Three & Out: It was a 'priority' recruiting weekend for Nebraska

This is HuskerOnline.com's feature in which recruiting analysts Mike Matya and Bryan Munson give their weekly takes on topical issues concerning Nebraska football, baseball and recruiting.

Today in our next installment of "Three and Out" we hit on June evaluations, last week's recruiting visitors and get the reaction of Nebraska's 2021 baseball recruiting class on the Huskers special season.

With top 2022 in-state recruits like Devon Jackson, DeShawn Woods, Micah Riley-Ducker and Kaden Helms showing little interest in giving Nebraska a serious look; and premium border state prospects Xavier Nwankpa, Gavin Sawchuk and Jaren Kanak concentrating on the current dominant national football programs, the Cornhusker coaching and recruiting staff is having to reach further down their board to try and find difference-makers for this class.

Consequently, the talent evaluation acumen of the Nebraska coaches is going to be tested this cycle.

The official visitors who were brought in by Nebraska for the first weekend after the NCAA dead period ended are clearly now at the top of their respective positions on the Husker staff's wish list, and NU has been pursuing them all for quite some time.

The Big Red were among the very first schools to identify and offer Georgia running back Justin Williams, and now he has two dozen scholarship offers and has drawn the attention of the likes of USC where he plans to visit.

Likewise, Texas receiver Landon Samson and Indiana offensive lineman Ashton Craig took their initial official visits to Lincoln this past weekend, and both of them have been invited to take unofficial visits to Ohio State later this month so that the Buckeye coaches can kick the tires on them to see if they are offer-worthy.

Defensive back Markeith Williams will be one of the official visitors to Lincoln this weekend, and he also has an official scheduled for Ohio State on June 25.

After getting a private workout last week, Nebraska was the first Power Five offer for South African native and Iowa Western CC defensive lineman Jordan van den Berg. Iowa followed suit with a scholarship of their own the next day, but Penn State offered on Tuesday and van den Berg committed while on visit.

A couple of other Class of 2022 recruits also received their first Power Five offers from Nebraska this past week: in-state player Jake Appleget and Colorado offensive lineman John Patore.

A couple of others, Georgia defensive back Quantaves Gaskins and Texas outside linebacker Chase Kennedy were discovered by Husker coaches at satellite camps they attended and offered scholarships. Gaskins also attended NU's Friday Night Light's Camp before getting his offer at a satellite camp in Tallahassee.

NU is clearly going to great lengths to beat the bushes and overturn every rock to see if they can find overlooked, or under-scouted, prospects who could improve their roster going forward.

Big Ten West Division rival coaching staffs at Wisconsin, Iowa, Northwestern and Minnesota have become adept at finding true hidden gems who go on to be or all-conference-type players and NFL Draft choices.

This 2022 recruiting cycle will test whether or not the Nebraska staff is up to the challenge of matching, or exceeding, those programs' past proven success with talent evaluation and development of underrated and under-recruited football prospects.

- Mike Matya

I think that HuskerOnline's Sean Callahan used the word “priority” first last week when it came to one of the most chaotic weeks of recruiting I can recall. It was first thrown around when it came to describing Jake Appleget being on campus on June 1 for his individual workout, which was then followed by an offer. Nebraska clearly needed to get their eyes on him, something that they couldn’t do leading up to June, and once they were able to do so they unanimously said Appleget should get an offer.

Take it another step forward. What about the guys that were there for individual workouts on Friday? Guys like Jordan van den Berg and John Pastore. I would go as far as to include Kale Krogh who left Lincoln without an offer. Nebraska said he looked like an offer guy and then he was offered by Iowa. Or consider guys like Cory Hollinger who could play a number of spots for Nebraska, Cameron Pope, or even Justin Eklund who was a personal invite by the Nebraska staff for the Friday Night Lights camp.

And all of this is before we even started talking about the official visitor list. It’s possible all of the players Nebraska hosted this weekend should be considered the top prospect at their respective position or close to it. I think that it can be said for guys like Richard Torres, Justin Williams, Landon Samson, Chase Anroff, one or possibly both of the offensive linemen, and the same should be said about the defensive linemen.

The word “priority” was actually used by multiple players back to me when it came to describing Nebraska bringing all of them in for the first weekend. They get the chance to make this huge sales pitch by Nebraska to tell this group that "you’re our guys." They also don’t have to squeeze on the hard sell. The recruit knows it’s their spot if they want it, but they also know that more players at their positions will be visiting in the following weeks and who will also get the same message. It’s kind of genius.

There is little doubt, though, that Nebraska was on their game this weekend. All of the recruits raved about how great everything was. There were a number of the recruits that said that the coaches and the people made the weekend, which isn’t an unusual answer.

Nebraska will end up with multiple players in the class from this first weekend. My early guess has at least Torres, Williams, Samson, Erickson and Marshall joining Androff. I think Nebraska leads for Craig and did the best they could with Davillier. It will really set a tone for how the rest of the month of June goes. I believe we will see changes with people coming off of the board to other schools, like Nick Campbell, and I think commits like Androff seal the deal on recruits like tight ends Austin Terry and Gabe Burkle not coming back to Nebraska for official visits.

