DE Greg McMullen: "I don't like quarterbacks."
OL Paul Thurston: "Team comes first."
And with that, Nebraska's two latest oral commitments verbalized two of Bo Pelini's strongest beliefs. They immediately become the most highly touted members of what is expected to be an unusually small 2012 recruiting class. In addition to both being Rivals 4-star prospects, McMullen currently ranks 88 in the Rivals100 and Thurston stands at 137 in the Rivals250.
McMullen is a 6'5" 255 DE from Hoban High in Akron, OH. He also held offers from Ohio St., Notre Dame, Michigan St, Purdue and Northwestern. The Huskers are also looking at teammate and DE bookend Latroy Lewis, but no offer has yet been made. Here's some highlights - nothing super-exciting, but these are only sophomore year, so I'm assuming bigger and faster at this point:
Thurston is a 6'5" 274 lb offensive lineman from Arvada West High in Arvada, CO and says he has been told that he will play guard at Nebraska. Here's extensive highlight action of Thurston from last year. Quite simply plays with lots of red ass and pushes his man backward until the whistle blows:
Note: As was noted a few weeks ago, commit #1 Michael Rose had reopened his recruitment. He has since resolidified his commitment to NU and stated that he is now done with the process. Unless he isn't.