RB Jonas Gray
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zoogs
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I think/hope Woods will be a fantastic, productive guy for us. Our receivers' future looks good: we have guys like Chris Brooks, Menelik Holt, Will Henry, Niles Paul...Woods could be the next big-name player at the position, everything I've read about him sounds good. Of course, getting Deion Walker would be a nice get at WR as well. But I don't think we're hurting at all at WR depth.
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
NU Football: Running back Gray commits to Nebraska
BY MITCH SHERMAN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
Jonas Gray
On Friday, NU snagged a nationally recognized running back recruit as Jonas Gray of Southfield, Mich., spurned in-state Michigan and Michigan State, plus Louisville and national champion Florida for the Huskers.
Gray, a 5-foot-10, 213-pound senior at Country Day High School in suburban Detroit, ranks as the No. 4 player at his position by rivals.com and the No. 1 prospect in Michigan.
He visited Nebraska last month, driving 12 hours to Lincoln, he said, and was swept up in the momentum of the NU recruiting class. The Huskers' commitment list includes 20 players — easily its biggest haul by August — and features offensive tackle Baker Steinkuhler of Lincoln Southwest, quarterback Blaine Gabbert of Ballwin, Mo., and now Gray as offensive cornerstones.
"The recruiting class was a big thing," Gray said Friday at a press conference at his school as he donned a red Nebraska hat. "I talked to a few of the recruits, and they said, 'Once you visit Nebraska, it's not going to be like anyplace else.' I didn't really believe it, because I had my mind set on another school already."
While at NU, though, Gray felt a connection.
I got that gut feeling," he said. "It was the facilities, the personable staff and players."
He also spoke highly of Nebraska's athletic and academic tradition.
Country Day coach Dan MacLean described Gray as a "bruising runner with breakaway speed."
"He's a guy who always has a chance to go to the distance," MacLean said. "And I think he's got a tremendous amount of potential to get a lot better. He's a guy who's going to do better the more carries he gets."
Gray was named MVP among running backs at the Nike training camp last spring in West Lafayette, Ind. He rushed for 1,252 yards and 19 touchdowns last season as a junior at Country Day, the high school known for producing basketball stars Chris Webber and Shane Battier.
On cue with the Huskers, Gray begins preseason practice Monday. MacLean takes his team to Glen Arbor, Mich., for training camp. The coach is expecting big things this fall from Gray.
"Jonas has got a great combination of speed and power," MacLean said. "He's not extremely tall, but he's very well built. This year, I think he wants to be very involved. He's always been a leader. But he's shown through the way he's done things this summer that he wants to do even more of that."
MacLean said Gray shares some attributes with former prep All-American Kevin Grady of Grand Rapids, Mich., the state's all-time leading rusher who now plays at Michigan.
"I do think Jonas is probably faster," MacLean said.
Gray has been clocked at 4.44 seconds over 40 yards.
Country Day teammate Kenny Demens, a 6-1, 225-pound linebacker, is also considering Nebraska. Gray's commitment's may push Demens toward NU, though MacLean said Demens, who visited Lincoln last week, made an unofficial trip Friday to Michigan.
As for turning down the Wolverines and MSU, Gray said, it's not a concern.
"I've got the reaction from a lot of people that they're going to be happy for me wherever I go," Gray said. "I'm going to still represent the state of Michigan. People are glad I'm making the right decision for myself, not just because of what state I'm from."
BY MITCH SHERMAN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
Jonas Gray
On Friday, NU snagged a nationally recognized running back recruit as Jonas Gray of Southfield, Mich., spurned in-state Michigan and Michigan State, plus Louisville and national champion Florida for the Huskers.
Gray, a 5-foot-10, 213-pound senior at Country Day High School in suburban Detroit, ranks as the No. 4 player at his position by rivals.com and the No. 1 prospect in Michigan.
He visited Nebraska last month, driving 12 hours to Lincoln, he said, and was swept up in the momentum of the NU recruiting class. The Huskers' commitment list includes 20 players — easily its biggest haul by August — and features offensive tackle Baker Steinkuhler of Lincoln Southwest, quarterback Blaine Gabbert of Ballwin, Mo., and now Gray as offensive cornerstones.
"The recruiting class was a big thing," Gray said Friday at a press conference at his school as he donned a red Nebraska hat. "I talked to a few of the recruits, and they said, 'Once you visit Nebraska, it's not going to be like anyplace else.' I didn't really believe it, because I had my mind set on another school already."
While at NU, though, Gray felt a connection.
I got that gut feeling," he said. "It was the facilities, the personable staff and players."
He also spoke highly of Nebraska's athletic and academic tradition.
Country Day coach Dan MacLean described Gray as a "bruising runner with breakaway speed."
"He's a guy who always has a chance to go to the distance," MacLean said. "And I think he's got a tremendous amount of potential to get a lot better. He's a guy who's going to do better the more carries he gets."
Gray was named MVP among running backs at the Nike training camp last spring in West Lafayette, Ind. He rushed for 1,252 yards and 19 touchdowns last season as a junior at Country Day, the high school known for producing basketball stars Chris Webber and Shane Battier.
