Husker News and Notes for 1/31/09

Husker News and Notes:

Lincoln Northeast recruit Cole Pensick is profiled by Steve Sipple:

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Northeast coach Dave Svehla recently said of Pensick: “He practices hard, he’s physical and he’s mean.”

Mean in a good way, mind you. Mean in a rugged player sort of way. Mean in a throwback kind of way. Why should anybody be surprised if the kid’s a tad old-school? After all, Pensick counts among his friends Bill Barnett, 52, a standout defensive tackle at Nebraska in the late 1970s who shared playing time with Cole’s father, Dan Pensick.

Dan Pensick is a gregarious sort who is peacock proud that his son is following in his footsteps as an interior defensive lineman at dear old NU. The younger Pensick’s non-binding oral commitment to Nebraska last January becomes set in stone Wednesday, the first day of the national signing period.

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Portland, Oregon Prep DT Myles Wade will get a visit from Bo Pelini:

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He still has one more in-home visit scheduled, this one from Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini. “He’ll be the last coach that visits me,” Wade said of Pelini. “I know he’s a former coach at LSU when they won a national championship.” 

 Head Coach Bo Pelini. “He’ll be the last coach that visits me,” Wade said of Pelini. “I know he’s a former coach at LSU when they won a national championship.” 

Wade still considers himself committed to Texas Tech, and he expects to sign on February 4th. He’s not sure if he’s going to take an official visit to Nebraska, or if he even has time to. 

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Brian Christopherson speaks with Rex Burkhead:

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Said the running back/receiver/returnman Burkhead: “You definitely can’t let it go to your head or else it will mess you up and mess up everything that goes on in your life. You have to have a good atttitude about all of it. You just got to be who you are and not let others get to you and tell you who you should be.“

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P.J. Mangieri, an Illinois prep lineman, will walk-on to Nebraska in hopes of being the long-snapper next year:

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P.J. Mangieri, a Journal Star all-area lineman from Dunlap,IL likes that tradition and has decided Nebraska is the right place for him to further his playing career. After an official visit to the Lincoln, Neb., campus last weekend, Mangieri has given the Huskers an oral commitment, choosing them over Purdue and Wisconsin of the Big Ten.

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A football obituary on former Husker Bill “Thunder” Thornton:

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“My opinion, he was the best college football player I was around,’’ said Dennis Claridge, who quarterbacked the ’62 Huskers. “In those days, you played both ways, and he was a really strong, powerful running back with better speed than people realized. But he also was a great linebacker.’’

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Turner Gill shakes up his staff and gives up play-calling duties.

Former Huskers recall their days with the then not-so-super Cardinals:

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Some former Huskers and other players from large schools, where locker rooms were often recruiting showrooms, might be shocked by the change in treatment from college to the Cardinals.

“I remember I needed some new socks and they handed me a pair of used ones, and they had holes,” Joel Makovicka said of his days with the Cardinals. “At Nebraska, they were famous for running a first-class program. With the Cardinals, well, it was not first-class.”

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2009 Nebraska recruiting class may not be complete:

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The Huskers are thought to be very much in the running for linebacker Eric Martin, who’s from Moreno Valley, Calif. He is believed to be high on Nebraska but is visiting Arizona State this weekend before making a decision.

Wide receiver L’Damian Washington (Shreveport, La.) is also worth watching. Though he’s committed to Louisiana Tech, the 6-foot-4, 180-pound Washington visited Lincoln last week and is checking out Missouri this weekend.

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