2016 In-State Tour: What to watch
HuskerOnline will begin their 13th annual in-state tour today. The in-state tour started back in 2004 on this site to get an accurate snap shot of the talent each year around the state of Nebraska.
Besides helping put the names of the top players in the state on the map, the in-state tour also will serve as a chance for us to make sure the best Division I prospects in the state gets an invite to the Kansas City Rivals Camp Series event presented by Under Armour on May 15.
As we kick things off, here are a few trends and storylines to watch.
Prospects that already have offers
Technically no 2017 players in Nebraska hold an FBS offer at this point, but South Dakota State has already made seven offers in the class.
Former Omaha Burke assistant coach and now SDSU secondary coach Dan Jackson has been as aggressive in recruiting the state as we've seen any recruiter in recent history. His inner-knowledge of the local scenes and relationship with coaches has helped him get better early evaluations on prospects, and by making early offers it's helped them sign 15 players from the state the last three recruiting cycles.
Thus far the Jacks have already offered Lincoln Southeast athlete Sterling Smith, Millard West defensive back Shae Wyatt, Central City defensive end Jordan Paup, Bellevue West offensive lineman Tyler Ciurej and running back Jaylin Bradley, Kearney linebacker Noah Urbanek and Ashland Greenwood lineman Brett Kitrell.
(Both forner Lincoln Southeast OL Broc Bando and Lincoln High DE Cordarrius Bailey hold Power-Five offers, but left the state.)
The question remains how many of these type of players will fall to the Big Ten, Big 12, MAC or Mountain West level once those staffs make evaluations? It's no doubt an impressive group that's already received early offers at this point.
Guys without offers, but could be getting them soon
Surprisingly two names not in that early offer group right now are Aurora tight end Austin Allen and Millard North linebacker Jack Begley. From all accounts Allen and Begley appears to be top five prospects in the class of 2017.
A few other names to watch closely are Gretna offensive lineman Patrick Arnold, Wahoo Bishop Neumann quarterback Noah Vedral and 2018 Elkhorn South running back Moses Bryant. Both Bryant and current Nebraska tight end commit Cameron Jurgens appear to be the top two early names in the state for the class of 2018.
The sleeper names
Really the entire point of the in-state tour is to try to uncover the sleeper names in the state.
Last year both of Nebraska's 2016 in-state commits would've fallen in that category. Both Ashland Greenwood defensive end Ben Stille and Norfolk Catholic tight end David Engelhaupt were unknowns in the recruiting world when we saw them last February.
2014 Gretna defensive lineman Mick Stoltenberg was also an unknown, as was Omaha Central defensive end Daishon Neal and Grand Island Central Catholic defensive lineman Youhanna Ghaifan.
That's what special about this state is you can uncover a lot of guys over this month that have the potential to play at the next level and then give them the opportunity to prove it at events like the Kansas City Rivals Camp. In all, HOL plans to hit over 30 high schools over these next three weeks. If you feel like there's a prospect we don't know about, please email me at sean@huskeronline.com or Nate Clouse at nate@huskeronline.com.