Nebraska Huskers Links: The Jason Ankrah Edition

Jason Ankrah incidentally was recruited by John Papuchis, an alum of Jason’s high school. No doubt his connections played a part in giving the Huskers an advantage.

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Ankrah told Scout.com that Pelini is “the type of coach I’m looking to play for,” adding to that: “I just chose Nebraska because of the gut feeling I had being on campus and being around the players and people in the community.”

And the fact that Ankrah is from Papuchis’ alma mater? Yeah, that maybe didn’t hurt, either.

“John is a really good friend of mine,” Mencarini said.

Though Pelini is just in his first year as a head coach, Mencarini said players like Ankrah know all about him from his days as a defensive coordinator at LSU.

“If you’re going to go far away from home, why not go play for a coach that absolutely loves defense,” Mencarini said. “When you talk about the best defensive coaches in football, there’s Bo’s name—him and maybe a Bud Foster from Virginia Tech. A couple of guys who really know how to coach defense. Kids do know that. And Jason knows that.”

 

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Ankrah might be a factor sooner than we realize.

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Ankrah said he picked Nebraska over Maryland, Michigan, and about 15 other schools. He is rated as the nation’s 26th-best defensive end by Scout.com and the 10th-best by Rivals.com. Both recruiting services tabbed Ankrah a four-star recruit.

He’s the second defensive end to make an oral commitment to Nebraska. Emerson Evans of Houston announced his plans to attend Nebraska in July, though he may not qualify academically.

Ankrah wants to provide some immediate depth for the Huskers, who’ll lose Zach Potter and Clayton Sievers after the season ends. Sophomore Pierre Allen and senior Barry Turner, who redshirted in 2008 because of an injury, are the likely starters.

 

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BigRedNetwork’s take on Jason Ankrah.

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The top targets still on the NU radar are defensive tackle prospect Latu Heimuli and another defensive end, Jason Pierre-Paul. Either one (or both?) of those players would send the defensive profile of this class through the roof. For now, Husker fans can be very happy to have gotten a pledge from a possible stud in the making like Ankrah.

 

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Non-Jason Ankrah Hype

The Legend of Alex Henery continues to grow.

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Pictures. Autographs. Request after request for Henery to be a Facebook friend. Such celebrity rarely comes to a kicker, but it suddenly has for Henery.

By the way, for those who requested Alex to be a Facebook friend? No hard feelings if it didn’t happen, OK?

“I didn’t want 2,000 friends,” Henery says.

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