On cue with the Huskers, Gray begins preseason practice Monday. MacLean takes his team to Glen Arbor, Mich., for training camp. The coach is expecting big things this fall from Gray.
"Jonas has got a great combination of speed and power," MacLean said. "He's not extremely tall, but he's very well built. This year, I think he wants to be very involved. He's always been a leader. But he's shown through the way he's done things this summer that he wants to do even more of that."
MacLean said Gray shares some attributes with former prep All-American Kevin Grady of Grand Rapids, Mich., the state's all-time leading rusher who now plays at Michigan.
"I do think Jonas is probably faster," MacLean said.
Gray has been clocked at 4.44 seconds over 40 yards.
Country Day teammate Kenny Demens, a 6-1, 225-pound linebacker, is also considering Nebraska. Gray's commitment's may push Demens toward NU, though MacLean said Demens, who visited Lincoln last week, made an unofficial trip Friday to Michigan.
As for turning down the Wolverines and MSU, Gray said, it's not a concern.
"I've got the reaction from a lot of people that they're going to be happy for me wherever I go," Gray said. "I'm going to still represent the state of Michigan. People are glad I'm making the right decision for myself, not just because of what state I'm from."
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Detroit RB to sign on with Huskers
BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
Friday, Aug 03, 2007 - 10:24:10 pm CDT
Scanning Nebraska’s 2008 football recruiting class, running back Jonas Gray of suburban Detroit sees much promise, particularly on his side of the line.
“The thing that definitely impresses me is the o-line class,” Gray said. “That was the biggest thing to me, and also having Blaine Gabbert in there.”
Nebraska to this point has attracted verbal commitments for 2008 from a pair of four-star offensive linemen (Bryce Givens and Dan Hoch) and another with the maximum five stars next to his name (Baker Steinkuhler of Lincoln). The class also features a pledge from one of the nation’s top quarterback prospects in Gabbert.
Friday, Gray entered the picture.
Saying Nebraska’s glorious football tradition played a prominent part in his decision, the 5-foot-10, 215-pound Gray gave the Huskers his verbal commitment, announcing the decision before about 50 people in Country Day High School’s commons area.
Rated by Rivals.com as the nation’s No. 4 running back and No. 10 by Scout.com, Gray narrowed his final list to Michigan State and Nebraska. He received scholarship offers from several other schools, including Michigan, Florida, Louisville, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
“Just the overall tradition of winning on and off the field — the excellence and tradition were my main reasons for choosing Nebraska,” Gray said. “Also, when I went there (to Nebraska last month), I just kind of got a gut feeling. I was looking for that gut feeling every place I went to.
“I said if I got that gut feeling, I would probably cut my decision early. I heard from many recruits that once you go to Nebraska, it is not like no other place, and they were exactly right.”
Gray said he didn’t feel pressure to attend Michigan or Michigan State.
However, “There were definitely a lot of people who wanted that to happen, just to be able to see me play,” he said.
Ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 1 prospect in Michigan, Gray helped lead Country Day to an 8-3 record last season by rushing for 1,252 yards and 19 touchdowns. In nine games as a sophomore, Gray ran for 797 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Rivals.com rates him as the nation’s No. 47 prospect overall, and the two major recruiting services both made him a four-star prospect. He reportedly has run the 40-yard dash in 4.44 seconds.
“Jonas has a unique combination — speed and power,” said Country Day coach Dan MacLean. “He’s strong and well-built. And to this point, he hasn’t done a ton of weightlifting, so he can get even stronger. He can break tackles, get into the second level (of the defense) and go the distance. He has sprinter’s speed.”
Said Gray: “I have a lot of explosion and a lot of speed and also a lot of toughness. It’s definitely what these guys need, a little bit of toughness and explosion and excitement as well.”
This season, Nebraska will be led at I-back by juniors Marlon Lucky and Cody Glenn. Senior Kenny Wilson, part of a four-man rotation last season, will sit out this season with a leg injury, but plans to redshirt and hopes to return in 2008. Also in the current mix is sophomore Major Culbert, a converted safety, plus true freshmen Marcus Mendoza, Quentin Castille and Roy Helu.
Collins Okafor, a three-star recruit from Omaha Westside, is the only other running back who has pledged to Nebraska’s class of 2008.
“I think I’ll come in and compete for the starting job,” Gray said. “My freshman year, if I don’t win the starting job, it’ll be great to learn under somebody like Cody Glenn or Marlon Lucky, and then eventually try to take over the starting spot as a sophomore and have three great years.”
Gray leaned toward Florida early in the recruiting process. Later on, however, Michigan State moved to the forefront. But Nebraska ultimately prevailed in picking up Gray’s verbal commitment. Such commitments become binding when recruits sign national letters of intent in February.
Outside linebacker Kenny Demens, a four-star teammate of Gray’s at Country Day, also has Nebraska on his final list of schools. As Gray was making his announcement Friday, Demens was visiting the Michigan campus.
“I’m going to work on him,” Gray said. “I’ll make sure I get him on my team.”
