Larry Asante

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

owh

 

NU Football: Asante ready to put the hurt on

 

BY RICH KAIPUST

WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

 

Husker newcomer Larry Asante is battling with Rickey Thenarse for the strong safety job.Asked when the Nebraska newcomer developed his knack for hitting people, the strong safety recalled Pop Warner football. The other kids didn't particularly care for it.

 

Too bad for them, but years later it certainly could serve Asante well as he arrives in NCAA Division I-A.

 

"It's not just something where one day you wake up and flip the switch," Asante said Monday. "You kind of have to start at a young age with that."

 

Broderick Thomas used to brag that he was going to "bring the wood" for the Huskers. It should be interesting to see what kind of lumber Asante has in his arsenal.

 

For now, Husker fans will have to settle for his simple philosophy.

 

"It's just reading and recognizing plays," said Asante, a 6-foot-1, 210-pounder from Alexandria, Va. "See it, hit it and go get it. That's how I see it. Don't hesitate, go get it. That's how you make plays."

 

Enthusiasm over one of NU's prized recruits must be tempered by the fact that he's been in Lincoln for just 12 weeks and still hasn't taken part in a scrimmage.

 

But it was hard Monday for both defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove and assistant coach Bill Busch to hide their feelings about Asante after four spring practices.

 

"I really like what I see right now," Cosgrove said. "He gives us a lot at that position, I think. He's picked up things very well. He's a physical presence out there. He wants to get better, and you see him improve every practice."

 

Busch said the NU defensive staff has observed steadiness and consistency that don't always immediately follow a JC transfer to the next level. Asante has helped himself by being "relentless" in studying his playbook and film.

 

"What we saw on film in junior college we see on the field here," Busch said. "I'm a little reserved because of him not having played any games here or having had a live scrimmage yet, but we're obviously very, very excited."

 

Nebraska sought help in its secondary and found Asante, a sophomore-to-be who played last season at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. He calls his own strength "coming down in the box and playing the run," but Busch said Asante also has solid ball skills in defending the pass.

 

Wherever he is on the field, Asante tends to remind people of his presence. He likes the tag of being a "collision player" and wants that to spread through a Husker secondary that mostly lacked it in 2006.

 

"We're going to bring that back this season," Asante said. "Beginning game one, we've got to put that fear into receivers' hearts. We can't have receivers running free across the middle. We've got to kill them every time they come across that middle."

 

Busch said it's not an out-of-control style with Asante, rather the result of knowing where to be and anticipating before it becomes time to get physical. Once in position, Cosgrove can see what potentially might happen next with Asante, even if the Huskers aren't in full-speed drills.

 

"He gets in an explosive football position," Cosgrove said. "I'll be very interested to see how he does when we scrimmage."

 

There are still plenty of steps to be taken, however. Asante is battling with Rickey Thenarse for the strong safety job. He's still adjusting to the speed and complexity of the NU offense.

 

But he feels as if he's found a good home, and Lincoln almost seems like the big city after redshirting one season and playing the next in Coffeyville.

 

"There wasn't anything to really do out there, so it was just school and football," Asante said.

[BIGREDFAN_in_OMAHA]

ljs

 

Asante has drive to succeed

BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star

Tuesday, Mar 27, 2007 - 08:35:01 am CDT

 

 

If Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove’s cell phone beeps to signal an incoming text message, it might be a family member checking in.

 

Or it might be strong safety Larry Asante.

 

Asante’s sense of urgency is palpable this spring. He constantly seeks feedback on his practice performances. He’s eager, driven, determined. So, his text messages to Cosgrove aren’t just to say, “What’s up, coach?” It’s more like, “What precisely do I need to improve on?”

 

“I’m all about perfection,” said Asante, a transfer from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. “I want to know everything. When I’m out there on the field, I don’t want to have to think — just read and react to everything. If I know everything like the back of my hand, I’ll be good to go.”

 

Asante’s drive to succeed explains why he is among six members of Nebraska’s 2007 recruiting class who have gotten a jump on their classmates by enrolling at NU in January in time for spring drills. Asante is battling fleet and talented sophomore Rickey Thenarse for a starting job. If Asante would’ve arrived in the summer, when the rest of NU’s class of 2007 will arrive, his ascension to prominence would have been that much steeper.

 

“When fall camp starts (in August), it’ll be all carryover for him,” Cosgrove said. “Because, basically, our whole package will be installed this spring.”

 

Incoming Nebraska recruits typically face myriad adjustments: Faster practice tempo, faster players, a thicker playbook, a greater emphasis on getting timing right on plays. And on and on.

 

“It’s not like junior college,” said the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Asante, a native of Alexandria, Va. “Everything here happens so fast. You recognize the play, make the adjustment and go from there. You don’t have time to sit there and look at everything. It’s boom, boom, boom. So you have to read and react to all the motion the offense is doing. And we have a complicated offense.

 

“It’s just reading and recognizing the play,” he added. “You see it, hit it and go get it. That’s how you make plays. It’s not like junior college, where you’re faster than everybody else. Here, you have to be perfect with your timing.”

