Exclusive Tunnel Talk: 6/14/2024
Welcome to the latest edition of HuskerOnline.com’s most popular member feature, Tunnel Talk. Our staff gives you the latest inside information on Nebraska football, basketball, volleyball, and recruiting.
Now, on to the scoop…
Callahan’s weekly nuggets
***I caught up with Northwestern (Iowa) quarterback Jalyn Gramstad on Wednesday night. Long story short, the wheels are still in motion for him to possibly join the Nebraska football team. He’s had contact with Husker coaches and NU officials since his workout on Monday.
It looked as if it was close to being a done deal. The issue right now is on the academic side. Mainly, properly transferring his transcripts and credits from an NAIA private college to a Big Ten institution. Nebraska’s academic team continues to work on things as we speak. If they can work this side of things out, I would expect him to be in Lincoln. Gramstad needs to take just one class to graduate from Northwestern.
***This month, Nebraska made several offers to young 2027 and 2028 quarterbacks. Arguably, one of the most impressive was 2028 Las Vegas Bishop Gorman standout Ace Amina. I talked to a staff member at another school who has also offered Amina.
He said Amina was one of the best young quarterbacks he’s ever seen throw live. Amina is on track to have 10+ offers before he even plays a down of high school football.
***Speaking of quarterbacks, freshman Nebraska signal caller Dylan Raiola had quite an “alpha” moment at NU’s post-graduate camp on Monday. As the players were working out, seeing if they had what it takes to make the Husker football team, Raiola casually picked up a football. From the 40-yard yard, he effortlessly hit the crossbar on his second try. His first attempt missed by about an inch.
Gramstad and I even talked about that on Monday after the camp. “Oh yeah, I saw that,” he said, laughing.
***I ran into sophomore wide receiver Malachi Coleman this week. I barely recognized him, mainly because of his physical gains. Coleman also looked taller and said he’s grown another inch since last year.
***Another newcomer I saw who impressed me was freshman offensive lineman Xander Ruggeroli. When you see him physically, it’s hard to believe he flew so under the radar after playing at an HS program like Las Vegas Bishop Gorman.
The freshman offensive line class appears to be a good one on paper. We already know the promise players like Gibson Pyle, Grant Brix, and Preston Taumua have. Then you have sleepers like Jake Peters and Landen Davidson.
The future of roster sizes
***The future of roster sizes in college football is a real discussion. Most expect the NCAA to cap roster sizes at 85 to 120 players. NU currently has around 145 players on its roster.
The reason is that when schools can begin to pay players with essentially multimedia rights money, it will be costly to have a big roster. Schools with more resources can essentially add extra players. Nebraska is already doing this right now with how they work their NIL. They currently have over 100 players that you could argue are “scholarship level.”
One of the ideas Rhule has is for schools to be allowed to essentially have practice squads that don’t count toward your active roster. A few other Big Ten coaches are also behind a concept like this.
His reasoning is that women’s basketball allows a group of men’s players to practice with them, and they aren’t part of the team. Football should be allowed to do the same thing if it wants to. The small schools are pushing for an 85-cap because they know the only way they are going to be able to get good players is if the Power Four schools have limits. Otherwise, Power Four schools can just keep adding and stockpiling talent.
***The roster size discussion has also made it tough to have walk-on spots for the 2025 class. Omaha Central’s Ike Ackerman is a good example of this.
In any other year, he’d probably already been extended a walk-on spot. However, the unknowns about walk-ons and roster sizes put schools like Nebraska in a tough position because they already operate with such a big roster and don’t know what the future holds.
***Another interesting nugget on roster sizes is Troy Dannen’s approach vs. Trev Alberts. When Alberts was here, he told every head coach they had to cut their roster numbers. He wanted football down to 120-125, I was told. He used Title IX as his reasoning, along with preparing for the financial future.
Dannen, on the other hand, has a completely different approach. From his view, there are no Title IX issues with how NU runs the department, and there are no longer mandates for coaches to cut roster spots.
-Sean Callahan
As Sipple sees (and hears) it
***Don’t ask me why I didn’t include these quotes from Garret McGuire in my column earlier this week. I asked McGuire about fleet wide receiver Jacory Barney, the standout true freshman from Miami, Florida. I told McGuire I’m always skeptical (at least initially) when people tell me how good a true freshman is going to be during Year 1 in a big-time college program.
