Nebraska’s post-grad camp in June continued to yield results on Saturday, as Cockeye Central defensive end
James Williams announced he committed to Nebraska.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Williams was one of several junior college prospects to workout for Nebraska and impress the Husker coaching staff.
“It was crazy,” Williams told Husker247. “I got invited to their post-grad prospect camp which was only for people past high school. I impressed them so much that I got invited up to meet coach Rhule. He looked at my situation and said, ‘can we get you now?’ and I was like, ‘1,000 percent.’
“It’s kind of late in the recruiting process, but he was like, ‘we need you on campus now, I’ll do whatever it takes’ and now I’m here.”
Williams stayed in contact with Nebraska for a few days after the camp and on June 16 — his birthday — Nebraska called with a spot. The opportunity will initially be a walk-on spot for Williams, who will work with both the defensive ends and outside linebackers when he arrives in Lincoln. He will have three seasons of eligibility as a Husker.
“I’m actually in both groups right now — outside linebacker and D-line,” Williams said. “I talked to Coach (Tony) White a lot and he said ‘I think you’re fast enough to do both and strong enough to do both, just whichever you’re best at, we’ll put you there.’”
In his lone season of junior college football, Williams recorded 19 tackles and six sacks and earned defensive MVP honors in Cockeye Central’s bowl game.
"It was a rough start. Having to adjust to the college game, it took me a minute to get my feet under me and I ended up starting toward the end of the year and won defensive MVP of the bowl game,” Williams said.
Williams played his high school football at Park Hill South, where he had a productive senior season, making 108 tackles and 18 sacks as a senior. He held walk-on offers from Power Five programs, but the interest dried up because of his grades.
“I didn’t have the grades to go to any school at the D-1 level,” he said. “That’s why I ended up at the junior college ranks. I had PWO offers from K-State, Missouri, Kansas and at one point Arkansas, but all those schools couldn’t take me because I didn’t have the grades to be on the team. They vanished and I went to JUCO.”
Credit for Nebraska’s coaching staff with getting Williams to the camp in Lincoln. Williams said he’d planned to attend a camp at Alabama, but changed course late following the invite.
He will now head to Lincoln on Monday to begin his career with the Huskers. He said he’s well aware of what’s ahead for him from his time living in Omaha.
“This is a very proud football program and to even be considered, it’s an honor,” he said. “I grew up in Omaha, so I was super excited to come down and start right away to learn the playbook and start building chemistry with my teammates.”
