Matt Rhule arrived with much pomp and ceremony as the chosen one to drag Nebraska out of the endless spiral of losing seasons. He placed an enormous emphasis on in-state players on scholarship or the walk-on program.

The world of college football has been turned on its head with NIL and roster limits to the point where Rhule had to pivot. To see this playing out in real time, one only has to look at the top-ranked in-state players in the 2026 class and where they are heading.

Lone Ranger

Linebacker Jase Reynolds (6-3/206lbs) out of Elkhorn North in Omaha is a 3-star recruit ranked 10th in Nebraska’s 2026 class, according to 247. He is currently the only in-state recruit committed to the Huskers, and only a handful of crystal balls are floating around for in-state recruits, but nothing concrete.

Advertisement

Reynolds is a rangy athlete with great instincts, blowing up plays, but he is raw and will need considerable bulking up to play as an inside linebacker.

To 105 or not to 105?

The ever-changing debate on roster sizes has not yielded any real answers, and Nebraska’s lack of real portal subtractions bears that out. The trimmer roster sizes will undoubtedly hurt the in-state prospects’ chances of being offered.

It was almost a given that the top 10 players in the state could rely on a Nebraska offer—that is no longer the case. The fact that some in-state prospects have publicly said that the coaching staff is not in contact is a sign of the future.

Advertisement

Nebraska will continue cherry-picking players it feels can make a realistic difference on the team and ‘culture players’ who may not threaten the two deep but are key to maintaining standards.

The state produces capable, tight-end body types, and these sorts of players will always be in demand.

Isaac Jensen (6-6/205lbs) is the next in the conveyor belt of tight ends, and this trend will continue as long as football needs beefy blockers.

Football has changed so rapidly that it may very well shift again, but for right now, in-state prospects can’t guarantee a Nebraska offer.

GBR

More from cornnation.com:

Tensions are beginning to rise in the recruitment for five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell. Cantwell is the No. 1 overall player in the country with a commitment date of May 13 quickly approaching.

Cantwell has cut his recruitment down to Georgia, Miami (FL), Oregon and Ohio State, and those will be the four schools he decides between on Tuesday. He does have one more visit lined up with Georgia before he announces his commitment which will take place on May 10, but another major development just unfolded surrounding NIL.

A report from On3 was released earlier this week stating that Miami is offering Cantwell upwards of $2 million for his freshman season alone if he chooses the Hurricanes. That number is very realistic for a prospect as good as Cantwell, but it’s strange that this report came out a few days before his commitment.

This report upset a lot of people at Miami, so much so that the Hurricanes are claiming Kirby Smart and Georgia leaked this information on purpose.

“On3 put out an article that Miami was the leading NIL bidder for Jackson Cantwell. Make no mistake, this is an intentional leak designed to make it look like if Cantwell choose Miami, he’s just chasing the bag,” he said. “This is all strategy, the truth is, Georgia is a great program, they have a lot of momentum with Cantwell, they have done good things, offensive line development is not the best.”

Georgia blamed for Jackson Cantwell’s NIL offer being leaked

Who knows if Georgia leaked Cantwell’s NIL offer from Miami or not. There is a very real chance they did, but the reasoning behind Georgia doing so, according to the above post, makes no sense.

This video is claiming Georgia did this because they don’t have as much success in recent history at developing offensive lineman like Miami does. However, one quick look at recent NFL Drafts will prove this wrong.

Since 2014, Miami has had just two offensive tackles taken in the NFL Draft. Georgia on the other hand has had seven. So how has Miami developed the position better than Georgia?

In just a few more days the college football world will finally learn where Cantwell will play his college ball. But this little NIL wrinkle, whether Georgia was involved or not, will create a lot more hype as Cantwell’s commitment approaches.

Basketball is a game of four quarters. In every level of the sport, all across the globe, if you’re watching a basketball game, they’re playing four quarters. Men’s college basketball is the one exception. That may soon be changing.