But McGuire (and others) are convincing when it comes to the 6-foot, 170-pound Barney.
“He brings the competitiveness and style of play that we want,” the second-year Nebraska receivers coach told me. “He’s got a swagger about him. He loves ball. He’s everything we’ve always wanted to recruit when it comes to projectable traits, but then also off the field as a person he’s an unbelievable young man. Unbelievable.”
McGuire isn’t going to guarantee playing time to anyone. But he acknowledges that Barney has a good shot to be in the rotation.
I’d say he’s a lock to be in it.
***Here’s something I didn’t know: Nebraska junior defensive lineman Jimari Butler, who had a team-leading 5 ½ sacks last season, favors an inside move as a pass rusher. He gives guards all kinds of problems. When I say “favors,” I mean it to a high degree. In fact, I mean it to such a high degree that during the spring, he wasn’t allowed to use his inside moves to the quarterback. He had to use outside moves so he would become even more effective overall.
Terrance Knighton envisions Butler having a big 2024 season. Could Butler get eight sacks? Nine? Double digits? I think he has that sort of capability.
***There was a nice scene Saturday following Nebraska’s camp for high schoolers. Khatori Marion, a fleet receiver from Mobile, Alabama, approached Matt Rhule and introduced himself. Marion said, “Do you know who my brother is? It’s Jimari.”
Marion said it with a smile. He’s obviously proud of his brother, who was on hand all weekend to watch Khatori.
Jimari Butler is the goods.
***This is just my read, but I don’t think many people have gone overboard with hyperbole in assessing Dylan Raiola. Am I wrong? I mean, when it comes to Nebraska fans and media, the operable word in this discussion has been “restraint.”
Nebraska fans have been burned a lot in recent years. Healthy skepticism almost always makes sense to me, but it is especially germane when it comes to Husker football expectations considering what we’ve witnessed during the last, oh, quarter-century.
***That said, I did hear a lot of positive comments about Raiola from Nebraska assistant coaches last week during the satellite camps in Texas. In one of those discussions, I wondered aloud if Raiola can avoid the sort of hits that take a toll on QBs.
One of the assistants made a great point. He said Raiola is excellent at checking out of plays at the line of scrimmage that he doesn’t like — plays that might leave him vulnerable. That should help matters.
I also wondered aloud whether Raiola experienced a level of success against Nebraska’s No. 1 defense during the spring. I’m told he absolutely performed well in those situations, on a consistent basis.
The defensive assistants really like Raiola. They like his game. They like his maturity. That’s clear to me, and that’s telling.
In case there were any doubts. LOL.
***One of Nebraska’s assistants expressed frustration about something he sees often in college football. That is, a team will do a lot of legwork in uncovering a “diamond-in-the-rough” recruit. That team will make a scholarship offer. The player will publicize the offer via social media. Then, a dozen or so schools will quickly follow with an offer without much/if any research on the player.
It’s been happening for years, I’m sure.
Still, yes, that would be frustrating.
***Before Corey Campbell’s media session Wednesday, the Nebraska head football strength coach made it a point to introduce himself to basically everyone in the room — one by one — that he didn’t know. It’s easy for me to see why players or anyone else can easily relate to him.
-Steven Sipple
Munson’s musings
***There have only been four Nebraska official visitors since May 31. If I had to guess, NU has to be thinking about its camp schedule, which makes hosting official visitors the first weekend in June challenging.
That is a valuable weekend that Nebraska is conceding. Multiple recruits the Huskers were going to host committed elsewhere from May 5 to June 14, and NU found itself making some later offers trying to fill holes on their board.
During that same timeframe when Nebraska only hosted four official visitors:
Oregon hosted 8 (gained two commitments from that group)
Michigan hosted 10 (gained one commitment from that group)
Ohio State hosted 20 (gained two commitments from that group)
Penn State hosted 21 (gained one commitment from that group)
USC hosted 31 (gained one commitment from that group)
In case you are wondering, Ohio State is currently the top-rated class in the nation. USC is No. 4, Oregon is No. 8, Penn State is No. 14, Michigan is No. 17, and Nebraska is No. 34.
***The Grant Brix information that I shared in Three & Out should have been saved for Tunnel Talk, but for some reason, I didn’t think we had TT this week. Nevertheless, I didn’t include everything that I spoke to Brix about.
