JUCO players this year

[huskerhaze]

I don't know about everyone else, but this gets me excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

http://journalstar.com/articles/2006/12/22...62961981144.txt

 

Bill Busch has a clear image of the type of player he wants to coach.

 

Asked which specific traits he desires most in his athletes, the Nebraska safeties coach quickly pointed to one.

 

“Right away, the main thing I look for is violence — I look for people on the field who are very violent people,” Busch said Thursday. “You see it in their tackling, you see it in their running. You see quick, sudden, violent movements, and you see it at the point of attack. That’s the part that catches your eye the most right away.”

 

Busch obviously saw those traits in Larry Asante of Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, one of four junior college players who signed a letter of intent with Nebraska on Wednesday, the first day of the midterm signing period for juco players.

 

“He was the only junior college safety that we targeted, period,” Busch said of Asante. “That was our guy. He’s the best safety in the country.”

 

In addition to Asante, Nebraska received signatures from quarterback Zac Lee of City College of San Francisco, cornerback Armando Murillo of Eastern Arizona College and defensive tackle Shukree Barfield of Garden City (Kan.) Community College.

 

The new signees will begin school at Nebraska on Jan. 8 and participate in spring practice.

 

“They’re tremendous kids and great athletes, and I don’t throw that term around too often,” Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan said. “There is some real greatness in that group.”

 

Asante arguably leads the list. A 6-foot-1, 205-pound athlete, Asante finished with 76 tackles this year as a redshirt freshman at Coffeyville. He already has said he plans to play strong safety at Nebraska.

 

Busch said it’s too early to say exactly which safety position Asante will play. Often, the coach said, the safety positions are interchangeable.

 

“It depends what the offense lines up in whether you’re the strong or free,” said Busch, making clear that Asante could adapt to either position.

 

Indeed, Asante is a “brilliant kid with great grades,” said the coach, who particularly likes the player’s upbeat personality.

 

“He’s so bright-eyed when you talk to him,” Busch said.

 

As for Lee, Callahan said the quarterback has good timing and accuracy on this passes. He can make a wide variety of throws and showed strong command of his team’s offense this season. The 6-2, 200-pound Lee completed 64 percent of his passes for 3,500-plus yards and 34 touchdowns, with five interceptions.

 

At least one other trait stood out in Callahan’s mind.

 

“Boy, he can run with the football,” the coach said. “He can make plays with this feet. That was really impressive.”

 

In addition to the four early junior college signees, two incoming freshmen — Patrick Witt, a quarterback from Wylie, Texas, and Marcus Mendoza, a running back from Houston — will enroll in January and be on hand for spring drills.

 

Arriving in the spring will expedite the players’ process of becoming acclimated to the playbook and campus life in general. Plus, newcomers on hand for spring practice tend to show up for preseason camp in August in better shape physically than those arriving during the summer months, Busch said.

 

“They’re never in the shape you’d like them to be in because they’re not with the team,” he said.

 

The remaining Nebraska recruits can sign letters of intent starting Feb. 7.

 

“We’re going to continue to put the pedal to the metal,” Callahan said. “Recruiting in this day and age is very different. Players often have a change of mind, a change of heart. Because of that, you have to keep recruiting and go hard until the very last day, until signing date.”

[tattooedhusker]

awesome read thanks!!

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

Busch is our big game hunter now!! Nice to see the defense we are building!!

[FriscoTXHusker]

I want to see some footballs flying 15 yards down field before we recover them after a good hit and helmets flying up into the stands.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I want to see some power hits next year............I mean lay a guy out and throw the bones over the top of him!!!!!!

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

I want to make them cry and run back to their mommies!!!

[husker rob]

snot bubbles and de-cleating, that is what i want to see

[BIGREDIOWAN]

I love it when a guy get hits so hard you know that he has no clue where in the hell he is at!!!! I've been there before and got the t-shirt to prove it..........

[The Red & White Knight]

Revamping the secondary will be like quenching the thirst that's taken a whole season to suffer through....

[xHuskersX]

Larry Asante and Armando Murillo will have big impacts on this team next year, and it is great that they are both secondary players, that was easily the weakest area of our team, and they both will help sure up there respective positions.

 

Getting Bowman back doesn't hurt either. Last year we were 70th in pass defense, next year we should be top 30-40.

[MCAT800]

So does Asante have 3 years to play here

[RedDenver]

So does Asante have 3 years to play here

Yes, he's a 3 for 3 JUCO who'll be here this spring.