_
& There isn’t one
that did not
show that he
wanted to be a
part of Nebraska
football.That
makes a great
deal of
difference in
terms of what
these guys bring
and how hard
they work when
they get here."
Frank Solkh
NU footbal coach
/
By Samuel McKewon
Senior editor
. ~ Angel trumpets and devil trom
bones could be heard atop Memorial
Stadium Wednesday as Coach Frank
Solich unveiled his 21-player, 2000
Nebraska football recruiting class.
First, the trumpets - the
Comhuskers filled a specific need at
linebacker and an annual need on the
offensive line by signing four players
at each position.
But it’s likely the trombone sound
will be heard much longer by NU fans
and pundits as Nebraska failed to sign
a quarterback for the second time in
three seasons.
The Huskers’ main target, San
Antonio prepster Carlyle Holiday,
committed to Notre Dame Wednesday.
He was possibly scared off by the
notion that Big 12 offensive player of
the year, Eric Crouch, still has two sea
sons in the NU system.
Solich wasn’t particularly sur
prised by Holiday’s decision.
“There was a time when he indi
cated to me that (Notre Dame) was
what he wanted to do,” Solich said.
“He just had to get things finalized.”
The other ill tune came from high
ly touted safety Adrian Mayes, who
reneged his commitment to Nebraska
and signed with Louisiana State
Wednesday morning.
“I heard from Adrian (Tuesday),”
Solich said. “And he said he was com
ing to Nebraska.”
When Mayes didn’t, more than half
of Solich’s press conference was taken
up by questions surrounding Mayes’
and Holiday’s alternate choices.
It prompted the third-year coach to
say afterward: “My purpose here was
to praise the players that we signed, not
to talk about the players that we did
n’t”
But earlier in the session, Solich
had plenty of time to tout the players
who did sign, especially the four line
. backers, whom Solich figured might
be the best group in the nation.
With four players graduating out of
the linebacking crew this year, Solich
said the four players who just signed -
Ira Cooper, T.J. Hollowell, Lannie
Hopkins and Jason Richenberger -
might have a chance at playing time if
they pick up the system quickly.
“You’d have to say those guys com
ing in at linebacker have a great
chance,” Solich said.
Solich also spent time praising the
offensive linemen - all of whom are at
least 6-foot-2 and 275 pounds. The
i .. ir.«..ri ' ■••tfarw-Mr. . . __ n.imnwivm _;___ ■■ ■ ■
Mike Warren/DN
FRANK SOLICH, head feethall coach, answers questions from the media
about the 2000 recruiting class. The press conference was held in the media
level of the new skyboxes, and Solich announced that 20 freshman and one
junior college transfer would be joining the Husker football program.
smallest of the linemen is Papillion
High School’s Mike Erickson at 6-4
and 275, and “he’s still growing,”
Solich said.
“They all can run; they all can
move,” Solich said. “And size, these
guys have it.”
Nebraska signed three defensive
backs. Willie Amos, who at 6-2 and
Please see RECRUITS on 18
Six Nebraskans say
yes to Comhuskers
/• • •
Nikki Fox/DN
Loraell McPherson sits between his parents, John and Lola, at the signing
of a letter of intent at Central High School in Omaha Wednesday morning.
■ Lornell McPherson,
Chris Septak and Ira;
Cooper round out an
impressive in-state class.
By Sean Callahan
Staff writer
It has been said the state of
Nebraska has the highest per capita
, number of boys out for football then
any other state in America. f
That statistic has made it easy for
Nebraska football coaches over the
years to find talented Division I play
ers right in their own back yard.
On national signing day, that trend
continued to be true for the state of
Nebraska. SixoutoftheHuskers’21
overall commitments were from
Nebraska.
Four of those commitments came
from the Omaha area from Mike
Erickson, Chris Septak, Lornell
McPherson and Ira Cooper.
The other two came from Ben
Zajicek of Beatrice and Steve
Kriewald of North Loup - Scotia.
Septak, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound
tight end out of Millard West High
school, gave his commitment to NU
in early August.
“It was probably one of the easiest
decisions I’ve made,” Septak said
Wednesday. “Knowing a lot about the
university and being here since sev
enth grade, I knew that there was no
better program.”
According to Rivals 100 recruit
ing service, Septak is the No. 2 tight
end overall in the country.
With Nebraska already having
four top tight ends in the program, one
would think Septak would go some
where else to get more playing time.
This factor doesn’t put any fear in
Septak’s eyes. In fact, he says he
wants the challenge.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,”
Septak said. “I want to be able to com
pete and see what I can do down
there.”
Kriewald, a 6-foot, 250-pound
fullback, is the first skill player from
an eight-man football school to
receive a scholarship to Nebraska. He
is the fourth overall.
Zajicek, a 6-foot-1, 205 pound
wingback, missed half of this year
because of an Injury. He possesses a
tremendous amount of speed, and he
has one of the hardest work ethics of
please see NEBRASKANS on 17
Mayes, Holiday go elsewhere
Quarterback joins loaded QB class of Notre Dame
By Sean Callahan
Staff Writer
Hearts were broken across the
state of Nebraska Wednesday morn
ing When word came out that highly
touted recruits Adrian Mayes and
Carlyle Holiday decided to commit to
schools other than Nebraska.
Mayes, a safety from Forest
Brook High School in Houston, had
already committed to the
Comhuskers early in January.
After visiting Louisiana State on
Jan. 21, Mayes decided to reconsider
his pledge to the Huskers. He held out
on saying where he was going until
Wednesday morning.
Forest Brook Coach Ron Holmes
gave word to media on Tuesday after
noon that Mayes was going to NU.
“He told me on Tuesday he was
coming,” Holmes said.
On Tuesday night, Mayes denied
all reports that he had committed to
Nebraska. He said his final decision
was coming in die morning.
On Wednesday, the Huskers were
expecting a commitment from the
blue chip safety.
When contacted, Holmes said
Mayes was faxing his letter of intent
toLSU.
Holmes said he was confused by
the whole deal.
“Even his family thought he was
going to Nebraska,” Holmes said.
Mayes’ mother, according to
Holmes, wouldn’t sign her son’s letter
of intent until he called up the NU
coaching staff and apologized to
them.
Just 200 miles west of Houston,
in San Antonio, the news came out at
8 a.m. this morning that Holiday
decided to commit to play for Notre
Dame. .
Holiday, probably one of the
more talked about recruits iti recent
years, weni through a long process to
come up with his final decision.
It was thought the Huskers had a
good chance of landing the 6-foot-3,
185 pound Holiday since Notre
Dame had already signed two other
blue chip quarterbacks.
W Even his
(Mayes) family
thought he was
going to
Nebraska."
Ron Holmes
Forest Brook High School
(Houston) footbal coach
Roosevelt Coach Glen Hill said
Holiday never gave word to him who
he favored or where he was going
until early Wednesday morning.
“You can’t argue his decision,”
Hill said. “Either way, he was going
to go to a good school.”
It was hinted from several sources
that Holiday’s father, who is in the
military, pushed his son to go to
South Bend, Ind., while Holiday’s
mother was impressed with
Nebraska.
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