Danny Bateman

NU will continue to rely on a lot of kids from the Midwest, as this is where we are well-known. Kids around here will see sooner than coastal kids the successful program we are rebuilding. We probably carry more weight in the Midwest... it just makes sense- local kids. They may not be as highly regarded by recruiting analysts but in some cases are just as talented as the highly rated kids... they might just be under the radar type kids. We will also hopefully continue to rely on Texas... they have oodles of talent to go around. I am shocked we do not have a commit from TX yet this year. I'm sure that will change... possibly tomorrow if we could somehow snag either Vestal/Wheeler duo or Ciante Evans. It is nice to see us reaching into California for guys like Taylor Martinez and Kerr, and other lesser recruited states, like we did with North Dakota to snag Qvale. Shows that the coaches know they can't rely SOLELY on Midwest prospects. Eventually, though, coastal kids and ones that are farther away will begin to recognize the program we're building. It is just a matter of time. Hopefully winning on the field will attract higher ceiling players. It may not and we may need to continue redshirting less talented or refined ones and give them an extra year to lift and learn the schemes. Either way we'll be fine. This staff has shown they know how to TEACH and DEVELOP kids, and to PRESERVE THEM until they're either needed or fully prepared to play- not just throw them into the fire as frosh.

Committed to Penn State.

Are we moving on from Carter? I heard on 1620 a while back that the coaches hadn't taken a visit to his school during the eval period. I assume you mean Chance... I hope we aren't backing off either of them. Chance looks to be one of the best DE prospects left on our board.

That snake Stoops himself struck out when he tried to persaude Andrew Green to drop his NU pledge last year... I'm not concerned about them getting in the mix now.

I just realized... Scout needs to get their crap in order and evaluate Carter. They've got us listed as high interest for both him and Wray. Wray is a 3 star, Carter still is a 1. This is why you'll always come in second place, Scout...

Well, seeing as how "Paul" and "arrested" have already come up, we should definitely hope there'd be no injury news with him. At that point, a big fat would be appropriate... or maybe a good old

For some reason, we made his top 3, according to Scout. I'm not sure who else did, but Tech is probably one of the three also.

We're looking REALLY GOOD at RB at this point guys... seriously. We've got Helu/Castille duo til after next year, and after that, I think Burkhead/D. Robinson could form a new lightning/thunder duo for a good while. Lester Ward is a wildcard, but I'm sure he'll contribute... and Austin Jones looks pretty darn good for a walk-on. I say, this year, as far as RB's go, it's McConico or bust. He seems pretty interested and doesn't have as many offers as you'd expect a stud Cali RB to have. Gio Bernard from St. Thomas Aquinas in FLA, who was looking at us for a while, seems to have cooled. I say we'd hold out for McConico... Andre Dawson from Cedar Rapids, IA seems interested but we haven't tendered him an offer. He even said we'd be his favorite if we offered (awhile ago tho). I say if we don't get McConico, we hold out and put on the full court press for Andrew Green. Summary- we're doing just fine at RB for awhile. Thoughts? Edit: Sorry Junior... Good catch. Okafor's probably as good as anybody on the team right now... minus H and Q. He took it to the house from 20+ yards in the spring game. He's got a good combination of size and speed. I don't know how I forgot him. He's got all the tools to be a stud. Could be a three-headed monster at RB after H and Q leave, with Okafor, Ward, Burkhead. And as a sign of how confident the coaches are in our depth here, they moved the clear No. 4 guy from last year/ probable No. 3 this year in Mendoza to wideout to better utilize his game breaking speed. Can anybody say screen pass?

Rivals is reporting that Curtis recently received some quote "bad recruiting news." Hopefully the news is that LSU cannot offer him a scholly... who knows?

Apparently your sarcasm detector is busted buddy.

Lol I feel you on this one, shyndy. He's gotta be smoking something if he thinks Washington is that much better than our backs. Mizzou's "First B12N team to run the spread" mystique is gone, and Washington isn't gonna gashing our D this year. Take that to the bank.

I'm with you on that one OPH. Not to bash you, Rob, but we have decent speed on the defensive side of the ball. Now, not blazing speed or anything that's gonna make people go "WOW", but we're getting there. We're stockpiling faster guys... it's just like last years season. You can get caught up in us maybe having a shot to be 10-2 after the regular season if we could've snuck wins from the two Techs we played, but we made geniune, real progress from '07. 9 wins, including a bowl win over a decent team in amazing comeback fashion... wow that last defensive series was nerve rattling! Sorry, back on topic... we're slowly improving our team speed. Real progress, even if it is slow. Last year, people getting burnt on D had more to do with the mental aspect... they were just out of position. Asking guys that far out of position to catch up to their man is just unfair.

You've gotta feel good about the guys we've been targeting at WR, even if we're not locking down our #1 guys. Think about it... Carter, Wray, Swigert... All of these guys may not be monster WRs physically, like a big Mo Purify or Meno Holt type, but they've got speed. That's one thing this staff seems to be trying to add with our incoming recruits. That speed that everyone seems to think seperates us from the Floridas, USCs of the world.

