When Nebraska’s 2018 recruiting class arrives to campus next week on May 22, don’t expect to see either running back Maurice Washington or offensive lineman Willie Canty.
Both players have different academic plans in place, that will hopefully get them to NU by the start of fall camp on Aug. 2.
Washington’s high school coach Aveion Cason confirmed to HuskerOnline on Wednesday that his star running back is no longer with him in Texas.
Washington moved back home to California this semester and is no longer enrolled at Cedar Hill (Texas) Trinity Christian Academy. The Husker staff has been fully aware of this, and they continue to feel confident they have a plan in place for Washington to be a Husker this fall.
“He is back in school, in California,” a Nebraska football spokesperson said. “We have him working on a plan that gets him to graduation. Even if he graduates this summer, he is not going to graduate with enough core hours. The plan that we have him on currently is one that puts us in a position to make an application for a waiver for an academic redshirt.”
An academic redshirt is an NCAA waiver you can apply for in certain situations where you sit out of competition your first season.
Washington would still count towards NU’s 85-man scholarship limit in 2018, but he would not lose any eligibility according to the spokesperson. He’d be able to practice and go to school, he just wouldn’t be eligible for competition in 2018.
“We feel like we have him on a plan to get to graduation,” the spokesperson said. “If we can get him to graduation, we feel like we are putting ourselves in a position to put in the application for the waiver to get the academic redshirt.”
The other member of the 2018 recruiting class that won’t be here in May is Canty.
The 6-foot-6, 290-pound Canty will also be back home this summer, finishing up some academic requirements.
“I would expect he’s somebody we are expecting to get late in the summer,” A Nebraska football spokesperson said on Canty’s status. “Probably pretty close prior to camp.”
