Malachi Coleman provided the biggest Nebraska-related news of the day on Friday as the Lincoln East star announced a new commitment date.
The No. 1-ranked player in the state and No. 54-ranked overall player in the Class of 2023, the borderline five-star prospect is arguably the Huskers' most important in-state recruit of the last decade.
So, how confident should Nebraska fans feel after Coleman moved up his decision date from Dec. 21 to Oct. 15?
Pretty good, says Inside Nebraska publisher Zack Carpenter.
Carpenter appeared on The Happy Hour on 93.7 The Ticket with Nick Sehnert and Enrique Alvarez-Clary on Friday to break down the Huskers' position with the highly coveted target.
"I think [Nebraska fans] should be feeling pretty confident. I think they're in a pretty strong position for Malachi, and I would not have said that back in May," Carpenter said. "It looked like Nebraska was not in a healthy place for him at all, and then that completely flipped on its head and they've come on very strong. It's a charge led by Mickey Joseph. That relationship is as strong as Malachi has.
"And that official visit June 3-5, if this winds up being a Nebraska recruiting win, I think we're gonna look back on that weekend as sort of a turning point when he was there with guys like Barry Jackson and Omarion Miller who are now in the class."
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In addition to his analysis of Coleman – who Inside Nebraska senior recruiting analyst Greg Smith predicted last Friday via a FutureCast prediction would wind up in the Huskers class and would likely move up his commitment date – Carpenter also touched on what the impact of Nebraska's 2022 win-loss record could have on commits in its 2023 group.
"You know when a head coach comes on in his first year and he gets that first-year bump? He comes on, brings reinvigoration and energy into the program, and a bunch of promise and potential," Carpenter said. "It's an exciting time, and a lot of times that first-year bump will wind up being one of the best recruiting classes during his tenure at whatever school he's at. It kind of feels like that situation now with all the new assistant coaches now in place with Bryan Applewhite, Mickey Joseph and on and on. It feels like there's a bunch of promise and potential being pitched here.
"You look at things like the new athletics facilities, that's going to happen. That's gonna be in place. That's something concrete that the coaches can hang their hats on to show recruits. But wins are not concrete. Nebraska has shown that they have not had the ability to win consistently and put that proven winner on the field to where these highly ranked guys and high-profile prospects can trust that if they go to Nebraska that they're actually gonna consistently win at a high clip."
Carpenter continued: "It's gonna be important for them to string together a better season than 3-9. If you're going 3-9 again or 4-8, you start to lose some of that promise. At the same time, I do think with some of the talent they're bringing in, some of the coaches are telling them that they can be a corner piece to building a consistent winner in the Big Ten."
Click on this link to listen to the entire segment as Carpenter details how the Huskers' 2023 class is shaping up, what he is looking to find out during Big Ten Media Days next week and more.