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Top 5 priorities left for Nebraska Football in 2024 recruiting class

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Nebraska football
Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska football has 23 commitments in the 2024 recruiting class and here are the top five priorities left on the board.

I’ll be honest, Nebraska football is definitely going to exceed the number of commitments I saw them taking in the 2024 class.

Few people had to expect Nebraska football to have 23 commitments in early July, which comes after one of the most productive recruiting months in program history.

It wasn’t just quantity either. Nebraska football landed elite tight end Carter Nelson, who is the top player in the state and ranks 79th overall via the 247 Sports composite rankings. Dae’vonn Hall and Jacory Barney are four-star recruits, as is Mario Buford.

Isaiah McMorris and Kewan Lacy are ranked in the top 600, while Carlon Jones isn’t far behind. Nebraska got some commitments from camp offers too, but the Huskers are betting on traits, just as Matt Rhule has always done.

It worked before and it will work again. Rhule isn’t going to hit on every recruit. Nobody does. He’s got a formula though and you saw that put into practice this summer.

At this point, most of the heavy lifting is done. The Huskers need to hold their current commitments, which takes effort, but I’m not worried about that with this staff.

In the end, I feel like the class will wind up around 27-28 commitments. 30 seems a little high, but if Rhule really wants to invest in high school recruiting, you never know.

Based on the recruiting board right now, it would be hard to get there. Nebraska football would have to basically land every top target left.

New targets will certainly emerge, but as we sit in the July dead period with 23 commitments and the Huskers ranking 15th overall in the 2024 team rankings, here are the top five priorities left for the 2024 class.

5. 3-star DBs Amare Sanders/Caleb Benning

Ok, so the list is technically six. However, I couldn’t leave off Caleb Benning because if he winds up taking an unofficial visit at the end of this month, that will totally change the scope of that recruitment.

Benning is the No. 6 player in the state of Nebraska via the 247 Sports composite rankings and while the Huskers are filling up with defensive backs, I’d still like him in the class. I wouldn’t mind Benning and Amare Sanders if I’m being honest.

Sanders is a 6-foot-1 cornerback from Miami. He’s a dynamic athlete just like Benning. I realize that would be nice defensive backs, but I feel like Rex Guthrie and Braylen Prude could bump down to linebacker.

The reality is that 22 (5/22) percent of the starters will be defensive backs for Nebraska. So 30 percent of the class being defensive backs might not be that wild, especially if the staff feels it needs to recruit to the 3-3-5 system.

However, I don’t expect more than one more defensive-back commitment, but am interested to see how things play out. As it stands, the Huskers have gotten two recent crystal ball projections for Sanders. 

4. 3-star EDGE Devoux Tuataga

Devoux Tuataga is taking an unofficial visit to Nebraska football later this month. There’s a lot to like about his game too. He’s 6-foot-6, 230 pounds, and is a force off the EDGE. He’s ranked 492 overall in the 247 Sports composite rankings and 33rd among EDGE recruits.

Tuataga is out of Utah. He was supposed to visit on June 23rd but there ended up being a conflict. My read is that the Huskers will try to make headway in July and get him back for an official visit in the fall.

At this point, Oregon and Nebraska football are the only programs listed as “warm” via 247 Sports. The Ducks are the heavy favorite via the On3 prediction machine, but it feels like there is still time for the Huskers to change that, and with the EDGE board shaping up the way it is, he’s a priority target in my book.

3. 4-star EDGE Jacob Smith

I’m going to include Jacob Smith because he’s definitely a top priority. It’s also true that Michigan football feels like the team to beat.

Smith just took his last official visit there. His brother, Jerod Smith, also a Nebraska recruit at one time, already committed to Michigan, so that’s another factor.

A decision is expected sometime this month. If one doesn’t come though, I would view that as a good sign for the Huskers. Michigan just took another EDGE. However, I don’t see that impacting Smith.

Joseph Anderson just committed to Iowa, which makes Smith even more important. Tuataga would be a fine backup option. I think the Huskers would potentially take both, just because of the importance of pass rushers.

