Nebraska lands third commit of 2014 in Ayegba

When former Georgetown center Moses Ayegba left Lincoln following his official visit during the spring football game weekend, it felt like it wasn't really a matter of if the graduate senior transfer prospect would commit to Nebraska, but when.

The Huskers finally got their answer on Wednesday night, as Ayegba confirmed to HuskerOnline.com that he officially submitted his transfer papers to head coach Tim Miles to join NU for the 2014-15 season.

"After my visit there, I really liked what Coach Miles and the coaching staff was building there, and I wanted to be a part of it," Ayegba said. "I thought about everything and decided that it was the best fit for me. So I committed."

With one season of eligibility remaining after playing the past four years at Georgetown, Ayegba said that he was looking for the best possible opportunity to make the most of his final year as a college basketball player. Considering Nebraska's obvious need for help in the post, the 6-foot-9, 247-pound defensive specialist was exactly what Miles and Co. were looking for as they work to fill out the remainder of the 2014 recruiting class.

"It is very important to me because I'm coming from a big league in the Big East, and now I'm going to the Big Ten, so there's not much difference," Ayegba said. "It's not like I'm coming here as a freshman. I'm coming there for my senior year, and I'm looking to make an impact on the team. I knew I had a good chance to do that at Nebraska."

The Kano, Nigeria, native was also drawn to NU because of his pre-existing relationship with assistant coach Kenya Hunter, who was on the Hoyas' staff for three of Ayegba's four seasons. Combine all of that with the fact that Ayegba's mother actually flew all the way to Lincoln from Nigeria to accompany her son on his Nebraska visit, and it only made sense that Ayegba had found his new home with the Huskers. Nebraska was the only visit he took after announcing his transfer from Georgetown earlier this month.

"It played a lot, because knowing that you have somebody there just makes you feel more comfortable with everything," Ayegba said of Hunter being at Nebraska. "Him being there played a big part."

Ayegba played in 31 games for Georgetown this past season, averaging 1.9 points and 2.8 rebounds after sitting out 2012-13 with a knee injury. He said he's hoping to get back to the type of player he was when he came out of Progressive Christian (Md.) Academy as a four-star recruit and the 95th-ranked overall player and the No. 11 center in the 2010 class.

He is scheduled to graduate from Georgetown in May with a degree in Economics, and he said he hasn't discussed with NU's coaches yet when he'll move to Lincoln.

Ayegba joins Comanche (Okla.) High School center Jacob Hammond and St. Anthony (N.J.) High point guard Tarin Smith in Nebraska's 2014 class, which still has two more scholarships to fill after the post-season departures of guard Nathan Hawkins and center Sergej Vucetic.

While it took him nearly a week and half to finally make it official, Ayegba hinted after his visit that it would be tough to say no to Nebraska after how well his time in Lincoln went. As it turned out, he couldn't.

"When I came down for my visit and saw how the guys played, I knew that was somewhere I wanted to be, but I didn't want to make my decision immediately," Ayegba said. "It was something I had to think about. It was where I wanted to be, but I didn't want to make my decision immediately. I talked about it with my family and I decided it was the right place for me."