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Nebraska tapping talent in Arizona


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Nebraska tapping talent in Arizona

 

BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Jan 19, 2007 - 12:11:15 am CST

Nebraska assistant coach Bill Busch scratches his head as he ponders the Huskers’ recent football recruiting push in the state of Arizona.

 

As it stands, the Huskers have verbal commitments from six Arizona players for the 2007 recruiting class, which doubles the total of scholarship players NU signed from the state in the previous 10 years.

 

“You could’ve never predicted it,” said Busch, who counts Arizona as one of his designated recruiting areas. “A lot of it depends on your team’s needs. That’s why you just never know. It can be so bizarre.”

 

Or maybe Nebraska’s rather sudden recruiting emphasis in Arizona makes perfect sense. After all, the Phoenix metropolitan area is one of the fastest-growing places in the United States, with people attracted to mild weather, affordable housing and wide-open spaces, among other things. New high schools open virtually every year.

 

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For Nebraska, which recruits nationwide, Arizona also is attractive because of favorable travel access. There are at least four direct flights from Omaha to Phoenix throughout the day.

 

“That’s a huge advantage for us,” Busch said.

 

What’s more, the Huskers apparently continue to reap the benefits of playing in five Fiesta Bowls since 1985, a source of pride for an “Arizonans For Nebraska” booster organization that boasts at least 1,000 members.

 

“Nebraska’s a great program, a respected program,” said Roger Britson, eighth-year head coach at Moon Valley High School in Phoenix. “Obviously, people around here know Nebraska from when they thumped Florida (62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl to cap the Huskers’ 1995 national championship season). You see just as many Husker license plate frames as you do ones from Arizona State.”

 

Nevertheless, Nebraska’s recruiting success in Arizona during the previous 10 years was limited to three players from the Phoenix suburb of Glendale — linebacker Nick Covey in 2005, offensive lineman Richie Incognito in 2001 and defensive lineman Jon Clanton in 1998. NU’s 1996 recruiting class featured defensive back Mike Brown and linebacker/defensive back Eric Johnson, both of the Phoenix area.

 

This year’s Nebraska recruiting class includes five prep players from the Phoenix area — wideout/defensive back Prince Amukamara, the Arizona Republic’s 2006 prep player of the year; offensive lineman Jaivorio Burkes, who received 63 Division I scholarship offers; wideout/defensive back Eric Hagg, who averaged 18.8 yards per reception; offensive lineman Marcel Jones, the nation’s 59th-ranked tackle by Scout.com; and defensive end William Yancy, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound player who has run the 40 in 4.7 seconds.

 

Some people already are referring to them as “The Phoenix Five.”

 

In addition, Nebraska has received a signed letter of intent from cornerback Armando Murillo, a transfer from Eastern Arizona College who will be on hand for spring practice. He is expected to compete for immediate playing time.

 

It should be noted that Busch played a lead role in the recruitment of all six Arizona players.

 

“This isn’t about Bill Busch recruiting Arizona,” Busch said flatly. “It’s about Nebraska recruiting Arizona. The things that are paying off for us are the history of our program, the passion of our fans and the vision of our head coach (Bill Callahan) and athletic director (Steve Pederson).”

 

Nebraska’s 29-player 2007 recruiting class is ranked ninth nationally by Rivals.com. The class also features eight players from the state of Texas, a traditional recruiting hotbed. NU’s classes of 2006 and 2005 combined to have 12 Californians.

 

Britson, the coach at Moon Valley in Phoenix, envisions Arizona becoming more prominent in football recruiting because of the population boom.

 

This year, Britson said, Nebraska and other teams might have benefited from recent problems at Arizona State, which fired head coach Dirk Koetter after finishing with a 7-5 regular-season record.

 

“That created some openings for teams, and they came in and got some players,” said Britson, noting that neither Arizona State nor the University of Arizona has a stranglehold on in-state standouts even under the best of circumstances. “There’s not a defined allegiance here (in the Phoenix area) because it’s just so big and diverse.”

 

Zack Threadgill, who coaches Amukamara at Apollo High in Glendale, said most of the recruiting attention in the Phoenix area comes from the Pac-10, Mountain West and Western Athletic conferences.

 

“You don’t see a lot of Big 12 schools consistently coming through,” Threadgill said.

 

That may be changing for at least one of them.

 

Briefly

 

Two Nebraska I-backs won’t be participating in winter conditioning drills, which began this week.

 

Junior Kenny Wilson, slowed late this season by a knee injury, underwent surgery Thursday to correct an undisclosed problem with the knee. His status for spring practice is uncertain.

 

Meanwhile, sophomore Cody Glenn is rehabilitating a foot injury suffered Nov. 11 at Texas A&M.

 

“It’s a ligament problem, they tell him,” said Wayne Mahaffey, Glenn’s former coach at Rusk (Texas) High School. “It’s not a surgery situation. The target is to be ready for spring ball.”

 

Listed this season at 6-foot and 230 pounds, Glenn wants to shed about 10 pounds before spring drills commence in March, Mahaffey said.

 

“He wants to prove he has a little more versatility,” the coach said. “He wants to be a little quicker.”

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