NU hopes to make big recruiting splash down the stretch

Ohio Pete · January 24, 2010

Good read from LJS

NU hopes to make big recruiting splash down the stretch

By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star

Don’t doubt the splash a couple of teenagers can make when it comes to how a recruiting class is viewed.

As another national signing day looms, the Huskers stand in contention to land a couple of big fish that analysts say would surely send Nebraska’s class on a ride up their recruiting rankings.

There’s defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa, with five stars to his name according to Rivals.com, and safety Corey Cooper — four stars for him.

Both have Nebraska on their short lists of schools. And some are even guessing aloud the Huskers sit atop their lists.

“Right now, if I were at the tables on Vegas and I had to put my money down, I’d have to say that Corey Cooper looks like he’s a Nebraska signee,” Scout.com national recruiting editor Allen Wallace told the Journal Star on Friday.

Cooper has been in the company this week of secondary coach Marvin Sanders.

And Owamagbe (commonly called Owa) just hosted Husker coaches Bo Pelini, Carl Pelini and John Papuchis at his family’s home in Portland, Ore., on Thursday night.

With Owa also considering UCLA and Oregon, some have wondered if the distance to Nebraska might hurt NU’s chances.

But Owa told Scout that his mom isn’t worried about that after meeting with coaches.

“After this, she said she doesn’t really mind at all," Owa told the recruiting site. “She does not care at all. There are so many other good things about the school, she can look past the distance.”

Owa, ranked by Wallace in his SuperPrep Magazine’s All-America Issue as the eighth-best recruit overall, said he doesn’t have a set time frame for making his decision. “Just when it feels right.”

Rivals currently ranks Nebraska’s recruiting class 28th nationally. Scout has it 32nd.

But what if those two recruits sign with NU on Feb. 3?

“I think it would firmly put them as a Top 25 class, maybe even vault them up into the Top 20,” said Jeremy Crabtree, national editor and analyst for Rivals. “Considering that Owa’s a top 10 player nationally, one of the best five-star guys nationally. You get a little extra oomph when you add a freak like that to the recruiting class.”

Said Wallace: “Those are the kind of guys that really drive rankings.”

Cooper has got all the tools to make football people drool.

“Kids that are 6-2, 210 pounds, with 4.5 40’s and 34-inch vertical leaps are tough to find,” Crabtree said. “But then when you combine all those physical attributes with his football IQ, his intelligence and everything like that, it’s a very good package.”

As for Owa, Crabtree said Nebraska’s coaching staff has to be credited for the job they’ve done recruiting him.

“They’ve been very professional, very honest and done a good job of not running down other schools but selling the merits of their school,” Crabtree said. “I also think he kind of fell in love with the domination of (Ndamukong) Suh while he was there. You can’t help but envision yourself in a very similar situation when you’re a kid coming from the same city, the same type of high school, similar situation.”

It hasn’t all been praise for Husker recruiting.

Tom Luginbill, the national recruiting director for ESPN Scouts Inc., mentioned in a recent newspaper report that he’s surprised Nebraska’s class “isn’t more fruitful, especially on the offensive side of the ball.”

He said he doesn’t think Nebraska is bringing in the guys on offense that scare teams or create mismatches.

It’s just a matter of perspective.

From Crabtree’s view, Nebraska has done well at offensive recruiting, noting the commitments from running back Braylon Heard (rated by Rivals as the No. 5 running back in the country), junior college tight end Chase Harper, and wide receiver Quincy Enunwa. Crabtree thinks Enunwa could be “a helluva steal.”

Nebraska is hosting quarterback Brion Carnes (Manatee, Fla.) this weekend. Carnes has four stars, according to Rivals, and seems to be NU’s top target for a QB in this class.

Carnes. Cooper. Owa. How many of those three will end up Huskers?

Such is the suspense that that comes this time of year.

“There are amazing surprises,” Wallace said. “You think you know what’s going to happen. The charming thing about letter-of-intent day is that you find out that you don’t.”