The 3-2-1: Sizing up the new-look recruiting calendar and Big Ten Media Days is nearly here

The new 2024-25 recruiting calendar will feature significant changes, and Big Ten Media Days is nearly here.

In this week’s 3-2-1 column, we hit on that and more with three things we learned, two questions, and one prediction.

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THREE THINGS WE LEARNED THIS WEEK

1 – The new recruiting calendar features plenty of notable changes

We got our first look at th e new recruiting calendar for 2024-25 , and there are quite a few changes. August remains a dead period as teams focus on fall camp.

From Sept. 1 to Dec. 1, it’s deemed an evaluation period. You can obviously host visitors on campus, but you also get 33 days where coaches can be on the road to recruit. So, if you have five coaches out, that counts as five days. You can also have your head coach out on those days, so it will be highly strategic on where Nebraska places Matt Rhule this fall.

How you manage these days will be critical in recruiting, as this is the only time coaches can be on the road before the Dec. 4 signing day. You can host visitors on campus from Dec. 9 to Dec. 22, though. Coaches just can’t leave campus anymore in December.

You can have coaches out on the road for a contact period from Jan. 6 to Jan. 12 and Jan. 16 to Feb. 1. The calendar is entirely different from what we’ve seen before.

Feb. 3 to Mar. 2 will be a dead period. Mar. 3 to April. 14 will be a quiet period full of junior day events and on-campus visitors. There is no change here.

During the spring, coaches can be on the road from Apr. 15 to May 24. That’s 140 days on the road, which is 14 per coach. You can only visit a prospect once during the spring. May 25-28 is another dead period, while camp and visitor season will be from May 29 to June 22. This remains unchanged.

The other significant change is a longer dead period now in July. Gone are the seven days teams used to get to host on-campus unofficial visitors in late July. June 23-July 31 is now a dead period in 2025.

For the most part, the NCAA has listened to the coaches. They’ve given them December back in full in terms of being on the road, and they also now get all of July. You will essentially go from June 22 to Sept. 1 before you can host another on-campus visitor in 2025.

2 – The Big Ten Conference will be the last league to take the stage at Media Days

We are just days away from the start of Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis. This will be the fourth straight year the event has taken place at Lucas Oil Stadium. It had previously been conducted in Chicago before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

It moved to Indy because Chicago lacked a consistent space to host the growing event. Also, in the summer of 2021, there were still quite a few regulations in Chicago during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly all of the major media day events will occur at NFL Stadiums in 2024. The SEC held its event at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, and the Big 12 was at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The ACC is the only Power Four league not holding its event at an NFL Stadium. It will take place at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown.

2024 will also be the first time the Big Ten has expanded to a three-day event. When Nebraska first joined the league, it was a day and a half, but now, with the addition of four more teams, it is three full days. The SEC has also extended its event to four days.

3 – The Tom Osborne/Brook Berringer statue finds a new home

One significant noticeable change was made this week as the final pieces are put on Nebraska’s new Tom and Nancy Osborne Complex.

The Osborne/Brook Berringer statue officially has a new home. It will no longer be in front of North Stadium. It has been moved to the east side in front of the new Osborne complex.

This honestly makes a lot of sense. There will not be foot traffic at North Stadium like there was before. All student-athlete activity will be around the new Osborne Complex, so moving the Osborne/Berringer statue is a no-brainer.

TWO QUESTIONS THIS WEEK

1 – What are some of your favorite conference Media Day memories?

This will now be my 25th year covering Big 12 and Big Ten Conference Media Day events in cities like Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Chicago, and Indianapolis. What have been some of the more memorable moments over the years?

I’ll never forget my first one in 2000. It was in downtown Kansas City. I was an intern for 1620 the Zone. I covered the event for them on my own dime. They armed me with a cell phone and told me to get people on the phone for interviews with host Gary Java on the afternoon show. I was 19 years old, but gave it hell.

I vividly remember getting most of the coaches in the Big 12 on the phone for interviews with Java. Local sports talk shows weren’t down at these events like now because the broadcasting costs were much higher to be remote. That trip was so successful it led to 1620 with newly hired host Kevin Kugler going down to Dallas the following year for Big 12 Media Days, and my job again was to be his bulldog and shag guests. I think we were able to get every coach on. Those were some fun times. I slept on the floor in Kugler’s hotel room. We went to a Texas Rangers game against Baltimore and saw Cal Ripkin Jr. play in his final season with the Orioles. He hit a home run, and the enter Rangers Stadium gave him a standing ovation.

Another random memory from conference media days was meeting FOX’s Joel Klatt for the first time. This, too, was in Dallas. Klatt was beginning his sports broadcasting career as a radio host in Denver. I remember talking to him at a Texas Rangers game (These events in the Big 12 always had entertainment events tied to them). He was so impressive and sharp. I turned to a few guys with me and said Klatt would be a star in this industry.

The event is still good, but it has become so big that there is not much informal about it. Pretty much everything is now controlled on a stage.

2 – What players are Nebraska’s top in-state targets for 2026?

When you look at in-state recruits for the class of 2026, who are the top early targets for the Huskers? Today, Millard South tight end Isaac Jensen is probably the most coveted for the class of 2026.

After Jensen, Elkhorn North linebacker Jase Reynolds received another new offer in June. NU also has an offer to Millard South wide receiver Dashawn Prince , but he has not camped for this Huskers staff yet, so I don’t believe his offer would be committable .

Both Jensen and Reynolds camped for the Husker staff in June. Jensen was very impressive and already held an offer. Reynolds earned his after camp.

I would say Millard South offensive lineman Landon Von Seggern is the next in line after Jensen and Reynolds. Wide receiver Amarion Jackson is another impressive in-state prospect, but you get the sense they need to see more of him. Almost every receiver they have offered at this point either possesses elite physical size, verified track, or 40 times in the 4.4 to 4.5 range. My read is that’s the question still on Jackson for NU. He’s put up unbelievable numbers thus far at Millard South, but how does he project long-term as a receiver with his size and speed? Nebraka has had him at camp now for two years in a row.

In some ways, he reminds me a little of former Omaha Burke and now Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts . He ran 4.7 to 4.8 at Nebraka’s camp as a receiver. His natural football instincts and intangibles made him a better fit at safety, and now he’s an All-American for the Irish. Jackson seems to have those instincts for the game, just like Watts did.

Lastly, Bellevue West athlete Kaprice Keith is another 2026 to watch, as he has an early verbal offer from Iowa State. Keith did not camp for Nebraska this June.

ONE PREDICTION: LB Will Hawthorne will be Nebraska’s next commit

Things should start picking up in Nebraska recruiting with the July 27 BBQ weekend in Lincoln. I also expect them to add another commitment in the class of 2025 relatively soon.

I predict Gilbert (Iowa) linebacker Will Hawthorne will be the next commit to pop for the Huskers. Rhule and his staff absolutely love Hawthorne after seeing him live at camp earlier this summer.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and is heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall, and each week, he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm .

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