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Tom Shatel’s Press Box: Evan Bland joins for a breakdown of Nebraska spring football
While the Big Ten’s recruiting superpower — Ohio State — remains in the top spot of the leagues 2025 class rankings, USC continued to surge in the first half of April, doubling its commit count and pulling into a clear second place.
The Trojans have to hold on to two five-star commits from the state of Georgia — with eight months left in the cycle, that’s no cinch — but coach Lincoln Riley and his assistants have successfully convinced prospects from the Eastern Standard Time zone to head to Los Angeles.
One, Chattanooga (Tenn.) athlete Daune Morris, is a 5-foot-10, 180-pound athlete trending toward SEC schools until USC got involved. He had 2,577 all-purpose yards last season, and 36 total touchdowns.
The back half of April may bring more movement to the list, which remained mostly static since an early April update. Nebraska added two commitments, moving into the high 30s/low 40s of the team rankings, but Midwest receivers Bryson Hayes and Jackson Carpenter didn’t move the needle much as three-star prospects. NU is comfortable with its evaluation and scholarship offer process, though, especially for in-state prospects. Carpenter plays at Lincoln Southwest.
“I’ll watch the film, and he’s good enough, he’s a scholarship player,” Rhule said April 11 of evaluating an in-state prospect. “… and the (recruiting staff) will say ‘he’s a 4,’ — which means we think he’ll be a multiple-year starter — and I’ll say ‘well, then we should offer him a scholarship.’ And they’re like ‘well, maybe we can get him as a walk-on.’”
“If all we do is offer players in the state of Nebraska walk-on opportunities, then every guy is going to grow up dreaming of getting a walk-on opportunity. If we offer players scholarships, then guys we have the dream of ‘maybe I can be a scholarship player.’”
NU signed eight in-state players in Rhule’s inaugural 2023 recruiting class, completed just months after his arrival. Nebraska signed eight in-state guys again in the 2024 class and, for 2025, has four in-state commits. 
The full Big Ten rankings:
Total commits: 13
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 2/1
On3: 1/1
Rivals: 2/1
The big names: CB Devin Sanchez, QB Tavien St. Clair, CB Na’eem Offord
Skinny: The Buckeyes have NIL money to practically burn, and their two collectives are spreading it around to prospects from eight states. Four of OSU’s commit hail from Ohio, including five-star dude Carter Lowe out of Toledo.  
Total commits: 12
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 4/2
On3: 3/2
Rivals: 4/2
The big names: DL Justus Terry, QB Julian Lewis
Skinny: The Trojans are doing work nationwide, with both Terry and Lewis coming from the state of Georgia. Last week, USC picked up commits from Virginia, Maryland and Tennessee. Looks like some coaching staff has “go home once a year” to pitch.
Total commits: 12
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 8/3
On3: 15/4
Rivals: 7/3
The big names: LBs Dayshaun Burnett and DJ McClary
Skinny: The Nittany Lions recruit the eastern seaboard better than any major college football program, and typically get the best out of Pennsylvania, too. Coach James Franklin understands his geographic footprint better than most coaches. The linebackers in the class are strong as usual.
Total commits: 5
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 23/5
On3: 13/3
Rivals: 19/4
The big names: QB Akili Smith, Jr, DE Matthew Johnson
Skinny: A familiar name at quarterback. If he’s as good in Eugene as his dad was in 1998, the Ducks will be in good shape for years to come. The Ducks are flush with high-profile transfers and blue-chip underclassmen, which may inform the 2025 class to some degree.
Total commits: 7
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 22/4
On3: 24/6
Rivals: 22/5
The big names: CB Jaimier Scott and OT Michael Roseke
Skinny:  Recruiting is not an issue under new coach Luke Fickell the way it was under Paul Chryst. The Badgers have recruited length and speed on defense — eventually, they’ll switch to a different scheme other than the 2-4-5 — and appear to have a solid QB in Landyn Locke.
Total commits: 5
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 29/7
On3: 27/8
Rivals: 30/6
The big names: CB Tarrion Grant and QB Sawyer Anderson
Skinny: Anderson is a Drew Brees/David Blough Texas intrigue, throwing for 9,580 yards and 109 touchdowns in three years at a small Christian school in Dallas. Great skillset. He’s also 5-11.
