Published Thursday | May 17, 2007
NU Football: Prized QB recruit says his pledge will stick
BY MITCH SHERMAN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - Rest easy, Husker Nation, in knowing that Bill Callahan's latest quarterback catch appears unlikely to head down a road similar to a certain former football recruit from the same state.
Blaine Gabbert of Ballwin, Mo., offered his oral commitment to the Huskers Tuesday night, delivering to NU a prospect under consideration as the nation's No. 1 prep QB next fall.
"He will be going to Nebraska," said Mike Roth, Gabbert's coach at Parkway West High School in suburban St. Louis. "There are no ifs, ands or buts about it."
Forgive the Huskers for keeping the champagne on ice until February, when Gabbert and others in the class of 2008 can sign official papers.
Some sting remains from two years ago, when NU snagged quarterback Josh Freeman out of suburban Kansas City. He stayed committed for six months as other prospects fell off the board. Freeman then defected to Kansas State, where he started and threw for 1,780 yards as a true freshman last fall.
That won't happen with the 6-foot-5, 229-pound Gabbert, he and his coach said.
"I want to reach the top level at the University of Nebraska," Gabbert told rivals.com, "personally, as well as our team.
"I strongly believe that we can go all the way. I feel Nebraska is building that right now. And with this recruiting class, we can and will do that."
First-year offensive coordinator Shawn Watson deserves the bulk of credit here. Watson developed a strong relationship in a hurry with Gabbert this year. The coach's brother, in fact, played football with Gabbert's uncle on a 1989 team at Southern Illinois that included Callahan as offensive coordinator.
That connection helped the Huskers outduel a swarm of schools including Missouri and Alabama - with offensive coordinator Major Applewhite as the lead recruiter under new coach Nick Saban.
"I don't know if upset is the right word, because he's definitely a guy who's been high on Nebraska for a while," rivals.com recruiting editor Jeremy Crabtree said. "But it's probably more disappointing if you're Missouri, because they've been working on him for two years.
"This is a big, big deal for Nebraska. He's as big a recruit as we've seen since Bill Callahan's been there."
So barely three months removed from signing a defense-heavy recruiting class of 2007, Nebraska has seven players committed for 2008.
Gabbert, a potential five-star talent with a strong arm and 4.65-second speed over 40 yards, headlines the class. But committed offensive linemen Baker Steinkuhler of Lincoln Southwest, Trevor Robinson of Elkhorn, Dan Hoch of Harlan, Iowa, and Bryce Givens of Denver appeared to play a major role in Gabbert's decision.
Steinkuhler is also a likely five-star recruit touted as one of the nation's best at his position. Rivals.com places Robinson and Hoch among the nation's top 100 players overall, and Givens figures to rank as the No. 1 lineman in Colorado.
As for Gabbert, he ranks among the top four quarterbacks nationally according to rivals.com and is the No. 54 player according to scout.com. ESPN.com ranks Gabbert as the No. 1 quarterback.
He starred at the U.S. Army combine in San Antonio last winter after throwing for 1,523 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior. Gabbert also ran for 458 yards and led Parkway West to an 8-2 record and a berth in the playoff quarterfinals of Missouri's second-largest class.
"Everybody is in love with his size," Roth said. "But that's not Blaine's best attribute. His greatest attribute is probably his arm strength. He just makes great decisions with the ball. He puts it where it needs to go.
"For Blaine, really, it's all about heart. Nobody puts in more time in the off-season. I open up the gym in the summer, and he's in there working on footwork. For the last couple years, he's geared himself toward being a great college quarterback. I'm just glad I have him for one more year of high school."
The addition of Gabbert likely ensures the Huskers will not recruit another high school quarterback this year.
His commitment also marks the fourth year out of four full recruiting seasons for Callahan that the Nebraska coach has landed an early pledge from a heralded QB.
First there was Harrison Beck, the Florida prep star who made it one year at NU before transferring to North Carolina State. Freeman was next, followed last year by Patrick Witt, who showed well this spring after enrolling at Nebraska a semester early.
Witt, a true freshman, and junior-college transfer Zac Lee, a sophomore, look like redshirt candidates next season before Gabbert joins a healthy stable of young quarterbacks in 2008.
"Blaine's heart was in the right place at Nebraska," Roth said. "Nebraska is not a hard sell, to be honest with you. But they just seemed like great, genuine people. I think Blaine was attracted to that. Just to put all of the recruiting behind him and focus on having fun, it's a big deal for him."
• NOTES: Disturbing the peace charges against Husker quarterback Sam Keller were recently dropped. Keller allegedly cursed at a woman and threw a plastic cup at her car after a March dispute over a campus parking spot. . . . NU safety recruit Prince Amukamara was the Arizona Class 4-A state track champ in both the 100-meter dash (10.78 seconds) and 200 (21.92) last weekend. . . . Defensive back recruit David Whitmore is No. 43 in the new rivals.com Texas Top 100. . . . Tickets for the Big 12 championship game - Dec. 1 in San Antonio - go on sale today at 10 a.m. Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com or the Alamodome and run $99, $79, $69, $59 and $39.