Smith could also stand up for the Huskers in the “Jack” linebacker role potentially.

2. 4-star RB Caden Durham

Nebraska football will host top-100 running back Caden Durham for an official visit this fall, which tells you the Huskers at least have a shot in his recruitment.

Oklahoma is the projected leader right now, but the Sooners could be taking their second running back soon. The fact that it’s five-star Taylor Tatum could have Durham looking somewhere else.

LSU got a crystal ball a few months back. Alabama will also host him for an official visit. Durham runs a 10.7 in the 100-meter dash and had over 2,000 yards rushing last season out of Duncanville, Texas.

Landing him would be massive and would be a take regardless of the number of commitments.

1. 4-star OT Grant Brix

This is another interesting recruiting battle for Nebraska football. Grant Brix just took an official visit and Bryan Munson of Husker Online projected Brix to the Huskers.

However, Kansas State got a crystal ball for him on June 23rd, prior to the Nebraska visit. Both projections were from their own team insiders — meaning none of the national analysts have weighed in.

Brix is elite as they come on the offensive line. He’s 6-foot-6, 285 pounds, and ranked fifth among tackles in the 2024 class via the 247 Sports composite rankings.

Landing him would be a home run for Rhule, but Oklahoma and Alabama are in the mix. We’ll see if the Huskers can close, but they have done a great job of it lately.

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Nebraska Football lands athletic playmaker in JD Crisp

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Nebraska Football
Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska football continues to recruit for the 2024 class. They picked up a commitment from 2024 wide receiver JD Crisp on Wednesday afternoon. Crisp played both sides of the football in high school, playing both defensive back and wide receiver for Second Baptist High School.

He is not ranked in the 247Sports regular or Composite Rankings. However, he does have a solid offer sheet.  Crisp had seven offers in total, including one from Minnesota. He was officially offered by the program on September 16 and quickly made his decision.

It’s also worth noting that his recruitment was active throughout the summer. He attended Texas A&M Aggies camp on June 14. At the very least, he garnered interest from a prominent Texas school. That is notable in of itself.

What could he bring to Nebraska football?

It’s interesting that he is a two-way player. He played both the receiver and safety positions in high school. As far as Nebraska is concerned, I could certainly see him playing at receiver. He has as a tremendous amount of athleticism, and played mostly on the outside and high school. Crisp was very good at catching in space, and making contested catches and tight windows.

Playing receiver would make sense for him, given Nebraska’s lack of depth at the position moving forward. He has the agility and ability to become a solid piece if developed properly.

Nevertheless, he has overall qualities that could make him a good safety as well. This coaching staff loves the opportunity to work with athletes and molding them as they see fit. His ability to fire off the football and read a play certainly stands out.

The commitment of Crisp adds to a 2024 recruiting class that ranks 24th overall nationally. The class itself is stacked with talent. It currently has 25 commitments in total.

It will be interesting to see what Crisp can do for Nebraska football. He is definitely more of a project player. Nevertheless, his athleticism and speed is intriguing. One of this coaching staff’s strengths is identifying how players fit into the program. They will have to do that with Crisp.

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BASKETBALL

Nebraska Cornhuskers news: Jeff Sims still not 100 percent, a flip attempt, and more

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Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska football QB Jeff Sims still isn’t 100 percent, plus more Nebraska Cornhuskers news.

One thing we know for sure about the Nebraska football quarterback situation is that we won’t know anything until kickoff on Saturday against Louisiana Tech.

Matt Rhule said that he won’t be making any announcements prior to the game, similar to last week, about the starting quarterback. Marcus Satterfield told reporters on Tuesday that Sims took “50-55 percent of the snaps” so he’s improving, but according to Rhule, he’s still not 100 percent.

Rhule indicated that Sims is throwing the ball well. The Nebraska Cornhuskers just want to see some more movement skills out of their starting quarterback. One of the starting quarterbacks I should say since Sims and Heinrich Haarberg were listed as co-starters this week on the depth chart.

