Texas receiver becomes 29th to commit to NU's 2007 class
BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
Saturday, Jan 27, 2007 - 12:31:19 am CST
Because recruiting the state of Texas has become a prevailing theme for Nebraska, perhaps it was appropriate that the Huskers may have finalized their football class of 2007 on Friday by landing another prospect from the Lone Star State.
Curenski Gilleylen, a 6-foot, 210-pound wide receiver from Leander, Texas, gave Husker coaches his verbal commitment, becoming the 29th player known to have pledged to NU’s latest class of scholarship athletes.
If everything falls into place as expected, Nebraska’s class is complete, according to recruiting insiders. Verbal commitments can become official on Feb. 7, the start of national signing period.
Gilleylen is the Huskers’ eighth commitment from Texas in the current class.
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“He’s a recruiter’s dream, the total package,” said Leander coach Steve Gideon. “He’s a great threat vertically. And he’s got the body of a healthy running back. He’s just a phenomenal-looking kid.”
Rated as a three-star player by both Scout.com and Rivals.com, Gilleylen starred in a spread-gun offense for Leander, which finished 10-3 in Texas’ largest high school classification. He turned down scholarship offers from Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Kansas and Missouri, among others.
“My instructions to our offensive coordinator were, ‘If we want to win games, we have to get the ball to Curenski 20 to 25 times a game,” Gideon said. “We probably didn’t get the ball to him enough.”
Nevertheless, Gilleylen produced 1,480 yards of total offense, benefiting from tremendous speed — he holds the school record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.53 seconds, Gideon said. Consequently, Gilleylen often ran the ball on reverses, the coach said.
He will have to battle hard for immediate playing time at Nebraska, as the Huskers return their top six wideouts from 2006.
Gilleylen, Leander’s unanimous choice as team captain, plans to major in engineering at NU.
“He’s an outstanding student,” Gideon said. “Above all, he’s a superb person. He has a positive outlook. He seems to have an upward slant on everything. He’s just one of those kids that people gravitate toward because of his presence.”
Nebraska’s 2007 class currently is ranked ninth nationally by Rivals.com, and 10th by Scout.com. Gilleylen is the second wideout to pledge to the class, joining four-star prospect Niles Paul of Omaha North.
