Nebraska football readies to host recruits, build 2025 class

Not just from the spring practice efforts the Huskers are going through on the field, but from everything outside of it. Nebraska’s recruiting efforts will speed up considerably in the coming weeks as the Huskers set out to build their 2025 recruiting class.

Nebraska will host a large number of high school recruits in April, both for unofficial and official visits with the largest single weekend centered around the Red-White Spring Game at the end of the month.

While many players will be coming to Lincoln, NU coaches will also have the opportunity to make visits of their own. An open recruiting period begins in mid-April, but they’ll likely wait to hit the road until spring practice ends. Nebraska will have until May 25 to make in-person visits with recruits around the country, followed by perhaps the busiest recruiting month of the year.

So long as Nebraska follows the same strategy it held a year ago, it’ll be aggressive on the recruiting trail in June. With the help of multiple recruiting camps and additional official visit weekends, it’s likely that most of Nebraska’s next recruiting class will be in place before the calendar turns to July.

Here are the storylines to follow as Nebraska ramps up its 2025 recruiting efforts:

Nebraska currently has three commits in its upcoming recruiting class, all in-state prospects: Omaha North defensive lineman Tyson Terry, Millard North athlete Caden VerMaas and Bishop Neumann running back Conor Booth.

The number of commits at this point of the year isn’t unusual — Nebraska had just two players in its 2024 class last April — but it’s possible the Huskers may build a smaller class this time around. After Nebraska took 28 commits in its 2023 recruiting class, that number rose to 31 in 2024.

In late October, head coach Matt Rhule emphasized the importance of the first two recruiting classes to build a foundation for a program. That foundation — 59 players strong — is now in place, meaning an adjustment in strategy could be needed.

“I just think (recruiting class sizes) are different each year, and we’ll have to do our best to manage what the following classes look like,” Rhule said in October.

Given that Nebraska has entered each of the last two spring practice periods over its 85-scholarship limit, a smaller high school class could provide the Huskers additional roster flexibility. It’s unlikely the class will be smaller than 15-20 players, for example, but reaching the roughly 30-player mark like NU did each of the last two years would require even further roster attrition.

With only three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, landing a 2025 high school quarterback has been a key goal for Nebraska over the last few months.

The Huskers haven’t been locked in on just one player across that stretch — Alex Manske (Iowa State), Stone Saunders (Kentucky) and Matt Zollers each once looked like the program’s key target — but Nebraska has zeroed in on a different quarterback who’ll be visiting in late April.

Orange (California) Lutheran’s TJ Lateef, a four-star prospect ranked as the nation’s No. 16 quarterback prospect by 247Sports, will be one of NU’s key official visitors during the Spring Game weekend.

Nebraska has already landed three of the best prospects from within its borders, but there are plenty of uncommitted recruits still out there.

Those with Nebraska offers include tight ends Chase Loftin (Millard South) and Reiman Zebert (Platteview), Lincoln Southwest wide receiver Jackson Carpenter and Millard North athlete Pierce Mooberry. The top-ranked player in the state, Omaha Westside linebacker Christian Jones, also remains uncommitted.

Particularly for Nebraska’s Spring Game weekend, there is a major focus on out-of-state targets — Texan and Californian recruits account for most of the planned official visits — but can the Huskers make time for their in-state recruits, too? This process can stretch into the summer, but keeping the momentum going in individual players’ recruitments is a year-round process.

Nebraska brought in some big names for its 2023 Spring Game when five-star recruits Brandon Baker and Alylin Breland, and high-level four-star Dylan Williams were all in attendance. None of the top-30 national recruits ended up at Nebraska, though did NU did land its most important five-star target, Dylan Raiola, later.

With Raiola now on the roster, can Nebraska elevate the caliber of recruit it lands in 2025?

San Antonio (Texas) Alamo Heights athlete Michael Terry III, a top-20 national recruit, is the highest-ranked official visitor expected on campus this month. Dallas Skyline linebacker Elijah Barnes, Lancaster (California) Quartz Hill cornerback Adonyss Currie and Lancaster (Texas) wide receiver Emmanuel Choice are among the other key visitors.