Valentine says Nebraska was the place 'I should be'

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - It was a decision that came down to the final week for three-star defensive tackle Vincent Valentine, but in the end, it turned out he had known his answer all along.

While schools like Illinois and Florida had made it into his final three choices, the 6-foot-4, 317-pound native of Edwardsville, Ill., ended up sticking with the school that had been targeting him from the very beginning.

On National Signing Day on Wednesday, Valentine officially became a Husker.

During a formal ceremony at his Edwardsville High School, Valentine said the relationships he had built with Nebraska's coaches, particularly with head coach Bo Pelini and defensive coordinator John Papuchis, made it easy to see himself spending the next four years in Lincoln.

"My head was spinning the whole last week," Valentine said. "I mean, I really had to think about everything and put everything into consideration over where I wanted to be. It was very tough. My mind switched on me a couple times, but it just kept going back to Nebraska. So I knew that's where I should be.

"I sat down and I just thought about everything to myself, and I felt like Nebraska was the place that I should be. It was the place that I wanted to be. I just created great bonds there, so I knew that was a place I could be for three, four, five years."

Valentine, who was ranked the No. 28 overall defensive tackle and the No. 13 player in Illinois by Rivals.com, had a slew of offers from numerous top-level programs, but for the past month, his decision had been narrowed down three schools.

After visiting Nebraska on Dec. 16, he took other official visits to Florida on Jan. 13 and Illinois on Jan. 20. He said the Huskers had been at the top of his list pretty much all along, but admitted his choice got a little more difficult after seeing what the other programs had to offer.

What finally sold Valentine on NU, he said, was an in-home visit by Pelini and Papuchis the Monday after he got back from his visit to Florida on Jan. 16.

He said the way the Husker coaches were so honest and straight-forward with him and his family and the fact that they had gotten the approval of his father, Vincent Valentine Sr. - who did not go with him on his visit to Lincoln - confirmed how he had felt all along.

Shortly after his visit to Illinois, Valentine knew Nebraska was where he wanted to be. Last Wednesday, he called Pelini and made it official.

"This decision was very tough," Valentine said. "I really liked Illinois. They're the home state team, and I would have really loved to play for them. The thing that really led me to choose Nebraska was the consistency they have. They consistently win nine, 10 games a year, and I knew if I would go there I could get decent playing time. I'm really not worried about starting, so that wouldn't be a big deal. But I really bonded with the coaches and the staff and just all of the team. I really liked those guys, and I felt that Nebraska was really a great fit for me."

When Valentine comes to Lincoln, he'll add some needed depth to the Huskers' interior defensive line. He made a name for himself at Edwardsville for his aggressiveness on the field and the fact that he doesn't sacrifice good technique and flexibility for his size. Valentine said Pelini and Papuchis told him they see him as three-technique in Nebraska's defense.

With the departures of key defensive tackles like Jared Crick and Terrence Moore, and considering the injury issues that plagued Nebraska at the position all season last year, there's no doubt Pelini and his staff breathed a sigh of relief when Valentine made his decision official.

"He has tremendous physical abilities," Edwardsville head coach Matt Martin said. "I just think he's at the level where he needs to face greater competition and the bar needs to be raised for him, and it will be at Nebraska and it will be by the type of competition he'll face. That will help him determine where he wants to go.

"I just think the sky's the limit for him. He's a good kid who makes decisions and is a good student. He's the total package."

Valentine said he plans to come back to Lincoln for the Spring Game in April, and his parents are going to visit the campus this weekend.