Yeah, even though we made the list.... it'd take a lot to get this kid to start seriously considering us. Rivals lists top NINE as Michigan State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, USC, UCLA, Utah, Washington... with no interest in any other teams. Who is that tenth team? I don't really care, just odd.

Scout says he trimmed his list to a top ten. We appear to have made it, as we're still listed as a team of interest... but you never know. Can anybody confirm this?

Rivals front page has a pic of Marquise Hill, so i assume he'll be there... It'd be awesome to snatch him from Mizzou. Maybe Gab can convince him. He reminds me a lot of Curtis Carter so how much would you guys flip if we reeled in both of them? Two take it to the house type guys?! Endless possibilities!

Lol Jen good point I was thinking the same thing. You guys are forgetting... drink your Antonio Bell KoolAid. Paul sems on the verge of the breakout (doesn't he always) and even though he's not a true burner, he's got some quicks. Who knows, maybe even Tim Marlowe will find his way onto the field as a receiver... he's the fastest player on the team, and that's a quote.

Yea cmon guys don't flip out... just be patient. Last year, at this time, we had the same number of commits ( in fact, Cody Green committed one year and 3 days ago). This may just be like the dry spell we had last year after T Mart committed... we went almost two months without a commit. It's just a waiting game... we'll get ours.

USC just got their fourth RB commit this year in Anthony Brown. Now, given some of those guys may be listed as RB's that are more pure athletes and may play a different position, but would you go to a school a year after they signed FOUR OTHER GUYS at your position. Huskers1 is right... playing time is in much better shape at NU.

Lol don't freak out guys. Orig. poster must've confused Aaron's mild interest in USC (cmon, what high school kid hasn't thought about playing there) for a serious interest. The article made it seem like Aaron was interested in USC in about the same way Mangino is interested in being fit. I.E., yeah, that's cool, but I'm fine.

For the life of me, I have no idea why A@M keeps pulling in so many quality athletes... sure, because they're in Texas, but did any of these kids committing there actually see the team Mike Sherman put on the field last year?

According to both sights, Gio recently trimmed his list to a final 9... I looked at Rivals and sure enough, we made it. Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Miami, Tennessee. With the exception of Oregon State (his bro was a stud there), it's nice to see a St. Aquinas kid push us across the first cut. The rest of the teams left are the Big Dogs in the recruiting world.

Carter strikes me as a Jeremy Maclin type... not exactly the most highly recruited coming out of high school, an under the radar type guy that can come into games and change them, not with his size or strength, but with his lightning speed and field vision. The ability to think ahead when he's got the ball in his hands... to crack a big one.

Good breakdown huskers1. Carter, right now, is a three star but I read somewhere (maybe his profile) he is all but guaranteed to be getting a fourth soon... interesting, considering Scout's Top 40 had him at 18th. Kinda low for a 4 star kid that is as hyped as he is. Defensively: You've got to remember that if we land Vestal somehow, he would likely come with Diamonte Wheeler... that's called a two-fer. Chance Carter, I think, is a lock to be N if we can get him to visit. Mobley's impressive athletically and could play a number of positions... I personally want him at WR... he'd be a monster. But many have him pegged as a DE. CU has a better shot at that 10 wins (right Hawkins?) or, if you prefer, Mangino has a better shot at denying himself a milkshake, then we do of landing Jackson Jeffcoat. Powell's interesting... maybe if Eric Martin can pull some strings with the kid and get him to visit, it could go somewhere... doubt it tho. He'll stay in Cali. Ferguson we have the best shot at... He already said he may visit, and we should just turn Papuchis loose to cover his native Maryland kids like we did with Ankrah last year. I know Walker Ashburn is interested. We have other good D Line prospects though... two from LA: Elliot Porter and Damien Jacobs, both tackles. Uko's probably a pipe dream, but maybe with a visit- who knows. There've been articles about Jay Guy, Cal commit, looking around. Might get a visit there too. Beau Allen from MN may be realistic. Kenny Mack has an offer- if he came, he'd be a grayshirt the first year, then could redshirt the second... could be around 6 years. You've gotta think Lewis would be a longshot at this point, although I feel we have a much better shot with his teammate, Harvey Jackson... a safety prospect. I'd love to land Veheko somehow... need to secure a visit, as is the case with many of these kids. Gilliam looks to be somewhat new on our recruiting scene, but is a good prospect on paper... 200+ lb. guy that can run. Toney Hurd, Jr., Derron Smith, and Ciante Evans are all kids at CB you'd think we have a decent shot at. Defensively, we'll get there... we just gotta wait it out.

Purdue is starting to bother me recruiting wise. In the span of two years, that's two potential QB's they've won out on and a good RB... I personally am not too sad about losing Marve though.