Five-star offensive lineman makes visit to Nebraska

Five-star prospect Charlotte (North Carolina) Providence Day offensive lineman David Sanders Jr. will take an official visit to NU this weekend. In the 2025 class, he’s the nation’s No. 2 overall recruit according to 247 Sports, On3 and Rivals. 

The Huskers offered the 6-foot-6, 275-pounder a scholarship in February. He has been on the radar of the nation’s top programs for several years, and in March he released a top six list of schools that included Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Sanders has been busy taking unofficial visits to those schools and hadn’t added any new contenders to his list — until now. Sanders took an official visit to South Carolina in April and will officially visit his remaining top five schools in May and June, with Nebraska emerging as another contender.

Sanders isn’t the only 2025 offensive line recruit who will be in Lincoln this weekend. Four-star Bixby (Oklahoma) offensive lineman Broderick Shull, who unofficially visited Nebraska in April, will be back for an official visit.

A 6-foot-6, 280-pound tackle prospect, Shull already had three summer official visits set prior to his trip to Lincoln. Auburn, Texas A&M and Texas Tech were already on the list — and Shull saw enough in his first visit to Lincoln to elevate Nebraska into that upper echelon as well.

Gainesville (Florida) Buchholz edge rusher Nicolas Clayton will also be taking an official visit to Nebraska this weekend. A rising pass-rushing prospect with a long wingspan and quick burst off the line of scrimmage,  the 6-5, 205-pounder earned a Nebraska offer in February, which was soon followed by over a dozen more scholarship offers. He had 52 tackles and eight tackles for loss in 2023. 

* In-state efforts: Nebraska coaches again spread out across the country last week to make in-person visits during the open recruiting period. Prior to leaving the state, though, the NU coaching staff made a number of visits to 2025 targets on Monday.

Those efforts were concentrated in the Omaha area, where Millard South tight end Chase Loftin was greeted by every Nebraska position coach.

The Husker coaches spread out from there, with NU’s defensive assistants joining special teams coordinator Ed Foley at Omaha North to see 2025 defensive line commit Tyson Terry and Millard North to visit another 2025 pledge in athlete Caden VerMaas. Millard North linebacker Pierce Mooberry, an uncommitted 2025 target for Nebraska, also took part in the visit.

On the offensive side of the ball, co-coordinators Marcus Satterfield and Glenn Thomas were joined by NU’s position coaches on several visits. Running backs coach EJ Barthel was part of a visit to Wahoo Neumann running back Conor Booth, a Nebraska commit, while wide receiver coach Garret McGuire attended a visit to uncommitted Platteview athlete Reiman Zebert.

NU coaches also visited Omaha Central to see several 2026 and 2027 prospects. Foley then continued his efforts around Omaha later in the week.

* Doubling up in Kansas, Illinois: Nebraska coaches worked on building both their 2025 and 2026 recruiting classes during visits to high schools in Kansas and Illinois.

McGuire, Thomas and Satterfield visited another of NU’s 2025 commits, Maize (Kansas) wide receiver Bryson Hayes on Tuesday then proceeded to see Great Bend (Kansas) tight end Ian Premer. A fast-rising athlete who NU offered earlier this spring, Premer projects as one of the nation’s top tight end recruits in the Class of 2026.

Nebraska’s defensive coaches — Tony White, Terrance Knighton, Rob Dvoracek and Terrance Knighton — visited a pair of prospects at Palatine (Illinois) High School on Wednesday. The primary purpose was to see 2025 defensive lineman Jaylen Williams, one of Nebraska’s top targets at the position who is set for a June official visit to Lincoln. While there, NU coaches extended a scholarship offer to 2026 offensive lineman Tony Balanganayi.

* Recent offers: Of the many scholarship offers Nebraska coaches put out this week, a new 2025 running back target stands out as the most significant. Oakdale (Connecticut) St. Thomas More running back Mekhi Nelson announced a Nebraska offer on Monday, one which Barthel extended. NU’s running backs coach heavily recruits the Northeast for Nebraska, where an ultra-productive junior season from Nelson earned him offers from Bowling Green, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Nebraska already has one 2025 running back commit in Booth and is heavily pursuing St. Louis Cardinal Ritter running back Jamarion Parker as well.

Offensive line coach Donovan Raiola visited Lehi (Utah) Skyridge on Thursday where he caught up with Darius Afalava, a three-star 2025 offensive line recruit who Nebraska offered last June. While there, Raiola extended a scholarship offer to Mataalii Benjamin, a 6-6, 305-pound offensive tackle prospect in the Class of 2026.

McGuire offered 2026 Aledo (Texas) wide receiver Kaydon Finley, a four-star prospect and top-100 national recruit and 2027 Lancaster (Texas) athlete Victor Scott, a promising young recruit who counts Georgia among his early scholarship offers. NU’s quarterbacks coach, Thomas, also made a 2026 offer to Cartersville (Georgia) Cass quarterback Brodie McWhorter.