The week of the early signing period is finally here. Nebraska put its best foot forward over the weekend hosting seven official visitors including one commit, Tate Wildeman. The weekend has already yielded one commitment, 3-star junior college defensive back Deontai Williams and virtually every other visitor went home to contemplate choosing Nebraska as their destination. The lone commit visiting this weekend, Tate Wildeman came away from the trip feeling like Nebraska is home.
There’s one player that I think we can safely say is a strong Nebraska lean at this point. Three-star tight end/wide receiver Katerian Legrone from B.E.S.T Academy in Atlanta came into the weekend as a UCF commit having formed a strong bond with the coaching staff when they were at UCF. At the end of his visit, he backed off his pledge to the Knights.
— klegrone3 (@yaboifatty) December 17, 2017
Legrone has only taken official visits to UCF and Nebraska. He plans to make a decision on Wednesday, so it’s safe to assume where he will end up.
Over the weekend three players with Husker offers committed elsewhere to play their college football.
Marquese Stepp, a 4-star running back from Indianapolis, backed off his Notre Dame pledge early this month but committed to USC. Daytona Beach, Florida, 4-star defensive back John Huggins, verbally committed to Florida on Sunday. Huggins named Nebraska his leader shortly after leaving the FSU class when Frost was hired at Nebraska. Finally, Florida running back Jerome Ford committed to Alabama. He showed interest in visiting Nebraska if the trip to Tuscaloosa didn’t go well.
The Home Grown Husker walk-on event continues to bear fruit for the team and looks like it was a monster success. Over the weekend, Nebraska picked up Kearney Catholic QB Matt Masker as a preferred walk-on. Masker broke Scott Frost’s C-1 passing touchdown record. Nebraska had three preferred walk-ons when Riley was let go and that number has ballooned to 11 after the event last Wednesday. The list of players is quite impressive and is a blueprint for exactly what the Nebraska staff will look to do moving forward with the walk-on program.
Here's the current list of preferred walk-ons:
LB Jake Archer (6-1, 205) Omaha Skutt
ATH Brody Belt 5-10, 175) Millard West
FB/LB Chris Cassidy (6-1, 210) Lincoln Pius X
OL AJ Forbes (6-3, 275) Bellevue West
WR Justin Holm (6-6, 180) Lincoln Southwest (early enrollee)
TE Bryson Krull (6-5, 220) North Platte
WR Wyatt Liewer (6-3, 170) O’Neill
QB Matt Masker (6-2, 215) Kearney Catholic
LS Cameron Pieper (6-4, 220) Lincoln Southwest
DE Ryan Schommer (6-5, 235) Norfolk
OL Collin Shefke (6-5, 275) Lincoln Southwest
There has been some hand-wringing since Frost took over the program about the best player in the state of Nebraska sticking with the Huskers. Four-star tight end Cameron Jurgens has been committed to Nebraska for two years and had a strong relationship with the previous staff. When you combine that with a trip to LSU at the end of November, things looked shaky for a moment. All looks to be well now and according to his school, Jurgens will be signing his letter of intent on Wednesday at Beatrice High School.
🔴Get Amped🔴 #GBR 🌽 https://t.co/b8ppJh1hCK
— Cameron Jurgens (@CameronJurgens) December 17, 2017
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.