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Good Day to one and all! There’s some news to disseminate, a little feedback from last weekend, and some updates for the coming weekend to discuss! Let’s get right down to it:
Sign here, now initial here, then here....
Running back Dedrick Mills put the speculation to rest this week. He signed his papers to come to Nebraska. While his report date isn’t until June, the running back position is a little more athletic and a little less cerebral. Mills, as has been discussed, started games at Georgia Tech his freshman year before being dismissed from the team for violating team rules. He then broke a bone part way through his first season of JUCO, but showed out last season.
His name: Dedrick Mills (@MillsDedrick)
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFBNation) January 14, 2019
His position: Running Back
Status: HUSKER#B19RedRevival ✍️ pic.twitter.com/95U35yElWH
In the baseball world, there were commitments to be had as well. I don’t know much about baseball, sorry guys. My 3rd cousin threw a no-hitter for the Yankees and all I know is our baseball coach was a punter.
After lots of thinking with my coaches and family, I am humbled and blessed to announce that I will be continuing my academic and athletic career at the University of Nebraska. Thank you to everyone who helped get me here! #homegrowN #allN ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/k54VwyVUay
— Tyler Palmer (@jtylerpalmer) January 17, 2019
Will you still love me, tomorrow?
By all indications, the four visits last weekend went quite well. Possession receiver Charles Njoku is collecting crystal balls to Nebraska as we speak. He visits UCLA this weekend. JUCO linebacker Soni Fonua enjoyed his visit, but he still has visits to Oklahoma State this weekend and Kansas Feb 1. Nebraska made a good showing but he is going to look at immediate playing quite closely. This one bears watching. Mississippi State commit DJ James had good things to say, but I still contend he’s just getting some free trips and will stay with the Bulldogs. Four star linebacker Steven Parker did not make a lot of great noises coming out of his visit. The snow shook him some. I don’t see this one going our way. Pass rushing outside linebacker recruiting continues to be the albatross of this recruiting cycle.
Impending announcement
The Polynesian Bowl is this weekend. Two Husker prospects are playing, cousins Noa Pola-Gates and Matthew Pola-Mao. Noa makes his announcement during the game. I see this one being good news for Nebraska. Matthew has Nebraska in his top three, along with Southern Cal and Oregon. I thought they were a package deal, but I understand Matthew has a brother at USC. Matthew visits next weekend, cousin Noa in tow.
Who is on deck for the weekend?
Two players are slated for visits. The first is running back John Bivens. Bivens is a three star running back from New Jersey who missed his senior season with a severe knee injury. His junior film looks great, but the extent of injury to his knee presents a question. This could be a deal like Tyjon Lindsey, where he just never comes back to 100%. Or, he could recover and run for 1000 yards, it’s hard to say. The coaching staff wants to have plenty of weapons at running back and is very high on this kid.
Demariyon Houston is coming from Oklahoma. Demariyon is a four star wide receiver that has lots of speed and great film. At 6-0 165, he is built different than Njoku. This kid needs to eat a few steaks before he’s ready to battle Michigan State’s cornerbacks for a 50-50 ball. However, he can outrun most of them, so maybe it’s a moot point. This is an either/or with Njoku.
So that’s the skinny on recruiting this week. This class is pretty strong, a good mix of instant impact players and developmental projects. The future is bright!