Looking Ahead: Big Ten Recruiting 2013
With signing day about a year away, it seems a wee bit early to be eyeing recruiting rankings. Or is it? After all, schools (Nebraska included) are already extending scholarship offers and accepting commitments. What do we see so far?
The Committed
There aren't a lot of commitments in the Big Ten so far for 2013, but there are some noteworthy ones. Only four schools have any committed players. Four-star pro-style quarterback Shane Morris has already given his commitment to Michigan. The good news is that he doesn't appear to be near the running threat of Dennard Robinson. Four-star defensive back Dymonte Thomas has committed to the Wolverines as well. The Maize and Blue hold another commitment from thus far unranked tight end Khalid Hill. Meanwhile, Michigan State has a commitment from unranked running back Carman Ainsworth. Nebraska has a commitment from four-star "athlete" Tre'vell Dixon, but may have to hold off LSU to keep the Louisiana youngster until signing day. Dixon could be a wide receiver, defensive back, or running back. Ohio State is the early leader in class rankings with a five-star commitment from defensive back Cameron Burrows and four-star "athlete" Jalin Marshall. Marshall appears to be a player that Nebraska had their eye on as well.
The Wanted
According to Rivals.com, Nebraska has already made forty-one offers to players in the class of 2013. About two-thirds of them are rated as four-star or higher players. Nebraska must fight off Michigan, Purdue, and more than two dozen schools if they hope to land five-star safety Su'a Cravens. The Huskers have to beat out Ohio State, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, and Indiana to land four-star dual-threat quarterback Malik Zaire of Ohio. NU would have to beat out Michigan State and Ohio State if htey want four-star offensive tackle Derwin Gray from the nation's capitol. The Cornhuskers, Purdue and more than a dozen other schools have offered four-star "athlete" Jalen Ramsey of Nashville. The Big Red must fight off Iowa and Purdue to obtain the services of four-star linebacker Nick Ramirez of Missouri. NU, Ohio State, Purdue, and more than a dozen other programs have offered four-star wide receiver Uriah LeMay of North Carolina. The Huskers have offered all-name and four-star defensive end Taco Charlton of Ohio, whose sought after by Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Purdue, among others. Nebraska, Northwestern and about half the Pac-12 want California four-star cornerback Chris Hawkins. Four-star Ohio safety (and West Virginia commit) Jayme Thompson has early offers from Nebraska and Illinois, among others. Michigan and Nebraska both want four-star Dallas guard Ishmael Wilson. NU has offered four-star Cardinal Mooney safety Marcus McWilson along with Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan State. Four-star Youngstown defensive tackle Billy Price has offers from Michigan, Michigan State, NU, and Ohio State, among others. Offers have poured in for four-star Ft. Lauderdale receiver Jordan Cunningham, including ones from Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and the Huskers. NU and Purdue are among the schools that have offered Phoenix four-star offensive tackle Kenny Lacy and Tempe cornerback Priest Willis. Michigan, Illinois, and the Huskers are among the schools that have offered a scholarship to four-star offensive tackle Evan Lisle. Three quarters of the Big Ten (including NU) have offered four-star Illinois offensive tackle Kyle Bosch. Two-thirds want four-star Illinois offensive tackle Ethan Pocic. Likewise, half of the Big Ten (and NU) want four-star Illinois wideout Laquon Treadwell. Nearly as many are seeking four-star New Jersey cornerback Eli Woodard.
That's a lot of guys in play between Nebraska and other conference schools. Those face-offs in the living rooms may well translate to wins on the field. And there's a slew of other players not mentioned either because they haven't been rated yet or may not yet have other offers from Big Ten schools. Signing day may be a year away, but when it comes to recruiting (like blogging), there is no offseason.
2/10/2012
How does our recruiting efforts for the 2013 recruiting class compare with last years attempt to bring in top/high quality players?
Are we putting more emphasis on starting early and aiming higher?
2/10/2012
Ross Els is taking over as the recruiting coordinator.
He sat down with the LJS to answer questions. In it, he talks about his approach.
Here’s the story - http://huskerextra.com/sports/huskers/football/article_ce731e6c-6fca-52c3-b819-e828fd45ce98.html
Papillion, NE
2/10/2012
I’ve been looking into a lot of these highly touted recruits.
Nebraska actually has a better chance at landing many of them than other schools do.
Priest Willis’ dad is a HUGE Husker fan. And has a family friend who trains him that is a former Blackshirt (Toby Wright).
Su’a Cravens is actually being very recruited by Nebraska. But it also seems to be having an effect on him. Cravens’ coach is going on a visit to Nebraska and said “it would be a great opportunity for [him] to go”. This will be an unofficial visit (in the Spring) so he’s actually going to pay to go on a Spring visit here.
He also talked about how the number one thing he cares about is how he relates to the coaching staff.
“It’s what kind of defense they run, you know if they have my major, if I really like the visit but I’ve got to be in the touch with the coaching staff,” Cravens said. “You can’t go to a school where you’re not feeling the coaching staff, because when you get there, if you’re already uncomfortable, when you get there, you’ll want to leave.”
That’s good news considering that the number 1 reason athletes have chosen Nebraska since Bo Pelini was here was the coaches.
Anyway, I could keep going but I really don’t feel like it. There is PLENTY of more, great talent that Nebraska has a lot of connections with.
This could actually be a VERY good class. I wouldn’t hesitate to say to say that it could be a GREAT class.
Austin, TX
2/10/2012
Fortunately, it looks like there are a few in-state guys (not named Cotton) more than worthy of an offer. Hopefully, the local talent shows up this year! Any locals care to comment? Are Banderas and Minter Jr. the real deal? Are there any others?
Papillion, NE
2/10/2012
I’ve never seen Minter Jr. play, but I do know that he has offers from South Carolina and Clemson (and other places).
2/11/2012
Minter is an athlete and he just came from the east coast so thats why those schools knew who he was already.. He is definately DI material, and from what I understand Banderas played very well at the Junior Combine ... When your a kid from NE and you have interest from Alabama , LSU , and OU before your senior year thats a pretty big deal..