It was widely expected that 4-star (HV Rating: 91.7) athlete Wandale Robinson would select Nebraska from a list of finalists that included Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan, Purdue and Kentucky. Instead, the Frankfort, Kentucky, native verbally committed to Kentucky in a school ceremony on Thursday.
Four-star Wandale Robinson commits to Kentucky. He picked the Cats over Nebraska and Ohio State. Robinson is now the highest-rated commit in UK’s class.
— Derek Terry (@DerekSTerry) November 1, 2018
Where does Nebraska go from here? The good news is that the Huskers' running back recruiting is going very well and is likely shut down at this time. There is a lot of upside in the trio of Dedrick Mills, Rahmir Johnson and Ronald Thompkins, who are all already committed to Nebraska. The Huskers viewed Robinson as more of a wide receiver target that would also play some running back, fitting nicely in their “Duck-R” position.
There is also a lot of upside to the wide receivers already in Nebraska's 2019 recruiting class: Jaime Nance and Darien Chase. The Huskers still need one or two more though. That's the tough part as it relates to Robinson. He's the type of prospect that would have brought a good amount of versatility to the team, which would have made him a good fit at both running back and wide receiver.
The good news is that Nebraska is scrambling. There are some wide receiver targets on the board that would make for nice additions to the class. That includes:
- 3-star WR Brieon Fuller from Miami
- 4-star ATH Jalen Cropper from Clovis, California
- 3-star WR Zay Flowers from Ft Lauderdale, Florida
- Isaiah Washington from Jacksonville, Florida
All of the names above are pass-catching targets that are still in play for Nebraska. They're also just a few of those still on the Huskers' radar.
With that said, Robinson only verbally committed to Kentucky. This staff has done work in the background with prospects when they are either committed to other programs or have not included the Huskers in their top five. An example of that would be running back commit Ronald Thompkins. He did not include Nebraska in his final group, then listed the relationship he built with running backs coach Ryan Held as a big factor in choosing Nebraska anyway.
This recruitment saw a lot of twists and turns going back to when Robinson almost committed to Duke before his recruitment really blew up. Don't expect Nebraska to stop pursuing Robinson before the early signing period in December.
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.