We joked about him being difficult to reach while he was in high school, and he just laughed. And I didn’t have anything I wanted to ask him other than whether he was happy with his decision. Does he question his decision, or would he rather be in Norman or Manhattan? He said no way. He’s thrilled where he is. There are big things in his future based on how he is looking.
These guys have been getting after it this summer! PTF pic.twitter.com/lT4dgNB6ff
— Garret McGuire (@GarretMcGuire) June 12, 2024
***He wasn’t the only 2024 recruit that I saw that weekend. The timing of the Carter Nelson picture with all the wide receivers was convenient. We saw Nelson zipping around the facilities on a scooter, and both my son and I thought Nelson looked very skinny.
He looked like he was in terrific shape but definitely on the lighter side. At least initially, it makes sense that he is in the wide receiver room. I assume that Nebraska plans to move him between rooms as a real hybrid playing X and being a flex Y.
***I hoped to catch Douglas Utu this week, but Bishop Gorman had team camp through Thursday. I plan to contact Utu or his coach again to talk about the experience at the camp last week.
I think a lot is riding on how well SJ Alofaituli’s official visit goes this week for Utu. Those two of the three BG linemen that Nebraska has hosted for official visits seem close to one another. I was initially concerned when the two weren’t coming in on the same weekend, but I like the idea of each coming in separately so they can compare notes later.
***I caught up with John Mills and Antonio Branch earlier this week. Mills and Branch took their official visit to Nebraska for the spring game weekend, then things went quiet for them. I wanted to hear if NU was still in the picture.
Branch tweeted earlier this week that he was no longer taking an official to Florida and told me privately that Nebraska is in his top three (joining Penn State and Louisville). Mills told me that he was finishing taking the rest of his OVs and then would have to sit back down and compare visits and schools.
He told me that Dylan Raiola was staying in touch with him.
***I mentioned that I wasn’t stunned when the news broke about Reiman Zebert committing to Stanford. When I answered questions in the chat or on the board recently about whether or not Nebraska would get all of the remaining in-state recruits, my answer was no. That has primarily been about Zebert.
When NU offered, Zebert had a real fondness for Wisconsin. It was evident when I met him in Omaha this winter.
And, as I said on the board when we announced Zebert’s commitment, Nebraska might have perceived his desire to leave the state due to the commitment from Bear Tenney. In my opinion, there is no way the Huskers would take three tight ends this year after last year’s class.
Since last summer, it’s felt like Chase Loftin has been the prized recruit for Nebraska. Zebert will do well at Stanford. That decision sets him up for life, even if football isn’t part of his future after he leaves Palo Alto.
I will be in Lincoln this weekend! @CoachEJbarthel @_CoachGThomas @CoachMattRhule @Coach_Knighton @Coach_Ander5on @Jerry_Boggs1 pic.twitter.com/y7ODt3XvRx
— Mekhi “Buddha” Nelson (@MekhiNelson3) June 6, 2024
***I thought I had everything figured out with Mekhi Nelson. The visit caught me off-guard, and the news that he is working with Nebraska to set up an official visit was surprising. It seems that NU is so concerned with getting two running backs, based on what happened last year, that it wants to ensure it gets two high school running backs this time. Yes, there has been a suggestion that Booth could be considered to play another position.
From what I have been told, he’s never played anything but running back. And he only worked out as a running back last summer when he picked up the offer from Nebraska. Not to mention that the offer last summer came personally from E.J. Barthel.
Could playing another position be suggested sitting around a table with the rest of the staff? Sure, but from the beginning, Booth has been Barthel’s guy. To reverse direction with him now would be very surprising.
***Nebraska does appear to be trying to beef up its defensive backs board with its recent offers:
Dylan Robinson (offered three weeks ago, unlikely to visit NU)
Dawayne Galloway (might take a visit next week, trending to Purdue)
Donovan Starr (currently committed to Auburn, not sure if he will take an OV to Nebraska)
JoJo Scott (I have not been able to reach Scott yet)
LaRue Zamorano (would need to take a mid-week visit next week to see Nebraska)
Tyrell Russell (just offered at summer camp)
Noah King (waiting on Matt Rhule’s final approval to set up his OV)
-Bryan Munson
Washut’s Nebrasketball news & notes
***Nebraska tipped off its summer workouts on Wednesday, marking the unofficial start to the 2024-25 season. Players gradually returned to Lincoln last week and will go through four weeks of individual and small group work.