I said it last week and I will say it again….hold on Husker fans (in my best inner-Bill Callahan voice). This last week was as busy of a recruiting week as I can remember between workouts, camps, visitors, new offers and one new commit. There are six more official visitors coming in this weekend, along with another group of around 20 players for private one-hour workouts. We will have to see what the individual workouts and camps add to the overall weekend again.

- Bryan Munson

I reached out to several members of Nebraska's class of 2021 baseball scholarship signees to get their thoughts about Nebraska's season, B1G conference championship, playoff run, and what their plans were for this summer.

Below are their responses:

LHP Jax Brockett

"My thoughts after watching Nebraska do what they did this year was 'amazing.' Coming into the year the predictions didn’t even have them in the top 3 for the Big 10, let alone winning it so that was huge. Then getting what everyone felt like was being cheated and ending up in the Arkansas region, didn’t scare the boys one bit. They played their best baseball and showed they can hang with anyone.

"From losing Saturday to Arkansas then coming back the next day to beat them, and then (Monday) battling it out with them. It showed their fight and let everyone know they weren’t going to go easy. Coach Bolt has done a heck of a job already and has the program going on the right track.

"This summer, I plan to work out and pitch for East Cobb (Georgia) to stay in shape, and then move on campus beginning of July and start classes July 12."

RHP Drew Christo

"As a fan and future player, watching the Huskers this year was truly pretty awesome. It was pretty clear that the whole team was bought in. They brought energy and I think the fans respect that. I was really proud to be a fan of this team and to be a future Husker.

"My summer plans include playing for the Warhawks this June, a team based in Ohio. And then I’ll be going to the MLB Combine June 21-26. Then I will go to Lincoln on the 7th of July. As for my outlook, I don’t think there’s a program in the country headed in a better direction than the Huskers. I can’t wait to get down there and be a part of it."

RHP/OF CJ Hood

"Watching what Coach Bolt and the guys did over there gets me very excited to be a Cornhusker. With the guys they will return and the guys coming in, I think there are super regionals and a CWS on the horizon. I’ll be spending the summer with the Ohio Warhawks getting ready to help the Huskers."

SS Core Jackson

"I thought the boys played really well throughout the whole season and throughout the playoffs. It was awesome watching them win the conference. I think that they proved that they're one of the top programs in the country.

"I’m playing summer ball in Hays, Kansas. I’m really excited to be a part of this program. I feel like we have a lot more winning seasons ahead and lots of playoff wins and, hopefully, a College World Series."

OF Luke Jessen

"Pretty frustrating end, but obviously, there’s a lot to look forward to with this baseball program. Competed day in and day out all year and showed that we can play with the best in the country. Really excited for what comes next.

"I’m playing with a team called the Ohio Warhawks until July 1, then I will move on campus early July to take a couple of summer classes. I’m pretty pumped to get going in Lincoln and build upon what they accomplished this season."

RHP/OF Chase Mason

"I think the playoff run really showed what not only the program is about with Bolt and the other coaches, but says a lot about the whole group as one. The conference championship was just the start of their run in my eyes, always having the mentality of staying hungry and not settling there.

"The whole season also really reflected the postseason and showed the Big Ten can have baseball competition on the national level. My plans the rest of summer are to play Legion ball in Harrisburg (Pa.), and my outlook for myself when I get to Lincoln is to just work my tail off every day, whatever the coaching staff needs me to do. I’ll be ready and have the goal of Omaha in our heads every day."

2B/SS Max Petersen

"With a season that was emphasized by 'gritty over pretty,' they did not disappoint. With one last summer before I get on campus, Nebraska’s playoff run and conference championship make me that much more excited to get to work with the team.

"My personal outlook for the seasons to come will be built on what the players and coaching staff have cemented this year. And that’s a good thing. This summer I will play for the Nebraska Prospects and then start summer classes at the University in July."

C Nick Wimmers

"First off, it was really fun watching Nebraska compete in the post season. Going to the number one team in the country’s regional and taking a game from them is nothing short of an achievement either. Seeing the guys compete like they did was really exciting for me and I can’t wait to continue that next year.

"As for the conference championship and regular season, coming from not even being ranked in the Big Ten to taking the whole thing a week before the end of the regular season was something that I liked to see as well. I was really looking for a program that had the goal of winning everything, including the small things; and when you do that successfully you are able to take the regular season in landslide fashion like that.

"For now, though, I am playing summer baseball for the Purcellville Cannons in the Valley Baseball League. I look forward to continuing my training here and preparing for my next platform in UNL. As for my time at Nebraska, I look forward to getting to work with the tools they have available for me and being a contributor to another season like the Huskers had this year. I hope to exceed any accomplishments or goals that were made or met this year and compete for everything."