JUCO players per year. Perhaps you could get deeper evaluations on a smaller pool of targets. That would be helpful in determining the best fit for your program. There is a danger in that though. The margin for error with your signed prospects in a class is very tight. The players that you take need to produce a high “hit rate” for you.
Nebraska is not shy about going into the portal for players either. The team had some high-profile additions last offseason. Running back Markese Stepp, wide receiver Samori Touré and Chris Kolarevic all figure to have big roles on the team for the 2021 season. Coach Scott Frost said during his signing day press conference that the team would keep a couple spots in their back pocket for later. They still have a pair of spots left to use after spring practice.
Every coach wants to keep the players he recruits. It is smart to work hard to keep them but understand that attrition will happen. Frost mentioned this two years ago.
“I think it’s going to be more and more important for coaches to have great relationships with their kids and have a building everybody wants to be in and keep everybody happy, so you don’t lose them,” Frost said.
Things are different now. Schools have to find creative ways to move forward to keep building their programs. We might look back on this one day and see that Kansas State started its own recruiting trend.
Recruit Watch
>> Recruits will be able to participate in camps this summer. The Huskers have opened registration for their camps in June.
Husker Summer Camps are now open for registration!https://t.co/2OE3VO5diR pic.twitter.com/zXuIskYuqp
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFBNation) April 20, 2021
>> Huskers defensive back target James Monds III has changed his official visit date to check out Nebraska.
Locked In Husker Nation!🌽 @CoachChinander @CoachTFisher pic.twitter.com/DNCoqRejaL
— 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 III ✞ (@MondsJames) April 20, 2021
>> Michigan 2022 defensive lineman Alex Van Sumeren has the Huskers in his top 10.
I’ve been Blessed with many amazing opportunities and I truly appreciate all of the remarkable coaches and staff that shared their time and knowledge with me the past several months . . . Top 1️⃣0️⃣ @AllenTrieu @JoshHelmholdt @TomVH @SWiltfong247 @adamgorney @rivalsmike @recruitgfx pic.twitter.com/1OXDd1mcGR
— Alex VanSumeren (@alexvansumeren) April 20, 2021
ICYMI
>> In the latest Straight Up Breakdown podcast I am joined by Hail Varsity Radio host Chris Schmidt and we are talking about practice.
>> Noa Pola-Gates is making a jump and Quinton Newsome is taking the lead (Premium) as competition in the Husker secondary ramps up.
>> Jacob Padilla has your Nebraska volleyball notebook (Premium) after the season ended on Monday at the hands of Texas.
>> Husker linebacker Chris Kolarevic is blending learning and teaching (Premium) during his first spring.
