Huskers finally break recruiting silence

By Terry Dombkowski  |   Wednesday, May 17, 2006  |  Comments( 4 )

Nebraska Cornhuskers
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When the Nebraska Cornhuskers secured their first commitment for the 2007 season, the calendar read January 3rd. The player who accepted the Huskers offer on that day was 6'1", 200lb. Niles Paul, a super talented and speedy receiver out of Omaha North. The general feeling around Lincoln was that it would only be a matter of time before Paul was joined by another prospect. Well, it turns out that "a matter of time" was merely a matter of speaking, as exactly 131 days came and went without any sign of a second commitment. On day 132, the Nebraska coaching staff ended the recruiting drought with the introduction of DeAndre West.

West, a 6'1", 195 pound defensive back out of Oakland's Wilson Prep, called Coach Callahan earlier this week to inform the staff of his decision. For DeAndre West, choosing Nebraska may have had as much to do with the past as it did with the future. That is because West grew up a die-hard Raider fan, and always thought highly of Callahan. "He's a good coach," West said. "That's why I chose to play for him, because of the things he's done." This fact must have carried heavy weight for West, considering the young man has yet to even visit Lincoln.

How good is this prospect? His coach at Wilson Prep, Desmond Gumbs, says that West is the best he's ever seen in 12 years of coaching, by far. There must be some validity to those claims, as several schools had been aggressively pursuing West in the past few weeks, among them Boise St., UCLA, and San Diego St. West also represents a multi-positional threat, able to perform on either side of the ball. In his junior year at Wilson Prep, West played running back (1,500 + yards and 15 TD's), linebacker (nearly 140 tackles), punter (2 TD's via fake punt), and he added one kickoff return just for good measure. It is safe to say that West can flat out get it done.

While Husker fans eagerly count down the days until the '06 season kicks off, Coach Callahan and his staff are quietly going about the business of bringing in another solid recruiting class in'07. If Niles Paul and DeAndre West are any indication, it is sure to include several athletes who will bring excitement and optimism to the Big Red faithful.

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