Nebraska making a strong push for 2024 Edge Keona Wilhite
by:Bryan Mun son•about 1 hour•
BryanMun son_
Former
Washington signee, Edge
Keona Wilhite from Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe Catholic is a hot commodity. The 6-foot-5 and 230-pound Wilhite took an official visit to
Michigan State but left East Lansing for Lincoln on Sunday to begin his official visit to
Nebraska. The talented linebacker has finally headed home after being on the road for about five days.
“We got here on Sunday,” Wilhite said. “From Sunday to today, I got to explore the facility and the campus. We saw most of the city of Lincoln and also talked to all of the coaches at Nebraska on the visit.”
The facilities are a constant among the football programs, but that may be where a school can leave a big mark. While it’s a constant, you can still be the biggest, the best, and the newest which is something Wilhite mentions about Nebraska’s facilities.
“Every school is going to have nice facilities so that won’t affect my decision much. But in comparison between Nebraska and the other schools I have been to the facilities at Nebraska are amazing. They are bigger and better. It blew the others out of the water.”
The most critical part of the official visit was the time spent with the Nebraska coaching staff. Wilhite spent time with the head coach, position coach, and defensive coordinator. All of the conversations with the Nebraska staff impressed Wilhite.
“I got to sit down with coach
Rhule, coach
Knighton, and coach
White,” Wilhite said. “In my conversation with coach Rhule, he told me how he takes care of his players, how he is with his staff, and where he comes from. I liked that conversation with him a lot.
“My conversation with coach Knighton was pretty similar to that and the same thing with coach White. I also talked football with coach Knighton and coach White. They showed me the defense, their plans for their players, and how aggressive their defense is and how they operate.”
Nebraska could see Wilhite at a couple of different spots. If Wilhite were to go to Nebraska, the Husker staff would likely want to take a look at where Wilhite would play the soonest for them this fall.
“They see me who can play various spots. If I committed there, they said that they would look at me and put me in the correct spot. I think that I could play both Jack and Will and move around the two linebacker positions.”
Wilhite is finally headed home after several days on the road, but things aren’t slowing down. He has at least two, in-home visits this week and Nebraska is making plans to get back to Arizona to see Wilhite soon.
“I have a home visit with
UCLA on Wednesday and I will be talking with
Texas on Thursday,” Wilhite said. “Nebraska is trying to figure out when they will come to see me. Either this week or next week.”
Nebraska improved their position with Wilhite after a strong showing on the official visit. He says that the best part of the visit was the time he spent with all of the people in the Nebraska football program.
“Oh yes sir! They are pretty high on my list right now. The best thing about the visit was getting to know the coaches, the staff, and the players.”
He isn’t certain if he will take any other official visits. Any future visits might depend on what he hears from additional schools in the coming days. Wilhite says that he would like to make a decision either right before signing day or on February 7th.
Wilhite is the No. 54-rated Edge in the country and the No. 13 player in Arizona.