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baseball Edit

JUCO power pitcher commit Brett Sears grew up rooting for Huskers

RHP rett Sears
RHP rett Sears

The Nebraska baseball program continues to mine the junior college ranks for future roster additions, and they just added another power arm from right across the Missouri River.

Right-handed pitcher Brett Sears is currently at Iowa Central CC, but he played his high school ball at Harlan Community High School. It was there where he first picked up his affinity for the Cornhuskers.

"I have always been a fan of Nebraska and I always knew that's kind of where I wanted to go if I could," Sears stated. "Nebraska was just the closest Division I University to my hometown, and my uncle has season tickets to their football games and everything. So, I've just always grown up a fan of Nebraska. I've just always liked them."

It was at one of NU's recent prospect camps where Sears earned his Cornhusker scholarship offer.

"My velo kind of jumped over my break to where I was now sitting in the 92-94, 91-93 area," Sears said. "I knew [the Husker coaches] had been talking to my coach about me, and they were holding a prospect camp two weekends ago, so I decided to go to that. I got enough attention to draw their offer and it kind of went from there."

Nebraska's recruiting coordinator was leaving it open for Sears to be either a relief pitcher or starter, depending on how he further developed.

"I talked to Coach (Lance) Harvell the most, probably," Sears relayed. "He just said the fastball kind of explodes out of my hand. I'm a third-year guy, so I've already had experience in college. He thinks I can come in and help right away. He said if I came in right now I would probably be a bullpen guy, but every guy in the fall gets the same amount of innings. So, if I could command a third pitch better, I would have the chance to start.

"I mean, everything works off of my fastball. I jumped in my velo last summer to where I am now 92-94, topping at 95. I really have a good feel for my changeup, I think. It's a pitch that looks similar to my fastball, but it's about 8 mph slower and has a little more drop. And then, my main breaking ball is a curveball right now, and it's like 75-76 mph. I've also been working on a slider, which is kind of new, so we'll see where that goes by the time I end up getting on campus."

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The 6-foot, 200-pound Sears will have two years of eligibility left on the Division I level once he gets to Lincoln this fall.

"I was also hearing from East Carolina, Penn State, Ohio State, St. Louis, Illinois-Springfield, Omaha, Kansas State and Kansas," Sears said. "I had two other offers from Springfield and Omaha, and I actually was going to get an offer from Penn State the day I committed. They were going to call me that night."

Even with all the interest from other college programs, choosing Nebraska was a no-brainer for Sears.

"I just really like where the program is headed and I've been at a place where we've won games," Sears said. "I want to win games and I think I can help Nebraska win games. I think they can also help me develop to be the best player I can be.

"I like the coaching staff and, obviously, the location is sweet, and the field is sweet. Yeah, I just really liked a lot of things about it. I want to help them hopefully win some Big Ten championships. I've always kind of followed them, so I knew how they were doing [last season] and everything."

Sears is the 12th confirmed scholarship commitment to Nebraska's Class of 2022.

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