Posts by Sam McKewon

Nebraska landed a key commit for its 2014 recruiting class last week when Wamego (Kan.) star Kaylee Page committed to the Huskers. Page confirmed the commit over the phone Monday.

At 6-foot-2, Page started at point guard, averaged 21 points and eight rebounds and led Wamego — 15 minutes from Manhattan, Kan — to the 4-A Kansas state title. She’s slated to play small forward, she said, in college. She picked NU over Oklahoma State, Stanford and Kansas, but had many more offers.

“I loved the coaches there,” said Page, who called NU assistant Dayna Finch May 15 and head coach Connie Yori shortly after that. “And I really liked the academic part, too. They care a lot about you transitioning to real life after …

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A Detroit Free Press story Sunday found that Nebraska’s assistant coaching salary pool of $2,648,500 is third in the Big Ten behind Michigan and Ohio State, while offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s salary of $700,000 is second only to Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, who makes $750,000. Ohio State’s Luke Fickell made $750,000 last year, but apparently $150,000 of that salary was tied to compensation left over from Fickell’s one, doomed year as interim coach.

Ohio State has by far the largest assistant coaching salary pool at $3.416 million. Michigan is just ahead of NU at $2.805 million.

But other Big Ten schools, presumably flush with Big Ten Network money, aren’t far behind the Huskers. All but Indiana has a salary pool of $2 million or …

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Time for another big, fat recruiting update!

But first, a few thoughts about Nebraska’s recruiting strategy, and comments NU recruiting coordinator Ross Els made to ESPN about the lack of early commits to the Huskers. The comments that had many of Nebraska’s most ardent recruitniks clicking the “send” button on message boards.

First, the key comment Els made, comparing Nebraska to Ohio State and Michigan’s ability to get early commits:

“You can’t compare us to Ohio State and Michigan and Notre Dame. We will not fill up that quickly. If we’re filling up that quickly, it’s either because we just won the national championship and everybody wants to play for us, or we might be not very selective in who we’re taking. We don’t throw …

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The first time Logan Rath considered a walk-on offer from the Nebraska’s football team in 2012, he balked. He chose instead a scholarship South Dakota State, knowing, in the back of his mind, the Jackrabbits were playing at NU this fall.

Rath will still be in Memorial Stadium for the Sept. 21 game. But he’ll be on the Huskers’ sideline. The 6-foot-4, 285-pound defensive tackle from Giltner confirmed Thursday night that he’s transferring to Nebraska for the rest of his career.

“I decided I was going to play where I really wanted to always play without worrying about the money,” said Rath in a phone interview as he drove to Mullen to help a friend brand calves. “I’m going to give it a shot.”

Logan …

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For a third straight year, the Nebraska women’s basketball team got a tough draw in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Huskers will play at North Carolina, which finished 29-7 last year in the ACC and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed.  NU advanced to the Sweet 16 where it lost to the Tar Heels’ biggest rival, Duke.

UNC loses three starters off of last year’s team, but returns two key pieces in Xylina McDaniel (daughter of the X Man, Xavier McDaniel), who avaeraged 11.3 points and 7.1 rebounds as a freshman, and top 3-point shooter Brittany Rountree.

“North Carolina has been a traditional power in the ACC for nearly 30 years under Coach Sylvia Hatchell,” Nebraska coach …

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The Big Ten released Thursday its revamped 2014 conference schedules for a 14-team league, and Nebraska drew Michigan State and new league entrant Rutgers from the East Division.

A marquee game against Big Ten traditional powers Michigan or Ohio State could only take place in the league championship.

The Huskers added Wisconsin — a West Division team starting in 2014 — to the schedule, while retaining games against other West Division teams that were already on the old 2014 schedule. Penn State has been dropped from the schedule.

“With the addition of two new programs to the Big Ten Conference and with a new divisional alignment, we embark on a new era of Nebraska football,” Nebraska Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst said in a statement. “Accommodating the changes …

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As the NFL Network’s NFL Top 100 list continues to unfurl in 2013 — the player-chosen list takes ten weeks to complete for maximum TV ratings — CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco compiled his own Top 100 list.

Three ex-Huskers — Carl Nicks at No. 60, Ndamukong Suh at No. 84 and Lavonte David at No. 98 — made it.

The NFL Network list is currently at No. 71. Last year, Suh was No. 38 and Nicks was No. 76, though neither have yet been listed on this year’s countdown.…

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Sports Illustrated Wednesday unveiled its “Fortunate 50″ list of top-earning American athletes, and a former Husker playing in the NFL made the list.

Ndamukong Suh? Nope. Though the player is a Bill Callahan-era recruit.

Tampa Bay guard Carl Nicks — who signed a five-year, $47 million deal with the Bucs last year — is the NFL’s highest-paid guard. He made, according to SI, $24.285 of that $47 million deal last year. NFL contracts aren’t guaranteed like Major League Baseball, so the guaranteed money portion of the contract typically goes to the player in the first year, as is the case here.

Unsurprisingly, the full SI list is packed with baseball and basketball players. The top five — boxer Money Mayweather, LeBron James, Drew Brees, Kobe …

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Former Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead signed with the Cincinnati Bengals Monday; terms weren’t immediately disclosed. A sixth-round pick in the most recent NFL Draft, Burkhead will spend the summer pitched in a battle to make the roster as a third/fourth running back and special teams player.

“Just the quickness in line, the ability to stick his foot in the ground and go from Point A to Point B,” Marvin Lewis told reporters after practice Friday. ”Just the things you saw from him on tape. His abilities as a receiver. I think he’ll be a guy also who will really uplift us on special teams and compete to be one of our core guys.”

Burkhead will have to block, catch the ball off playaction and …

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Nebraska’s need for one more walk-on wide receiver meant a kid deep in Hawkeye country was in for a good surprise.

Iowa City Regina High School star Alex Balke announced Saturday on Twitter he was playing for NU. Until a surprise call from NU wide receivers coach Rich Fisher, the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder had intended to compete in the decathlon at Iowa.

“Coach Fisher called out of nowhere,” said Balke, who was in class, with phone on silent, when Fisher rang. Balke returned the call and found out that the film he’d sent to “every school around the state of Iowa” found a pair of interested eyes.

In return, NU gets a player who worked in a spread, no-huddle offense coached by former Iowa tight end …

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