Three & Out: Wild finish to month of June, 20 names to remember for 2025 class, and Huskers nab five new walk-ons
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 tackle the month of June; we also look at 20 names that you should know for the class of 2025, and go over the recent walk-on additions as well as give you the stories on James Williams and Nico Ottomanelli and why they chose Nebraska. Here is your Three & Out:
What a finish to June
June isn’t over with, but it feels like the longest month that I have covered Nebraska recruiting in a long time, and it’s technically not over with. And while the month has been a long one with several stories to cover and write, the last two weekends still have me catching my breath.
Nebraska hosted 23 official visitors from those two weekends and mid-week visitors. Out of those 23 visitors, there were just visitors that were already committed. Out of the remaining 17 visitors those last two weeks, the Huskers landed 11 of them.
That’s very efficient.
Diving a little deeper into the numbers, it’s hard to ignore the repetitive theme of summer camp offers. It’s one of the more surprising storylines of the whole month of June. Matt Rhule and his staff made a handful of offers in Texas while at the two satellite camps earlier in the month and then made close to 20 offers to recruits that camped in Lincoln.
Moreover, out of those 11 commitments that Nebraska picked up in the last two weeks, seven recruits camped at Nebraska, offered, and then visited and committed. The whole board for Nebraska evolved as June went on, from hosting what was arguably their top defensive back targets the first weekend in June to offering three new targets that camped with Matt Rhule and his staff and committed.
It’s a very interesting process that we saw, and it’s one that I am sure many, including myself, will go back and examine in the coming years. Matt Rhule was able to get recruits to his camp, where he measured them, tested them, worked with them, talked to them, and could evaluate them from the start of the camp to the end.
How Nebraska replaced the players on their board, the players that the Nebraska staff had offered going back to their time on the road earlier in the year, with these new names, is interesting. There are some positives from working directly with the recruit that I can appreciate. However, the criticism has been hard to ignore when some players didn’t have similar ranking/rating/offers as some of the other recruits Nebraska had previously offered.
I, for one, am a fan of the process that the Nebraska staff gravitated to. Find players that you want to coach, that fit your athletic profile and also want to be Huskers. That’s key. I have said it before, but it starts with the player’s heart being all-in with the staff and the team. You need that buy-in to get the most out of that player.
Here are 20 names from the 2025 class to remember
Nebraska “should” be at 21 commitments in the 2024 class by Wednesday afternoon. Based on what we believe, the class should be around 75+% full, which means we will start to hear more about 2025 recruits in the coming months. Here is a short list of some names that Nebraska fans need to familiarize themselves with:
NamePositionHeightWeightTown (State) SchoolStone SaundersQB6-1195Harrisburg (Pa.) Bishop McDevittAlex ManskeQB6-3205Algona (Iowa)Garyt OdomQB6-0170Las Vegas (Nev.) Faith LutheranConor BoothRB6-1.5212Wahoo (Neb.) Bishop NeumannTaz Williams JrWR6-1175Red Oak (Texas)Christian TutsonWR6-0165Temple (Texas)Romel StevensWR6-6180Houston (Texas) WillisBryson HayesWR6-0180Maize (Kans.)CJ SimonWR6-1160Oklahoma City (Okla.) MooreJaquise MartinWR6-0175Bryan (Texas) RudderChase LoftinTE6-5.5200Omaha (Neb.) Elkhorn NorthDasaahn BrameTE6-6225Derby (Kans.) Andrew BabalolaOT6-6270Overland Park (Kans.) Blue Valley NorthwestJack LangeOT6-8270Eureka (Mo.) Charlie WolebenEdge6-5215DeSoto (Kans.) Tyson TerryDL6-3.5275Omaha (Neb.) North (COMMITTED)Ka’Mori MooreDL6-1310Lee’s Summit (Mo.) NorthChristian JonesLB6-3215Omaha (Neb.) WestsideJahmir JosephCB6-0170Montvale (N.J.) St. Joseph RegionalCaden VerMaasS6-0196Omaha (Neb.) Millard North (COMMITTED)
Nebraska already has two of the three, in-state offers in the class of 2025. Christian Jones was always going to be a challenge for the Huskers. Like Carter Nelson in 2024, Jones is a national recruit with offers from Texas A&M, Oklahoma, USC, Stanford, Notre Dame, and others.
This is just a taste of some of the names that could pop up in the last week in July and when Nebraska can host recruits again during fall camp and in the fall for unofficial visits.
James Williams talks walk-on opportunity and Nico Ottomanelli picks up walk-on offer from Nebraska
There were five walk-on commitments in the past couple of weeks for Nebraska. There is Iowa Western quarterback Luke Longval, wide receiver/defensive back Cooper Wilson from Suquamish (Wash.) Bonney Lake, and Izaac Dickey from Stromsburg (Neb.) Cross County, which we have already covered. We will bring you up to speed on the other two.
James Williams from Council Bluffs (Iowa) Iowa Western took part in the post-graduate camp in Lincoln. He is one of the performers that stood out to HuskerOnline. Williams felt good about his performance in from of the Nebraska staff too.
“I worked out for the Nebraska staff both in the indoor and outdoor for their camp,” Williams said. “The Nebraska staff immediately took me around for a visit after the camp.”
Williams worked out for the Nebraska defensive line coach at the camp. After the camp, he had a chance to sit down with the Nebraska defensive coordinator to discuss where they could see him playing.
“I only worked with coach Knighton at the camp. I talked to coach White the defensive coordinator and he said that he sees me at either outside linebacker or defensive end depending on where I fit the best.”
There is some irony between Nebraska’s interest and Williams’ decision to play for the Huskers. His parents are very familiar with Nebraska because of the rivalry with their college alma mater.
“Nebraska being the right fit for me is actually really funny because my mom and dad are OU alums,” Williams said. “I never thought my path would be here, but these coaches love me and will take great care of me.”
Williams is already on campus in Lincoln. He moved to Lincoln on Monday and is already doing workouts. He will have four years to play three.
Following the specialist camp in Lincoln, there was already a huge story that Nebraska had offered Husker legacy, Kamdyn Koch. But there was another kicker that had a lot of video clips hitting social media with his strong leg. A strong leg that led to him winning the longest field goal competition.
Nico Ottomanelli kicked several long field goals on the day, but it took a boot from 51 yards to win the longest field goal competition in front of Matt Rhule and his staff.
“That was the longest kick in the competition,” Ottomanelli said. “I kicked longer during the day and I worked out mainly on field goals and kick offs. I didn’t do any punting.”
The 6-foot-2 and 170-pound Ottomanelli is considered the top kicker in New Jersey. The talented kicker from Harrington Park (N.J.) Northern Valley Regional went to several camps this summer.
“I also camped at UConn, Boston College, Auburn, and Temple. Temple and Boston College seemed to be interested, but Nebraska was my first offer.”
Ottomanelli is familiar with one of Nebraska’s offensive assistant coaches going back to last year before he came to Nebraska.
“I met coach Barthel at Penn State a year ago,” Ottomanelli said. “I was at their camp last June and I have been talking to coach Foley from Nebraska now for the last few months.”
Later this fall, Ottomanelli will return to Nebraska for an unofficial visit. He says he plans to visit Nebraska when they face Michigan in Lincoln.
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