Gray became the 20th player known to have committed to Nebraska’s class of 2008.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
Friday, Aug 03, 2007 - 10:24:10 pm CDT
Scanning Nebraska’s 2008 football recruiting class, running back Jonas Gray of suburban Detroit sees much promise, particularly on his side of the line.
“The thing that definitely impresses me is the o-line class,” Gray said. “That was the biggest thing to me, and also having Blaine Gabbert in there.”
Nebraska to this point has attracted verbal commitments for 2008 from a pair of four-star offensive linemen (Bryce Givens and Dan Hoch) and another with the maximum five stars next to his name (Baker Steinkuhler of Lincoln). The class also features a pledge from one of the nation’s top quarterback prospects in Gabbert.
Friday, Gray entered the picture.
Saying Nebraska’s glorious football tradition played a prominent part in his decision, the 5-foot-10, 215-pound Gray gave the Huskers his verbal commitment, announcing the decision before about 50 people in Country Day High School’s commons area.
Rated by Rivals.com as the nation’s No. 4 running back and No. 10 by Scout.com, Gray narrowed his final list to Michigan State and Nebraska. He received scholarship offers from several other schools, including Michigan, Florida, Louisville, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
“Just the overall tradition of winning on and off the field — the excellence and tradition were my main reasons for choosing Nebraska,” Gray said. “Also, when I went there (to Nebraska last month), I just kind of got a gut feeling. I was looking for that gut feeling every place I went to.
“I said if I got that gut feeling, I would probably cut my decision early. I heard from many recruits that once you go to Nebraska, it is not like no other place, and they were exactly right.”
Gray said he didn’t feel pressure to attend Michigan or Michigan State.
However, “There were definitely a lot of people who wanted that to happen, just to be able to see me play,” he said.
Ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 1 prospect in Michigan, Gray helped lead Country Day to an 8-3 record last season by rushing for 1,252 yards and 19 touchdowns. In nine games as a sophomore, Gray ran for 797 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Rivals.com rates him as the nation’s No. 47 prospect overall, and the two major recruiting services both made him a four-star prospect. He reportedly has run the 40-yard dash in 4.44 seconds.
“Jonas has a unique combination — speed and power,” said Country Day coach Dan MacLean. “He’s strong and well-built. And to this point, he hasn’t done a ton of weightlifting, so he can get even stronger. He can break tackles, get into the second level (of the defense) and go the distance. He has sprinter’s speed.”
Said Gray: “I have a lot of explosion and a lot of speed and also a lot of toughness. It’s definitely what these guys need, a little bit of toughness and explosion and excitement as well.”
This season, Nebraska will be led at I-back by juniors Marlon Lucky and Cody Glenn. Senior Kenny Wilson, part of a four-man rotation last season, will sit out this season with a leg injury, but plans to redshirt and hopes to return in 2008. Also in the current mix is sophomore Major Culbert, a converted safety, plus true freshmen Marcus Mendoza, Quentin Castille and Roy Helu.
Collins Okafor, a three-star recruit from Omaha Westside, is the only other running back who has pledged to Nebraska’s class of 2008.
“I think I’ll come in and compete for the starting job,” Gray said. “My freshman year, if I don’t win the starting job, it’ll be great to learn under somebody like Cody Glenn or Marlon Lucky, and then eventually try to take over the starting spot as a sophomore and have three great years.”
Gray leaned toward Florida early in the recruiting process. Later on, however, Michigan State moved to the forefront. But Nebraska ultimately prevailed in picking up Gray’s verbal commitment. Such commitments become binding when recruits sign national letters of intent in February.
Outside linebacker Kenny Demens, a four-star teammate of Gray’s at Country Day, also has Nebraska on his final list of schools. As Gray was making his announcement Friday, Demens was visiting the Michigan campus.
“I’m going to work on him,” Gray said. “I’ll make sure I get him on my team.”
Gray became the 20th player known to have committed to Nebraska’s class of 2008.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
westgatehusker
New member
haha here's what I was reading on netbuffs.....those guys crack me up
http://www.netbuffs.com/message_board/foot...st/3/462749.php
http://www.netbuffs.com/message_board/foot...st/3/462749.php
husker rob
New member
crazyhusker
New member
Dam if everyone signs then this will be the best recruiting class that the huskers have had in A VERY long time.
Alex 4.0
New member
surprising enough, there are quite a few fans on there giving us some credit, and there are plenty of reasons for a guy like jonas to come here. I think some (even some cu fans) are starting to see we are getting closer to the level we need to be at to compete nationally with the big boys, and we have a monster class going now..... so the future looks brighter all the time.westgatehusker said:
the best part about this is the last few sentences of the second paragraph "we better be worried about csu" haha...
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FriscoTXHusker
New member
What does it mean by "standards"? Fewer parties? Less alcohol and fewer women? :dunno I think CU is an embarrassment. The students are so crude and base they have to stop games and clear the student section.
BIGREDIOWAN
Mods
This is so awesome I really wanted us to get this guy too. Welcome to the Big Red Nation Jonas!!!! :woo