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.
We have entered the stretch run for spring football and we are just 11 days away from the sold out spring game. That means recruiting will continue to ramp up leading up to April 13 when there will be many visitors in Lincoln. This year, Nebraska will have official visits to use that weekend should they choose to.
Running backs coach Ryan Held spoke on Monday about why that’s important.
“Oh, it’s nice having those in the bag. We have a few spots left we can use even yet for this year,” Held said. “Last year, I think we had one left. Coming in we were limited. We had to hit on about an 80 percent success rate. That puts you in a bind. You can’t really take chances on guys. It’s nice having a few we can use for this year or if we decide to use some for the 2020 class, it’s nice.”
There’s something that Held said that I don’t want to fly under the radar. We all know that there will be official visits used this spring and summer for 2020 players. Held also acknowledged the need to keep a few of those official visits for transfer options after spring football is over by saying that the Huskers can still use some of those officials for this year. That’s important as Nebraska will re-asses its needs after spring football.
The structure for those upcoming spring and summer official visits will be pretty similar to how they work in the fall. Unless a prospect takes an official visit for the spring game, there obviously won’t be a game day to build around. Prospects and their families will still get the academics, weights, nutrition, life skills and football part of the experience.
However, getting guys to Lincoln for a game day is always the goal.
“We want to get guys here so they see this [the stadium] and its packed for a game day. That’s our goal,” Held said. “Some guys want to come in the summer because they’ll make summer decisions. Then we have to make a decision if we want to deal with a guy that’s going to do that or live with our chances of waiting until the fall. There’s a cat and mouse game there to figure out a game plan to get those kids.”
Starting this month, 2020 prospects will be allowed to start taking official visits if they choose. The staff will also be able to use official visits to add players to the program immediately via transfer. We will know shortly how the Huskers are game planning to take advantage of the extra visits.
Recruit Watch
>> Keontae Jenkins, one of the top cornerbacks in the state of Virginia for 2020, showed off the cool edit he got from Nebraska.
https://twitter.com/iamkeontae/status/1113159430256852993
>> Kevon Billingsley, a defensive line target from St Louis, has the Huskers on his mind. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the sidelines for the sold out spring game.
#GBR 👀??? pic.twitter.com/RbG53ZShKm
— Kevon Billingsley (@nolimitkevooo) April 1, 2019
>> Reggie Love, a 4-star running back target from St. Louis, took a visit to Purdue over the weekend.
Hell of A Visit 🚂🖤 #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/1q2TsG7LgL
— Reggie Love III ⷢ ⷥ (@Reggie22x) March 30, 2019
ICYMI
>> Cam Jurgens athleticism hasn’t gone anywhere after his transition to center, writes Derek Peterson.
>> Nebraska official introduced Fred Hoiberg as the new men’s basketball coach on Tuesday. Jacob Padilla has the recap. More to come from the Hoiberg news conference on Hail Varsity too.
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.
