Nebraska has picked up a commitment from former Washington pledge Sua Lefotu – a three-star 2023 defensive lineman out of national powerhouse St. John Bosco (Calif.) High School who announced his commitment on Saturday.
Lefotu, the No. 73-ranked player in California, was committed to the Huskies for a little over four months but decommitted on Nov. 2 and reopened his recruitment.
Lefotu netted nearly a dozen offers, including Colorado, Tennessee, Michigan State and Washington State – plus Arizona and Arizona State.
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He initially had a top eight featuring Nebraska, Arizona State, Hawaii, Indiana, Nevada and Washington State, and he was also considering going the FCS route with Montana State and Weber State included on that list.
Lefotu told Inside Nebraska senior recruiting analyst Greg Smith, however, that he was down to Nebraska, Indiana, Nevada and Arizona State as the main group he was considering with about two weeks left until the Feb. 1 signing day.
The 6-foot-4, 295-pounder, who is listed as a strongside defensive end in his recruiting profile, was offered by Matt Rhule and Huskers defensive line coach Terrance Knighton on Jan. 14. Those two coaches worked quickly to get Lefotu on campus for an official visit, and he made the trip to Lincoln for the Jan. 21-22 weekend – exactly one week after getting the offer.
The biggest thing that Lefotu was looking forward to, he told Inside Nebraska, was visiting with defensive coordinator Tony White. That meeting happened during the trip, the two sides were able to build a relationship, and Lefotu felt comfortable enough with White's vision for him that he locked in his commitment.
Lefotu hails from one of the most highly respected and renowned high school football programs in St. John Bosco. That team has over a dozen elite prospects on its roster every year who are targets for high-level FBS programs. Bosco has four players in each of the Rivals 250 rankings for the 2023 and 2024 classes, including five-star Oregon signee Matayo Uiagalelei, who Lefotu played alongside on the defensive line.
He has gotten some of the best coaching that a high school prospect can get and has played against some of the top competition that a high school prospect can play against – all while learning from teammates such as Uiagalelei.
Lefotu's recruitment may have been busier, but he missed crucial time for his recruitment as a sophomore and junior with an ACL injury. He’s been a standout performer at camps out west, so the potential is there if he can stay healthy.
Lefotu is the 27th member of the Huskers’ 2023 class. Including 11 transfers, they have added 38 players to the program this offseason and have 102 players on scholarship. Nebraska will need to get down to 85 scholarships before the start of the 2023 season in the fall.
The Huskers’ 27-man class (1817 points) is rated No. 24 in the national recruiting rankings — ahead of Colorado (1782 with 22 commitments) and just behind Mississippi State (1820 points with 25 commits). Nebraska has the No. 4-ranked class in the Big Ten — ahead of Iowa (1648 with 21 commits) and behind Michigan (1943 with 23 commitments).
