The first commit of the every recruiting class is a memorable one. Columbus linebacker Ernest Hausmann became the answer to the trivia question for Nebraska’s 2022 recruiting class on Sunday. After he committed, he told Hail Varsity that it’s an amazing feeling to be part of the Husker family.
My Next Chapter…
🔴⚪️☠️☠️#COMMITTED #GBR @coach_frost @CoachChinander @BarrettRuud @SeanDillonNU @Callaghan_NEB @TMossbrucker pic.twitter.com/jY5FvUpnbM
— Ernest Hausmann (@Ernest_Hausmann) March 7, 2021
“This whole recruiting process, I gave every single school a chance,” Hausmann said. “My family and I had a spreadsheet of every single school and all the questions that we wanted answered. It was important to us as a family. We did hours of Zoom calls and phone calls. Nebraska checked all the boxes.
“I wanted to be respectful to other schools who are trying to build their own class as well, so I wanted to do it now because I wanted to commit to Nebraska. I let them all know. I want to help build the Nebraska class of 2022 as well, so I wanted to commit now.”
That spreadsheet seems like an interesting way to keep track of the different schools recruiting Hausmann. He currently has 12 scholarship offers that include six Big Ten schools. There was a lot to sort out but there was one box the Huskers checked more than the rest for Hausmann.
“For me, it was the mission of the program,” Hausmann said. “With all these Zoom calls with the coaches and the programs, it was kind of cool to compare and contrast all these team’s different missions and how they approach the mission as well. So that was a very key thing for me, as well as relationships.
“You might have a surface relationship with coaches at some places but the relationship I had with Nebraska, it was like a family. I’m calling them and they call me. The coaches did a great job. It was just an awesome feeling joining the family. Once those boxes were filled, I had no doubt I want you to commit to Nebraska.”
The Huskers see Hausmann as an inside linebacker in their defense. He has a great relationship with lead in-state recruiter and future position coach Barrett Ruud. Hausmann says they talk daily.
“It’s one of those deeper relationships. He genuinely cares about you,” Hausmann said. “The whole coaching staff at Nebraska did a great job because it wasn’t just him. It was all the others too. What they did was, you weren’t just talking to your position coach. You were talking to other position coaches and building a relationship with them too. They all genuinely care about you and it’s just a family down there.”
Hausmann has gotten the opportunity to talk with some of the players on the team. He’s gotten to know them via social media. He said many of them congratulated him on his commitment. Now he is going to turn his attention to peer recruiting for Nebraska. The defender is excited to help build the class but that’s not all he’s ready for.
“The thing I’m most excited for is going to work with the team,” Hausmann said. “You put all the time in but it’s with your family. I really always cherish those moments. It’s a brotherhood that you are looking for. With that big family there’s no better feeling than that. I’m excited about that.”