This month, the focus will be on skill and fundamental drills, shooting, footwork, and conditioning. There will be little on-court team instruction until the fourth week, and then more formal practices start in July.
Official fall practices begin in September after a short break in August.
***According to head coach Fred Hoiberg, the “communication was off the charts” during Wednesday’s opening session. “The guys were out there making plays,” Hoiberg told the Huskers Radio Network. “I can tell it’s going to be a group that has a high basketball IQ.”
***I’m still working on figuring out who Nebraska’s opponent will be in this season’s return trip to Sioux Falls, S.D. I do know it will likely be a team from the West Coast and will be a well-known brand. In fact, I’ve heard it could be of the preseason top 25/30 variety.
There’s a chance that, after Creighton, NU’s opponent at the Pentagon could be one of the biggest names on the non-conference schedule.
It sounds like that matchup should be formally announced by next week.
***I’m also told that the full field for the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii should be announced “soon.” That said, “soon” has been used for the last month or so. I get the sense that Nebraska will be the most prominent in the tournament, so don’t expect another big-name high-major.
***Tuesday and Wednesday marked a brief break from the NCAA recruiting quiet period. Coaches from around the country traveled to Florida this week for a live evaluation period at the NBPA Top 100 Camp.
Nebraska’s staff was there in full force, watching several of the best high school players on its recruiting board. The two clear priorities, though, were guard Davis Fogle and A’mare Bynum, the top targets on NU’s 2025 high school recruiting board.
***ICYMI, On3 recently bumped new Nebraska forward Berke Buyuktuncel to a four-star prospect. He was previously unrated. The UCLA transfer is also now the No. 47 overall player and No. 10 power forward in On3’s transfer portal rankings.
With a Transfer Ranking of 92.00, Buyuktuncel is the highest-rated addition in the Huskers’ 2024 class.
***The average player ranking of Nebraska’s six incoming transfers is 85.00. Its six departures averaged out at 71.67.
As a result, the Huskers are now No. 12 in the 2024 On3 Transfer Portal Team Rankings. That puts them third among Big Ten teams, behind only Indiana (third) and Michigan (ninth).
That ranking isn’t to suggest that NU’s six transfer additions are the 12th-best class in the country. It’s more a reflection of how Hoiberg and Co. upgraded the roster from its departures and new arrivals.
***With summer workouts now underway, I got to thinking about the level of competition Nebraska’s practices will have this season.
There will be position battles across the board, but I’m especially intrigued by the backcourt. Point guard will be fun to follow, given how experienced, focused, and competitive Ahron Ulis and Rollie Worster are.
I heard rave reviews about how Ulis handled a tough situation last year and still served as an invaluable asset on NU’s scout team. His presence and leadership did so much to help guys like Brice Williams and Jamarques Lawrence adjust to lead guard roles.
Worster is an absolute grinder who didn’t come to Lincoln to ride the bench. Anyone who starts over 100 games in Craig Smith’s “G.A.T.A.” programs undoubtedly has that dog in them.
“Rollie, in talking to people that played against him and people with the teams he has been on, they all say one thing: he’s just a flat-out winner,” Hoiberg said. “He does whatever it takes to win games.”
We all know Sam Hoiberg’s motor is stuck on full throttle, and then there’s true freshman Nick Janowski. We’ll see what kind of playing time he gets this season in a veteran backcourt, but putting in the work won’t be an issue.
I wrote this before, but Janowski wakes up every day before sunrise to work out and studies film of guys like Jalen Brunson and Aaron Craft in his free time. Not many young guys are wired like him.
***I didn’t mention him in my recap of Hoiberg’s radio appearance on Thursday night, but the coach had glowing things to say about senior big man Andrew Morgan.
“He is really, really talented,” Hoiberg said. “He’s got good lift, he’s tough, and he does have a nice skill set. We’re going to work on a couple things to make him more consistent with his outside shot, but he’s got a really, really nice skill set…
“He’s a guy I think can play through the elbow and give us a little bit of what Rienk (Mast) gave us. But he is really good on the low block.”
***Nebraska hosted 2025 Casper (Wyoming) College guard Abdul Bashir on an unofficial visit last week. He’s definitely one to watch for the Huskers.
He’s an Omaha native and played for a couple of years at Omaha Bryan, but I don’t get the sense that location is much of a factor in his recruitment.
