Three & Out: Official visits in June, PWO class gets a nice boost, and add another name to the 2025 QB board
Three & Out is Nebraska On3’s feature in which recruiting analyst Bryan Munson gives his weekly takes on topical issues concerning Nebraska football and recruiting.
In this week’s Three & Out, we talk about the possibility of how Nebraska might be approaching official visit weekends in June, the Huskers reel in two more PWOs that will add some boost to the class and roster. Finally, we talk about the Huskers adding another name to the 2025 quarterback board.
Thoughts on Nebraska’s official visits in June
I was asked on RSS if Nebraska would still bring in their most important visitors the first weekend in June. It’s what Nebraska did last year under Scott Frost. New head coach and there may be some new ideas. While it remains to be seen, NU may have something else in mind.
There haven’t been any confirmed official visitors for the June 2nd weekend. Around the country, the line has been that every school wants its top recruits to come in for the first weekend. Some top recruits at one school are the top recruits at other schools.
But let’s look further. How did Nebraska do last June when they used this plan?
Nebraska was able to host 13 official visitors that weekend. The Huskers were hosting some of the top targets on their board, like Bo Hughley, Kayin Lee, Dontavius Braswell, Adonijah Green, and Amir Herring.
Of the 13 players, Nebraska got commitments from seven and signed four. The four recruits that Nebraska signed were all in-state. Omarion Miller, Barry Jackson, and Ashley Williams were the three players from out of state.
Not a great weekend despite hosting some very talented players. Let’s dig into why.
Nebraska had changes in their coaching staff that impacted that weekend. Miller and Jackson cut bait with Nebraska later in the process, and the Huskers dropped Williams initially before Rhule and his staff opened up communication with him again.
Another factor, players like Hughley and Green were already committed to other programs. Green was a Louisville commitment, and Hughley remained a Georgia commit.
OK, let’s look at the second weekend. There were six official visitors. Benjamin Brahmer visited that weekend. The one-time Nebraska commit, decommitted from Nebraska late in the process and flipped to Iowa State. The Huskers picked up a commitment from Riley Van Poppel a day or two after his official visit.
Nebraska hosted highly-rated guys those two weekends, like Hughley, Lee, Braswell, Green, Zalance Heard, Teitum Tuioti, and Phil Picciotti. For those recruits that weren’t already committed to other schools, they all wrapped up their process in July.
What does that mean? That means that they left Lincoln and visited other schools. The first official visit weekend being the top weekend, is a big selling point. Yes, it may be if a recruit is waiting for his official visit to pop. Nebraska doesn’t have a lot of those types of recruits out there.
Nebraska has a lot of recruits that they will get to host, but they will visit other schools. The Huskers might push their top visit weekend back to a later weekend in June, not compete with some of the other schools’ “top recruit weekend” during the first weekend in June, and have their top weekend later in the month.
They might find out that Nebraska compares more favorably after a recruit has seen some other schools and then gets a chance to see what Nebraska has to offer. It’s something that I would be considering.
PWO class gets another late boost
In the past 24 hours, the PWO class under Matt Rhule added a couple more walk-ons to the group of recruits that will join his roster in the coming weeks and months. Some might say “big deal,” but these recruits feel differently just like it did when Nebraska got David Borchers aboard last week.
The first on Monday night was Leslie Black from Statesboro (Ga.). Black is a two-sport athlete for Statesboro, playing both football and basketball and had several other opportunities to consider before he chose Nebraska.
“I had an offer from Southern Illinois, Savannah State, Clark Atlanta, Butler Community College, Tuskegee, and PWO offers to Georgia, Southern, Kennesaw State, and UT-Chattanooga,” Black said.
Black was talking with coach Evan Cooper. He will admit that he wasn’t talking to Nebraska very long, but it was the straight shooting that Black appreciated.
“We haven’t been communicating too long. But, I liked what I was hearing from coach Cooper about Nebraska.”
Black is all in on Nebraska, having never visited. He is just a few short weeks away from graduating from high school, and then it will all be about getting to Nebraska.
“I won’t be visiting, but I will be enrolling soon. Later this month, after I graduate, I will be headed up to Nebraska to start summer workouts.”
Nebraska likes Black to play the defensive end position and says he plans to major in business administration.
The second of the two PWO commits this week is Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Santa Margarita Catholic linebacker/rover Jacob Bower. Bower is from the same high school as former Husker quarterback Johnny Stanton.
“Nebraska found me when they were watching film of Nathaniel Frazier,” Bowers said. “Their coach thought that I played well and I had a good night tackling.”
Other teams were talking about offering a PWO to Bowers. Two schools he mentioned, Ohio State and UCLA, were both showing interest. Nebraska reached out, though.
“Nebraska called me in March. Said that they would like me to walk-on, and I visited Lincoln from April 18th to 20th. I would have stayed for the spring game, but I had a rugby match that day.”
This all came together very quickly for Bowers and with his decision behind him, he has just a few short weeks before he graduates and shows up in Lincoln.
“It has gone quick,” Bowers said. “I will graduate on (June) the 2nd and I will be in Lincoln on (June) the 4th to start with summer workouts.”
Bowers said that he could play several spots on the football field. Nebraska has told him they want him to play the rover position in their defense.
Rhule and his staff have embraced the traditions at Nebraska since they arrived, and it’s showing with the attention that they have been giving the walk-on aspect of their roster.
Add another name to the 2025 QB board for Nebraska
The 2024 quarterback board doesn’t have a lot of available names on it, but Nebraska is doing a great job of keeping the 2025 board up to date. Nebraska has hosted Stone Saunders two times, and he says that he will be back in the fall for a game.
Despite Nebraska being in a very good position with Saunders, the Huskers made a new offer to a 2025 quarterback earlier this week. Blake Hebert, from Lawrence (Mass.) Central Catholic, grew up a bit of a Nebraska fan.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve liked Nebraska,” Hebert said. “They are a historically successful program, and that is definitely attractive. I am looking forward to getting out there as soon as I can.”
Things have moved quickly between Nebraska and Hebert. He is talking with the Nebraska offensive coordinator.
“I have been talking to coach Satterfield. He has been very complimentary of me and my film. I have only been talking to him for the past couple of weeks.”
Nebraska may be able to get a visit, but there is also some hefty competition. Hebert said that he is looking to visit a growing list of schools soon.
“As of right now, I am looking to visit Clemson, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Penn State, North Carolina, and Nebraska.”
Quarterbacks are typically on an earlier timeline than recruits at other positions. Hebert says he plans to decide at the end of the school year next year.
“I would like to make a decision around this time next year,” Hebert said. “Right now, I am really just enjoying the process and seeing where I think that I would fit the best.”
The 2025 quarterback board for Nebraska looks strong. It wouldn’t surprise me to have another name or two added in the coming weeks as we head into a critical time to develop the relationship between the school and the recruit.
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