We’ll see how it plays out. If Sims is healthy, I expect that he will get the start or at least play, but with how thin Nebraska football is at running back, both quarterbacks will probably be needed, especially with their prowess for pounding the rock.

Nebraska Cornhuskers aiming to flip Michigan State 4-star

Andrew Dennis is a 6-foot-5, 275-pound offensive lineman rated as a four-star prospect by the 247 Sports composite rankings. He’s out of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, and has been committed to Michigan State since April but Nebraska football is one of many programs to throw out a recent offer.

We don’t know if Dennis has any plans to visit Nebraska football. He’s been offered by Auburn, Stanford, Penn State, and Purdue just since Monday. I wouldn’t get too serious worrying about Dennis until he takes a visit to Nebraska, but if that happens, watch out.

It’s at least a name to keep on the radar and a decommitment definitely seems possible with the situation going on at Michigan State with Mel Tucker getting fired.

Nebraska Cornhuskers Big Ten basketball schedule released

We knew which teams Nebraska basketball would play in the 2023-24 Big Ten season but got the official schedule on Tuesday. The Huskers released it on their official Twitter account.

Nebraska basketball will open Big Ten on December 6th against Minnesota on the road. Fred Hoiberg’s first conference home game will be against Michigan State on December 10th.

The schedule is fairly balanced in terms of the home and road games. The Huskers have consecutive home games twice on the conference schedule. Nebraska has also back-to-back road games twice.

My first impressions though, are that Nebraska basketball is capable of a winning season in Big Ten play, which would definitely keep Fred Hoiberg in place and likely, would give the Huskers a realistic shot at making their first NCAA tournament since the 2014 season.

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Nebraska football is trending for a priority target, plus more Cornhuskers news

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Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska football seems to be closing in on the commitment of three-star athlete Caleb Benning, plus another win for volleyball.

For the first time this season, Nebraska football fans are enjoying a victory Monday following the Huskers’ 35-11 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday.

It was an important win for plenty of reasons. But Matt Rhule’s team needed some momentum. The Huskers got it with that win and now, they are picking up momentum with top recruiting target Caleb Benning.

Benning has been one of the top high school players in the state this fall. He was injured last year, which slowed down his recruitment, but the Huskers have been putting on the full-court press and hosted him for a visit during the game on Saturday.

After that, Benning told reporters how much he wanted to play in the Nebraska football defense. He also said that a decision could be “pretty soon” which sounds like great news for the Huskers.

Over the weekend, Nebraska football also picked up a new expert projection to land Benning from Bryan Munson of Husker Online. This was after another recent crystal ball from 247 Sports.

The On3 prediction machine now gives the Huskers a 91-percent chance to win the commitment of Benning, while all of the crystal ball projections agree. Even Greg Smith, a former Nebraska insider who covers Midwest recruiting for rivals, also projected Benning to Nebraska.

The 5-foot-10, 183-pounder is one of the top targets left on the board along with the likes of Grant Brix, Brandon Baker, and Jayshawn Ross. His addition to the 2024 class would be huge and regardless of his ranking, Benning is a player the Huskers need on their roster in the future.

Nebraska volleyball notches another top-25 win

The Cornhuskers were back in the Bob Devaney Center on Sunday and scored another win over a top-25 opponent, their second of the week with a 3-1 win over Kentucky by the scores of 25-14, 25-22, 23-25, and 25-21.

Merritt Beason was on fire for Nebraska volleyball as she had a team-high 17 kills, a total that was matched by freshman standout Harper Murray. Beason also added three blocks, as did Murrary, but Beason hit .438 compared to .308 for Murrary.

Nebraska had 62 kills compared to 53 for Kentucky, which was limited to just a .243 hitting percentage. The Huskers only had four service aces but Bergen Reilly had 32 assists in the win, while Lexi Rodriguez pitched in with 18 digs and had a perfect serve-receive percentage.

The Cornhuskers (9-0) open Big Ten play this week against Ohio State on Friday at 8 PM CST.

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