Total commits: 6
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 27/6
On3: 29/7
Rivals: 31/7
The big names: TEs Thomas Meyer and Eli Johnson
Skinny: Same as the previous early April update. It’s a little slower year in Iowa than previous cycles — which were off-the-charts good — so the Hawkeyes may venture more into Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and Michigan for their recruits. Iowa has a couple big tight ends and big linebackers in the class already.  
Total commits: 5
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 35/9
On3: 45/14
Rivals: 36/9
The big names: CB Jett White and OL Kahlil Stewart
Skinny: On3 has 32 prospects in Maryland with a three-star grade, and 25 such players in Virginia. In case you’re wondering how the Terrapins slowly improved in a tough Big Ten East. Maryland also has perhaps the easiest schedule of any team in the Big Ten.
Total commits: 6
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 35/9
On3: 45/14
Rivals: 33/8
The big names: QB Jackson Kollock and LB Emmanuel Karmo
Skinny: The Gophers swiped Torin Pettaway from Wisconsin in the last few months. The state of Minnesota isn’t turning out as many blue chip football players as it did 15/20 years ago, and it may affect recruiting. Still UM doubled its commits from early April, and Karmo could be one of the best ‘backer commits in the Big Ten.
Total commits: 3
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 54/17
On3: 23/5
Rivals: 38/11
The big names: QB Carter Smith and DL Bobby Kanka
Skinny:  Smith, the quarterback, gives off some JJ McCarthy vibes. Now that the NCAA has handed down various decisions and for COVID-era recruiting violations, the Wolverine staff — minus Jim Harbaugh, now in the NFL — can go about its business for the rest of spring and into early summer.
Total commits: 5
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 41/11
On3: 39/12
Rivals: 36/9
The big names: QB Carson Boyd and ATH Andre Lovett
Skinny: No changes since early April. Boyd is a dual-threat superstar out of St. Louis who has passed for 3,557 yards and rushed for 1,182. If, at 5-11, he’s too short for quarterback, he can move to receiver, the way Isaiah Williams did to the tune of 214 career catches.
Total commits: 4
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 48/14
On3: 26/7
Rivals: 45/14
The big names: WR Raiden Vines-Bright and QB Dash Beierly
Skinny:  The Huskies added a four-star receiver from IMG Academy, but face a long journey recruiting to a program that peaked and lost its coach — and so many of its top players.
Total commits: 5
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 43/12
On3: 37/10
Rivals: 42/12
The big names: DL Tyson Terry and WR Bryson Hayes
Skinny: NU put two on the board last weekend with receivers Hayes — burner — and Lincoln Southwest’s Jackson Carpenter. Terry, the Omaha North standout, is underrated, and perhaps a D1 wrestler one day, as well.
Total commits: 6
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 34/8
On3: 58/16
Rivals: 42/12
The big names: S Garrett Reese and WR LeBron Bond
Skinny: IU has added three commits in the last nine days, including Bond. The Hoosiers built their 2024 season through the transfer portal, though. We’ll see what happens with coach Curt Cignetti’s recruiting focus going forward.   
Total commits: 5
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 45/13
On3: 44/13
Rivals: 50/T-16
The big names:  TE Zach Giuliano and DE Caden O’Rourke
Skinny: Northwestern historically recruits well early in a cycle because the school already knows which prospects will or won’t qualify for admission. So the Wildcats will hit double digits by June.
Total commits: 4
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 51/15
On3: 51/15
Rivals: 50/T-16
The big names: LB Talibi Kaba and OT Jayden Elijah
Skinny:  Of the four top 10 prospects in the state of New Jersey, four have committed, and none of them have picked Rutgers. RU has to win two or three of those guys each year to compete in the upper half of the league.
Total commits: 4
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: 52/16
On3: 63/17
Rivals: 47/15
The big names: LB Weston Port and CB Kuron Jabari 
Skinny: Chip Kelly didn’t do new coach DeShaun Foster a ton of favors in the recruiting pipeline department. Kelly’s coaching acumen covered over some of the key recruiting misses over the last five or six years. Foster needs to win — often — in LA. And he’s doing OK so far, with three in-state commits.
Total commits: 0
247Sports composite national/Big Ten: NA
On3: NA
Rivals: NA
The big names: 
Skinny: Rough start for new coach Jonathan Smith, who has zero commits in his “regime change” recruiting cycle. One of Smith’s mentors, Mike Riley didn’t so well when he left the Corvallis bubble of Oregon State. Smith is off to the rough start.
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Tom Shatel’s Press Box: Evan Bland joins for a breakdown of Nebraska spring football
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