The Weekly Rundown: Nebraska’s spring recruiting run has begun and scrimmage No. 1 is in the books
Nebraska’s spring recruiting run has begun with two big commits over the weekend. Also, what came out of NU’s first scrimmage on Saturday?
We hit on that and more as we start your Monday with The Weekly Rundown column.
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Sure bets
You have to feel good about these things right now:
A spring recruiting run: Nebraska added commits from wide receivers Jackson Carpenter and Bryson Hayes over the weekend. Both have been clocked at 10.6 seconds electronic in the 100-meter dash. Speed kills, and Matt Rhule and the Huskers just added more.
These were the first two commits in NU’s class of 2025 since Aug. 27, but you can bet this is the start of a big run to come.
Upgraded play at wide receiver in 2024: Between Jahmal Banks, Isaiah Neyor, Jacory Barney and Demitrius Bell, it’s clear Nebraska has upgraded at the wide receiver position.
None of these players were on the field a year ago, but they should all factor into the offense this season. Banks looks to be the No.1 receiver, while Neyor, Barney and Bell have all come on this spring.
Portal season opens today: Get ready. The 15-day spring transfer portal window begins today.
That’s why you saw many teams play their spring game this past weekend. It allows staffs plenty of time to weigh their current roster situation before hitting the road for spring recruiting.
Also, new this year is coaches will have fewer days on the road for spring recruiting. Schools can use 140 days divided by 10 coaches from Apr. 15 to May 25, which comes out to 14 days per coach over six weeks.
It was 168 days on the road a year ago or nearly 17 days per coach over six weeks. That means there isn’t a big rush to get on the road, as NU will still have plenty of time to use its 140 days for spring recruiting.
Surprises
These were my surprises of the week:
Troy Dannen’s quick turn on alcohol sales at Haymarket Park: Last week in the Weekly Rundown, I wrote about how strange Nebraska’s squabble over alcohol sales at Haymarket Park looked. NU was essentially fighting over peanuts in the grand scheme of things with NEBCO over revenue splits of beer sales.
By Friday, new athletic director Troy Dannen publicly corrected the issue. This week, the Board of Regents will vote on allowing alcohol sales at Haymarket Park. The vote is more of a formality, as beer will be sold at Haymarket Park over the last 12 games of the regular season and any possible post-season home games. The revenue from beer sales will go towards ballpark improvements. It’s good to see cooler heads prevail on this issue.
It was also interesting to learn that athletic department CFO Doug Ewald was relieved of his duties on Monday. He previously led the negotiations with NEBCO on beer sales at Haymarket Park.
Adrian Martinez in the UFL: Former Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez’s pro career appears far from over. Martinez’s pro hopes took a huge step this week in the UFL, as he passed for 334 yards on 18-of-28 passing and 44 yards rushing on five carries.
It was vintage Martinez. He looked like the quarterback we all thought he’d be after his stellar 2018 freshman season. He led Birmingham (3-0) to a 33-14 win over Memphis (1-2), and he’s scheduled to get the start again this week.
© Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
The jury is still out
Questions still surround these things:
2024 spring game attendance: As of Friday last week, Nebraska had sold 50,500 tickets to its Apr. 27 Red-White spring game. Ohio State drew 80,012 on Saturday, while Alabama had a crowd of 72,358 for its A-Day game.
Today, a number in the low 60,000 range seems realistic for Nebraska’s spring game. So much, too, is dependent on weather and other variables. NU also raised ticket prices to $15 (general seating) and $25 (club seats), while tickets for 18 and under are now $5 instead of free.
Nebraska Philanthropic Trust’s stadium fundraising: One of the things former AD Trev Alberts set up on his $450 million Memorial Stadium renovation project was he contracted Nebraska Philanthropic Trust to lead all fundraising efforts.
This is a private group in Omaha Alberts put in place over the top of NU’s own development office and University Foundation to raise money for the project. The NU Board of Regents voted to pay Nebraska Philanthropic Trust $5.5 million to lead fundraising for this project. They have received payments over the last seven months ranging from $183,333.34 to $275,000, totaling $1.65 million already. The contract the Board of Regents agreed to has monthly payments ranging from $137,500 to $275,000 through Dec. 31, 2025.
Based on this contract alone, we will know very quickly about the stadium project’s future. One would think that if the stadium project is not happening in its original form, these $275,000 monthly payments to an outside fundraiser would stop immediately. That is more money in one month than anyone inside NU’s current development office makes annually. Also, how much money has been raised, and what happens to that money if the project is called off?
This has my attention
Questions still surround these things:
Matt Waldron: Anyone who knows me knows I’ve been a lifelong Los Angeles Dodgers fan. So, on Saturday night, it was pretty cool to see former Nebraska and Omaha Westside pitcher Matt Waldron take the hill as the starter for the San Diego Padres in Chavez Ravine.
Waldron started the game by striking out Mookie Betts, walking Shohei Ohtani, and striking out Freddie Freeman—the best 1-2-3 lineup in baseball. He’s developed a knuckleball, which has changed his career. He has a 3.14 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 14.1 innings pitched for the Padres.
It’s also crazy to think Westside’s 2014 team now has two Major League starters, Jake Meyers (Houston) and Waldon. Pitcher Jackson Rose was also with the Miami Marlins on their AAA team in Jacksonville during the 2023 season.
NIL and Nebraska coaches: We saw the first picture of a Husker coach indirectly supporting Nebraska’s NIL Collective—The 1890 Initiative. Husker volleyball coach John Cook tweeted a photo of himself enjoying an ice cream cone at Runza in St. Paul. Cook was wearing an 1890 hat in the picture.
This is the first time we’ve seen an NU coach wearing 1890 gear in public since the collective started in October 2022.
2026 Bellevue West athlete Kaprice Keith: You get the feeling an offer to 2026 Bellevue West athlete Kaprice Keith could be coming sooner rather than later.
DB Blye Hill: Cornerback transfer Blye Hill appears to be on the rise and took a big step forward this week in the scrimmage.
Linebackers: Both newcomer linebackers Vincent Shavers and transfer Stefon Thompson reportedly had strong scrimmages. It’s encouraging to hear Thompson is turning the corner, while we know Shavers looks like a guy who could see time as a true freshman.
Another big scrimmage: Look for another big scrimmage for Nebraska this Saturday. One will assume we won’t see much of the veterans, if at all. Rhule likes to use the scrimmages to develop younger players.
Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and is 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, he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm.
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