Nebraska lands commitment from Missouri transfer DL Williams Nwaneri

Nebraska has landed a transfer portal commitment from Missouri freshman defsnvie lineman Williams Nwaneri, a five-star prospect in the 2024 cycle and considered the No. 1 defensive line prospect coming out of high school.

Nwaneri committed to Missouri over Nebraska, Oklahoma and Georgia out of Lee’s Summit (Mo.) North but after just one season with the Tigers, found himself in the transfer portal. The former five-star redshirted this fall, appearing in just one game and recording a sack against UMass.

The 6-foot-7, 255 pound freshman entered the portal officially on Thursday, Dec. 12, with a ‘Do Not Contact’ tag. Just days later, the Huskers landed a commitment from the five-star who played for Nebraska offensive assistant Jamar Mozee, former Lee’s Summit (Mo.) North’s head coach who left the position at the end of the 2023 season.

Through a chaotic high school recruiting process, Nwaneri leaned on Mozee for advice to guide him through the process.

“Talking to my family, talking to my head coach, he just gave me the best advice,” he previously told Rivals. “He was coming from a place of caring about me. I thank him a lot.”

As a senior at Lee’s Summit (Mo.) North, Nwaneri recorded 50 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, six sacks and three forced fumbles. As a junior, he recorded 56 tackles, 12 sacks and an additional ten tackles for loss. ‘

Coming out of high school, Mozee felt Nwaneri’s impact was understated on the stat sheet because of the consistent pressure he brought on the quarterback

“It’s huge (the attention Nwaneri draws). I mean, he’s a problem,” Mozee told Rivals when Nwaneri was in high school. “There are times when he will squeeze down a whole side of the field. There are times when they want to roll, and they can’t roll his direction.”

Nwaneri possesses the size to play all over the defensive front, but has the athleticism to stick at defensive end or put on weight and move inside to defensive tackle. Though he’s still a work in progress, he’ll arrive in Lincoln expected to be ready to contribute early with Nebraska graduating Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher, along with losing the likes of Jimari Butler, James Williams and Princewill Umanmielen, among others from the defensive front.