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The part where he describes the current window as "NIL sweepstakes" is interesting....The 3-2-1: Will Nebraska look to add any more players from the transfer portal and a big official visit set
Sean Callahan • about 11 hours
(Photo credit: Nebraska football)
Will Nebraska look to add any more players from the transfer portal this cycle?
We hit on that and more in this week’s 3-2-1 column with three things we learned, ask two questions, and make one prediction.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEK
1 – Nebraska appears to be done adding from the transfer portal
Never say never, but Nebraska appears to be done adding players from the transfer portal this spring.
It’s not like Matt Rhule and his coaching staff aren’t looking, either. It’s more a reflection of the portal crop available post-spring.
Each year we learn more about the portal and how the cycle works. This was the first year of the December and April windows. From what we know now, the talent available in December was much deeper than what’s in the portal this spring.
“If there was someone I was like, ‘we really want that guy,’ then we’d go try to get them,” Rhule said on Wednesday. “There just hasn’t been a lot of them. It hasn’t been the right fit for us. This is everchanging.
“What happens in December is different than it is now. There’s a lot of guys that are in the portal that are maybe not the right fit for us, and there’s some guys that are in there that are NIL sweepstakes guys. There is really nobody in there that we feel like we want to ‘go get that guy right now.’ But we work at it every day. I watch portal guys every day, along with high school recruits.”
2 – WR Dae’Vonn Hall added to the June 23 recruiting weekend
We now know the June 23 recruiting weekend will be one of the bigger ones of the summer for Nebraska. I confirmed another big visitor that plans to be in Lincoln that weekend.
Bellevue West wide receiver Dae’Vonn Hall confirmed to HuskerOnline that he’d use his official visit to NU on the June 23 weekend. Arkansas also appears to be a significant player will Hall.
He’ll join his teammate, Thunderbird wide receiver Isaiah McMorris on that weekend for his official visit.
Give wide receivers coach Garrett McGuire a ton of credit here. The Huskers were behind with both of these recruits and now NU is back in a position to land Hall and McMorris potentially.
Bellevue West head coach Mike Huffman told me this week that Hall and McMorris love McGuire and the effort he’s put into their recruitment has paid off.
3 – Columbus Lakeview’s Landon Ternus is a steal of a walk-on FB
When signing day finished in February, it appeared on paper that Rhule and his staff would bring in a small walk-on class.
However, as each day passes, they seemingly keep adding more 2023 walk-on additions. And these aren’t additions to fill numbers. A lot of thought and research has been put into each of the late roster additions to the walk-on program.
One that jumps out now is the late February addition of Columbus Lakeview’s Landon Ternus. How this guy stayed under the radar is beyond me.
Ternus was a standout running back and linebacker for Lakeview and a 45-0 state champion wrestler at the 220-pound weight class. However, Ternus continued to add to his impressive resume on Tuesday.
The fullback recruit had himself a day at the district track meet. Ternus won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.89 seconds, placed second in the 200-meter dash (23.12 seconds), and won both the shot put (59-10) and discus (165-0) events. You can make a case that Ternus is one of the best multisport athletes in the state right now in all classes. What a great addition to the walk-on program.
TWO QUESTIONS THIS WEEK
1 – Why did Casey Thompson leave to play at the Group of Five level?
Now that the dust has settled, why did Casey Thompson leave Nebraska to play for a school at the Group of Five level?
My read is Thompson wanted more assurances about how the process would play out to be the starting quarterback.
FAU can guarantee him the job. Rhule obviously cannot and can’t make any assurances or promises about how the summer will play out. Thompson turns 25 in October. He didn’t return for a sixth season to be a No. 2 quarterback.
2 – Why are working satellite camps important?
Matt Rhule said on Wednesday he and his entire full-time coaching staff would work at least two satellite camps together in Texas. Why is that important?
It’s not necessarily about finding new 2024 talent but more about jumping on some 2025 and 2026 names.
Identifying a freshman or sophomore allows you to start forming relationships and getting them on campus early.
Getting prospects to campus early is crucial to Nebraska’s entire recruiting process. With direct flights now at the Lincoln Airport being offered to Austin, Dallas and Houston, that process also made getting players from Texas on campus a lot easier.
ONE PREDICTION: Nebraska will land at least one of the Bellevue West wide receivers
Hall will be making an official visit to Nebraska the same weekend with his teammate McMorris.
McGuire has helped NU close the gap with both recruits. I predict the Huskers will land between Hall and McMorris, at least one of the two.
I'm glad he has his eye on that angle and how those are guys that we should avoid.
