The Weekly Rundown: Nebraska gearing up for a busy recruiting weekend and camp season is upon us
Nebraska is gearing up for a busy weekend of official visitors in Lincoln, and camp season is upon us.
We hit on that and more as we start your Monday with The Weekly Rundown Column.
Sure bets
You have to feel good about these things right now:
A busy official visit weekend: Nebraska already has 26 confirmed official visitors for June, and several more will be in Lincoln for unofficial visits. This weekend, things will kick off with eight confirmed official visitors.
The Huskers currently sit at seven commits and ideally would like to be in the 12 to 15 commit range heading into the start of the season. Today, I project the class size to be around 20.
This weekend and June 23 will be where most of the action happens, as 22 of the 26 confirmed visits will happen over that period. It will be interesting if NU can close on anyone right away.
Move-in weekend in Lincoln: For Nebraska’s football players, their short May break will come to a close this week. NU’s newcomers will return to campus by May 31 to begin moving into the dorms.
The first five-week summer session begins on May 30. The second five-week session begins on July 10. Summer workouts are already upon us.
Plenty of 6-6 and picked fifth in the West projections: Both the Lindy’s and Athlon college football magazines hit the newsstands this past weekend. They both have the Huskers going 6-6 and picked fifth in the Big Ten West.
Lindy’s has the Huskers ranked as the 52nd-best team overall, while Athlon has NU ranked 55th and playing in the Pinstripe Bowl vs. Louisville.
NU is ranked ahead of Purdue and Northwestern in the West and behind Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois by both magazines. Wisconsin is the pick to win the West by both, ahead of Iowa. The Hawkeyes and Badgers have generous crossover draws as well, as they each only play one of the East Division powers. Iowa plays at Penn State and Wisconsin hosts Ohio State.
Surprises
These were my surprises of the week:
Carter Nelson’s Saturday visit to Nebraska: Nebraska got a nice Memorial Day weekend surprise with the visit of four-star tight end Carter Nelson on Saturday.
You add this with the news that Georgia landed a commitment from tight end Jaden Reddell over the weekend – things look very promising for the Huskers with Nelson. Notre Dame remains a player, as does Alabama, Penn State and a few others.
I still think if you are the Huskers, you have to try to close Nelson by the dead period in July. You don’t want him to take things into the season, but at the same time, it will be very difficult for him to take any trips during his senior year because of his location near airports. As of now, Nelson does plan to visit Georgia this weekend, even though they already have two tight ends committed.
How quickly Daniel Kaelin has taken a leadership role: This is what you want when you add a quarterback to your recruiting class. You want them to take ownership and leadership right away.
NU is immediately getting that from Bellevue West’s Daniel Kaelin, who was in Lincoln for Nelson’s visit and plans to be a part of all the recruiting weekends this June.
Back-to-back Nebraska HS quarterbacks in the Elite 11: For the second year in a row, the state of Nebraska has produced an Elite 11 quarterback. How about that? Kaelin joins Gretna and Oklahoma State recruit Zane Flores as Nebraskans who have qualified for the prestigious event.
There was a time when it was unthinkable for the state to have an Elite 11 quarterback, let alone produce one over back-to-back years. This is a testament to the development and training that is now out there. It’s not that the state hasn’t had good quarterbacks before, but to be a part of something like the Elite 11, you have to be developed at a very high level regarding footwork and mechanics.
The jury is still out
Questions still surround these things:
Big Ten kickoff times: What will the kickoff times be for Nebraska’s first three games, homecoming and Black Friday? We should know the answer to that by mid-week.
Will we be eating breakfast in Boulder? It sure feels that way. NU’s Black Friday game with Iowa is also set for an early kickoff it appears.
What does the retirement of Gary Barta mean for Iowa?: Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta had a Bill Moos type of exit in Iowa City this past week. Nothing about it felt natural or planned.
So what does that mean moving forward? Is this the first step in making a move at head coach Kirk Ferentz and his son Brian? However, on another note, the Hawkeyes could easily win the West this year. None of this is about winning. It’s more about some things that have happened off the field that has led to millions of dollars in lawsuits under the watch of Barta and Ferentz.
Bellevue West WRs Dae’vonn Hall and Isaiah McMorris: The recruitment of both Bellevue West wide receivers Isaiah McMorris and Dae’vonn Hall is interesting. Both only have official visits set up to Nebraska in June thus far. Usually, teams bring in their key “top of the board” prospects in June.
McMorris is looking at teams like USC, Penn State and Oklahoma. Hall appears to be very interested in the SEC schools like Tennessee, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Ole Miss. Neither prospect has an official set up for those schools yet. Hall is only visiting Tennesee to attend a camp for the chance to earn an offer and earn an official visit.
How things shake out this June with Hall and McMorris will be interesting. Today, things look better with McMorris. Hall has only visited NU once since Rhule’s hiring and doesn’t appear to be looking at the Huskers as a priority.
Staff/roster moves with Nebraska baseball: The baseball season is in the books for Will Bolt. What do things look like regarding roster changes and possible staff moves? This will be something to watch closely if Bolt decides to shake things up.
This has my attention
Moving forward, this has my attention:
Camp season begins: It will be a light week for Nebraska, as the Huskers open up on Sunday, June 4 with their first individual summer camp session. After that, things won’t pick back up in Lincoln until June 10-11. June 5 and 6 the NU staff will be in Texas for Satellite Camps.
2024 OL Marques Easley: Nebraska added a big unofficial visitor for June 7-8. Kankakee (Ill.) four-star offensive tackle Marques Easley will be in Lincoln June 7-8. Easley was originally going to visit NU in April but couldn’t make it for the spring.
The Huskers aren’t on his current top list of schools, but he’s interested in seeing more. Give recruiting staffer Keith Williams a lot of credit here. He’s developed a good relationship with Easley and his coaches to get him on campus.
2024 OL Brant Brix: The top player in Iowa has official visits scheduled to Notre Dame, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Nebraska for June. Which weekend will Grant Brix be at NU? He’s expected to be at Notre Dame this weekend.
Alante Brown to Michigan State: Former Nebraska wide receiver Alante Brown committed to Michigan State via the transfer portal this weekend.
The Huskers will see Brown later this season in November. It will be interesting to see where he factors into the mix for the Spartans. Former Husker staffers Ted Gilmore, Ross Els and TJ Hollowell are all on the staff at MSU.
Nebraska track and the NCAA Outdoor Championships: Congratulations to the Nebraska track and field team. The Huskers will have 20 athletes participating in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin on June 7-10.
It’s the most NU has had since qualifying 21 back in 2014. It’s safe to say track and field is on the rise at Nebraska under new head coach Justin St. Clair.
Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and can be heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm.
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