Recruiting is in full swing as National Signing Day gets closer and there was plenty happening in Nebraska this week. A few of the highlights include Nebraska hosting six talented prospects for its official visit weekend, landing one of the top prospects in the 2018 class and offering a late riser at cornerback for the 2017 class. That and more in this week’s recruiting recap.
Husker Hosting Six This Weekend
Nebraska is hosting an impressive group of prospects this weekend as the Huskers look to fill the final openings in their 2017 class. Six prospects will be in Lincoln, with three Husker commits (Brenden Jaimes, Deontre Thomas, Jaylin Bradley) making their first official trip to Lincoln. Nebraska will also be hosting a trio of top prospects in Bryan Thompson, Elijah Blades and Deommodore Lenoir. All three uncommitted prospects hail from the west coast, as Coach Mike Riley and company are continuing to attack Pac-12 country.
Huskers Land 2018 Speedster
The Donte Williams and Keith Williams duo landed the first of what should be many prospects Wednesday, as Los Angeles, California, ATH Eric Fuller verbally committed to Nebraska. The 5-9, 165 pound Fuller is one of the fastest athletes in the 2018 class, and he committed to Nebraska over high profile offers from USC, UCLA and Oklahoma. Fuller joins in-state prospects Cameron Jurgens and Masry Mapieu to give Nebraska a fantastic group to build their 2018 class around. Fuller can also help Nebraska close its 2017 class, as he is teammates with Joseph Lewis and Greg Johnson, two prospects that Nebraska is attempting to steal away from USC.
The Jamire Calvin Story Gets a New Chapter
One of the more shocking developments of the 2017 cycle occurred on Jan.7 when Jamire Calvin chose Oregon State, picking the Beavers instead of his longtime favorite Huskers. This was a huge gut punch to Nebraska fans, as many had been counting on Calvin to continue adding to the Huskers’ ‘Calibraska’ movement.
Despite committing on national television, Calvin appeared to immediately reconsider his decision, as he took all of his Oregon State stuff down from his Twitter page and sending some cryptic congratulatory tweets to Nebraska commit Tyjon Lindsey. Then Calvin put the Oregon State photos back up on his Twitter page before decommitting from Oregon State on Twitter. Confused yet? Me too.
Now back on the market, it appears to be just a matter of time until Calvin joins the Husker class as long as Nebraska still has room for him. Look for Calvin to commit to Nebraska at some point over the next couple of days, as no other school appears to be in the mix for Calvin now that Oregon State is out of the picture.
Huskers Looks to Flip Pair of Pac-12 Prospects
Nebraska has demonstrated the ability to steal underrated prospects late in recruiting cycles, evidenced by flipping Devine Ozigbo and Tre Bryant in consecutive classes. Nebraska is looking to keep that going this year, as the Huskers are zeroing in on California prospects C.J. Verdell and Michael Onyemaobi.
Verdell, a running back prospect from San Diego, has been committed to Oregon since May 5, but it appears that he and the Ducks are heading away from each other as signing day approaches. Nebraska already holds one running back commit in the 2017 class, but Reggie Davis is looking to add Verdell to give Nebraska two underrated running back signees.
Onyemaobi, a cornerback/safety prospect, spent most of his senior season committed to California but decommitted from the Bears just five days after receiving his offer from Nebraska. Onyemaobi is planning to visit Lincoln on Jan. 27, as Nebraska and TCU are in a fierce battle for the talented California prospect. He will be announcing his college decision on signing day.
Huskers Offer Late Riser from Nevada
Nebraska officially offered Tony Wallace on Thursday, as Donte Williams is looking to flip one of his former commits to Nebraska. The Huskers had been keeping tabs on Wallace throughout January, visiting his home last week. The Huskers came through with an offer on the Jan. 19.
Wallace is currently committed to Arizona, but he is not a solid commit to the Wildcats, as he is planning official visits to USC and Nebraska before signing day. Nebraska offering Wallace likely put the Huskers at the front of the pack for Wallace, as he has a tremendous relationship with Williams. Landing Wallace would give Nebraska its first cornerback commit of the 2017 class while also helping Nebraska in the recruitment of Randal Grimes. Grimes, a USC commit, visited Nebraska last week and is teammates with Wallace at Desert Pines.
Huskers Land JUCO Walk-On
Nebraska’s walk-on class added another impressive member, as Andrew Bunch accepted his walk-on offer from the Huskers. Bunch, whose father David Bunch played wide receiver at Nebraska under Tom Osborne, joins Nebraska after spending last season at Scottsdale Community College. Bunch started last season for the Artichokes, where he threw for 1,331 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 53 percent of his passes. Prior to playing at Scottsdale, Bunch was a standout quarterback at Independence High School in Thompson’s Station, Tennessee, where he threw for 7,704 yards and 78 touchdowns while leading the Eagles to a 30-9 record as a starter. Bunch, who measures in at 6-1 and 195 pounds, will have four years to play three at Nebraska.
Who’s Next?
There are a multitude of prospects that Nebraska appears to be in tremendous shape for as National Signing Day approaches and the Huskers have surged to the front for several. At this point, I would expect Calvin to be the next commit to join the Nebraska class. Calvin has been a bit of an enigma in the past month, but Nebraska continues to be the school that has been recruiting him the longest and showing him the most attention. If he decides to keep playing out his recruitment, then I expect Wallace to be the next prospect to commit to Nebraska.