Samori Toure’s senior season at Montana was set. He had the perfect plan laid in place.
The Portland native was going to become the Grizzlies all-time leading receiver in program history, after putting up 1,495 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior. He also was fresh off breaking Randy Moss's single-game FCS playoff record for receiving yards. From there he’d move into the 2021 NFL Draft. Then 2020 had other plans.
Unlike FBS football, the FCS ranks did not sponsor a fall season in 2020. Instead, FCS will play this spring for their championship. Toure didn’t like the uncertainties surrounding that plan, and that’s what led him to the transfer portal where the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Toure picked Nebraska on Monday.
“It was a very difficult decision for me,” Toure said on leaving Montana after an All-American career. “Keep in my mind I was ready to play in the fall. We were all set and ready to go play in the fall and I was going to finish out my career there. When we started practice and fall camp, they decided to cancel the season and move it to the spring.
“Ever since then, I had to weigh my options and decide to make the best decision for myself. The spring season, there were a lot of ‘ifs, ands and buts’ surrounding that. I really didn’t like the uncertainty. I just thought it would be the best opportunity for me to jump to a Power Five. I wanted to play against the best of the best. I knew I could do it, so I just had to take that leap of faith and make that decision.”
Several teams began recruiting Toure once he entered the portal, including Miami, Florida State, Nebraska and Oregon.
With Nebraska, he had a connection immediately to Scott Frost, Matt Lubick and Steve Cooper because of their previous ties to his home state of Oregon.
Toure also saw the Huskers were lacking a true perimeter No. 1 wide-out, and there was a great opportunity to be that guy for Nebraska.
“It’s honestly a great opportunity, and that’s really what I was looking for coming into this process was to play and just make a difference,” Toure said. “Nebraska really offered that opportunity. They have a lot of young receivers and they were just missing that one piece. I feel like this was just the best fit for me.”
Going right into the NFL was also something Toure considered, but the feedback he got probably put him in the third day, and he wanted one more chance to improve his stock.
NU hasn’t had a receiver drafted since 2015 in Kenny Bell, and they’ve had just three wide receiver draft picks since 2003 – all falling in either the fifth or sixth round. Even record-breaking wide receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. was not a draft pick, so Toure on paper would potentially be as high of a draft prospect the Huskers have had at the position since Bell and Quincy Enunwa.
“I definitely considered going pro,” Toure said. “I knew I could make that jump to the League, but I knew also it would be an uphill battle because I knew another year of film would benefit me. I knew, being realistic, I’d probably be a Day 3 prospect if I went to the draft. So, opposed to that, going to the Power Five and having a successful season there could really boost my draft stock a lot. It was really a business decision at the end of the day.”
Toure will waste no time now getting to Lincoln. He plans to arrive by Sunday, which is when NU’s entire team reports back for winter conditioning. Spring semester classes at NU begin on Jan. 25.
The chance to get to work right away and earn his stripes was something that was important to Toure.
“That’s a big thing right away for me is to do winter conditioning, spring ball and all that,” Toure said. “There were a couple of other schools who wanted me to come in May. I really didn’t like that idea of just being kind of thrown in there. I wanted to do spring ball. Getting there for spring ball was something that was really important for me.”