 

Asante is joined in practice this spring by fellow 2007 recruits Shukree Barfield, a nose tackle from Garden City (Kan.) Community College; Marcus Mendoza, a running back from Spring Woods High in Houston; Armando Murillo, a cornerback from Eastern Arizona Community College; and Patrick Witt, a quarterback from Wylie (Texas) High.

 

Quarterback Zac Lee, a transfer from San Francisco City College, also enrolled in January but is sidelined with a knee injury.

 

“I was determined to get here in the spring,” the 6-4, 310-pound Barfield said. “That’s why I took all of the summer classes I had to take at Garden City, just to be in the position I am now.”

 

Which is right behind sophomore Ndamukong Suh on the depth chart.

 

“There are a lot more plays in the playbook here — a lot more than at Garden City,” Barfield said. “I actually have to study my playbook. ... I never really looked at a playbook at Garden City.”

 

The 6-foot, 195-pound Murillo said he’s getting “a huge jump” by practicing this spring as opposed to waiting until July or even August to arrive in Lincoln.

 

“I’ve got time to learn — learn the playbook — and get used to the pace,” he said.

 

And get used to Phil Elmassian, Nebraska’s high-energy cornerbacks coach.

 

“The players told me before I got here, ‘Be ready, because he’s a technique machine and he’s in-your-face, get-it-done,’” Murillo said. “When he starts getting on me a little bit, sometimes I smile because I know the other guys are looking. ... Then I just go out and try to do it right the next time.”

 

Like Barfield and Murillo, Asante applied elbow grease in the classroom to clear a path to be on hand this spring. In addition to valuable practice time — the Huskers on Monday completed their fourth of 15 spring practices — Asante benefits from one-on-one study time with Cosgrove and safeties coach Bill Busch.

 

“You study every day,” Asante said. “You have to break it down and learn the basics first, and then go into the complicated stuff.”

 

Said Cosgrove: “He’s picked up things very well. He’s a physical presence out there, and he wants to get better. He wants to get better every practice. You see him improve every practice.”

 

Asante is regarded as a vicious hitter.

 

“I just like the positioning he gets into,” Cosgrove said. “He gets into an explosive football position. I’ll be very interested to see how he does this spring.”

[BigRedCornhead]

Could you like a new recruits attiude more?

[DaveH]

He'll have to beat ricky.

[Overland Park Husker]

I hope he kills someone coming over the middle

[landonhusker]

He wont have to beat Ricky. You dont think he is here if he didnt know he was gonna play. I think Maybe Ricky should play the other side. Asante and Ricky on the field at same time WOW.

[DaveH]

He wont have to beat Ricky. You dont think he is here if he didnt know he was gonna play. I think Maybe Ricky should play the other side. Asante and Ricky on the field at same time WOW.

1. Last time I checked it's usually best to have more than 1 good player at a position.

2. Asante has three years eligibility left, so does Ricky. No real "he needs to contribute NOW because of eligibility issues" problem.

3. Ricky has been running with the 1's, Asante with the 2's AFAIK. So if opening day was tomorrow, yes, he'd have to beat Ricky.

[huskers]

He wont have to beat Ricky. You dont think he is here if he didnt know he was gonna play. I think Maybe Ricky should play the other side. Asante and Ricky on the field at same time WOW.

1. Last time I checked it's usually best to have more than 1 good player at a position.

2. Asante has three years eligibility left, so does Ricky. No real "he needs to contribute NOW because of eligibility issues" problem.

3. Ricky has been running with the 1's, Asante with the 2's AFAIK. So if opening day was tomorrow, yes, he'd have to beat Ricky.

I'd still would rather have Ricky thenarse playing free safety. Both Asante and Thenarse are too good to be sitting on the bench while the other plays.

[DaveH]

I'd still would rather have Ricky thenarse playing free safety. Both Asante and Thenarse are too good to be sitting on the bench while the other plays.

Really? You're comfortable saying that before Asante even steps foot on the field in a game? Wow...

[pomeroy]

And I'd rather have Holt playing then Swift.

 

And Octavien over Ruud.

 

Just because...you know. Athleticism.

 

[BigWillie]

Dave, you should know by now that it is the 'Shiny New Toy Syndrome.' When you have a big time recruit, they should be allowed to come in and immediately play with the first team, before even proving themself.

[DaveH]

Dave, you should know by now that it is the 'Shiny New Toy Syndrome.' When you have a big time recruit, they should be allowed to come in and immediately play with the first team, before even proving themself.

Oh believe me, I know all about it. I just want to hear what reasons people can come up with for making assertions like that... I never fails. Every year.

[MCAT800]

Well the reports sound good. Let's not crown him just yet.

[Hunter94]

I'd still would rather have Ricky thenarse playing free safety. Both Asante and Thenarse are too good to be sitting on the bench while the other plays.

Really? You're comfortable saying that before Asante even steps foot on the field in a game? Wow...

 

 

double wow!

[strigori]

Asante said. "Beginning game one, we've got to put that fear into receivers' hearts. We can't have receivers running free across the middle. We've got to kill them every time they come across that middle."

 

Now that is what I want to hear from the blackshirts. I dont care who is out there, but I really want that 'tude.