Bashir wants an up-tempo system that allows him to showcase his impressive shooting. Check that box for NU.
He’s also very big on relationships with his coaches. I’m told his visit to Lincoln couldn’t have gone better, and he really connected with Nebraska’s staff. He felt they viewed him as a priority recruit and hit it off well with his family. Check another box for the Huskers.
Kansas State, Texas A&M, Arizona State, and Central Florida have also offered, and other big names should be joining that list soon. But NU appears to be off to a great start with Bashir.
-Robin Washut
Abby’s assists
***Nebraska Volleyball’s assembly of the Class of 2026 begins on June 15. The Husker coaching staff will be prepared to call soon-to-be high school juniors at midnight.
NU’s Class of 2025 had three members after four days. I expect the Class of 2026 to come together quickly as well.
Nebraska became familiar with many players in the class through camps and the USA Volleyball National Training and Development Program. Husker Assistant Coach Jaylen Reyes helped with the camp and got to know younger athletes.
Nebraska is focusing more on outside hitters and middle blockers in this class. Currently, the Huskers will have three defensive specialists and two setters on the 2026 roster. They need a couple of outside hitters and/or a player who can play on the right pin as well. They also need to pick up a middle blocker.
Here is a chart of players I will watch closely as the recruiting contact period begins.
NamePositionHigh SchoolClubHeightPrepVolleyball.com rankingHenley Anderson*OHDripping Springs (TX)Austin Skyline6’2No. 1Halle Thompson*OHGrand Oaks (TX)Houston Skyline6’1No. 2Kayla NwabuezeMBBloomfield Hills (MI)Legacy6’2No. 3Audrey Flanagan*OHMira Costa (Manhattan Beach, CA)Southern California (SCVC)6’3No. 4Ayanna WatsonOHBishop Gorman HS (Los Angeles, CA)Vegas Aces6’3No. 5Keoni Williams*MBBoswell (Fort Worth, TX)Skyline Juniors6’4No. 6Gabriella DiVita*OHGrosse Pointe South (MI)Legacy6’2No. 9Sarah HickmanRSStratford (Houston, TX)Houston Juniors6’5No. 10Gigi Artiles*OHWestminster Christian (Miami, Fl)Tribe6’2No. 11Brooke HarwoodMBEastmark (Mesa, AZ)AZ Storm6’4No. 23Lacy Tinnell*MBCollege Park (The Woodlands, TX)Houston Skyline6’4No. 27Lynney Tarnow*MBBenet Academy (Lisle, IL)1st Alliance6’5No. 33Jayden Robinson*OHRidge Point (Missouri City, TX)Houston Skyline6’3No. 42Elena HoeckeMBCentennial (Circle Pines, MN)MN Select6’3No. 44* attended Nebraska’s 2023 Dream Team Camp
Several players on the list have quickly risen in the rankings. Watson jumped from No. 114 to No. 5 after a huge sophomore season and winning the Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year honor. Tarnow went from No. 149 to No. 33 after averaging 3.2 kills per set and hitting .364 as a sophomore. Robinson moved from 66 to 42 in the rankings.
Prepare for a busy month of recruiting from the Huskers. Their Dream Team Camp, held in July, is where they lay the groundwork for building their classes.
***Nebraska’s 2024 schedule will be a grind. There are two particular stretches that will be extra grueling. NU ends their non-conference schedule with Stanford at home (Sept. 18) and Louisville (Sept. 22) on the road. They return to Lincoln to play UCLA (Sept 27) and USC (Sept. 29) for the first time in the Big Ten. Those 11 days will be intense for Nebraska as they find their footing.
The other hardest four-game stretch will be their four road matches in eight days. Nebraska starts in Madison, Wisconsin, on Nov. 1 for a likely top-five matchup. The next day, they face Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.
After a quick turnaround, the Huskers travel to Eugene, Oregon, to face UO in a rematch of the 2022 Sweet-16 matchup. They head to Seattle for another tough match against Washington on Nov. 9.
As difficult as those road matches will be, Nebraska returns to Lincoln and must prepare for Minnesota on Nov. 14.
Big Ten Volleyball schedules are typically very difficult, but this one is a doozy. Nebraska will find out what their 2024 squad is capable of early. They’ll be battle-tested for the NCAA Tournament.
-Abby Barmore
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