Ahead of the 2015 college basketball season, the women switched from halves to quarters. The men’s sport is finally inching closer to that logical next step, but it won’t happen next year.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee is convening this week in Indianapolis. “Enhancing the flow of the game” is at the top of the agenda. One of those potential changes is switching to quarters. However, they can’t just make a decision. There needs to be more red tape.

They are recommending the creation of a joint working group to provide feedback on the change. Once they receive the feedback, next year the Rules Committee will consider making the move.

The wheels of change move slowly in the NCAA. This is a small step in the right direction.

Potential Coach’s Challenge in College Basketball

Trips to the monitor plague the sport, particularly in end-of-game situations. If Buzz Williams isn’t calling a timeout, Pat Adams is hovering over a monitor. The Rules Committee believes they’ve found a fix.

“Coach’s challenges were deemed to be the most efficient way to accomplish this goal,” said committee chair Karl Hicks. “Data from the NCAA tournament and membership conferences showed a substantial number of reviews were on out-of-bounds plays. The committee looked at other basketball leagues around the world to see what the best solution would be for the NCAA.” 

Each team would receive one coach’s challenge per game. It can only be used if a team still has a timeout. If it’s successful, they get another. If you lose it, sorry. You’re out. The challenge can be used to review out-of-bounds calls, basket interference/goaltending, and whether a secondary defender was in the restricted-area arc.

Adding the coach’s challenge would eliminate an official’s ability to review out-of-bounds plays in the final two minutes of the game. They could still take a trip to the monitor to review goaltending or restricted arc plays, but the out-of-bounds calls are the ones that slow everything down. Putting the onus on the coach is the key to ending needless trips to the monitor.

A New Continuation Rule?

There is one line from the press release that is probably going to be overlooked by some, but could play a big deal.

“Committee members also recommended modifications to the rule on continuous motion on field goal attempts.”

Late in the season, there were a couple of continuation plays that drove Kentucky fans irate. Any time it was borderline, it felt like the call went against Kentucky. In modern college basketball, extending the continuation rule makes sense. Hopefully, the rules committee takes action.

Sign up for the KSR Newsletter to receive Kentucky Wildcats news in the most ridiculous manner possible.

What do Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Julius Randle, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Haliburton, Chris Paul, Jalen Brunson, Reed Sheppard, Cooper Flagg and Jasper Johnson all have in common? As of today, they’re all clients of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) Basketball.

That’s just on the basketball side of things, a group that includes 61 first-round picks and 19 max contracts. CAA also represents some of the biggest names in football (Josh Allen, AJ Brown, Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley and CeeDee Lamb), baseball (Shohei Ohtani, Marcell Ozuna, Garrett Crochet, Trea Turner and Max Fried) and entertainment (Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Brad Pitt and Zendaya).

Now, Lexington’s own Jasper Johnson joins one of the deepest rosters of talent in the world, announcing his decision to join the CAA Sports family for NIL representation on Friday.

“Excited to join the CAA family! Let’s work!” Johnson wrote on social media.

Johnson has been represented by Nate Conley of Court XIV, who also worked with Oscar Tshiebwe and Rob Dillingham during their Kentucky careers while also signing five-star recruit Anthony Thompson — a major target for the Wildcats in 2026.

The future Kentucky guard committed to Mark Pope and the Cats back in September and signed with the program during the early period in November. He closed as the No. 25 overall recruit in the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking.

What is the program getting in the 6-4 guard out of Lexington? A dangerous scorer with serious superstar upside.

“Jasper Johnson is just danger, danger, danger, danger, right? He just is a dangerous gravity guy,” Pope said following his addition. “He just demands that if you’re not going to pay attention to him with more than one body, anywhere he is on the court probably, he’s gonna hurt you, and he can really, really, really score the ball. And he’s got a kindness about him that’s really special. And he knows Kentucky, right?

“(He has an) emotional reaction when (he puts) on a t-shirt that has Kentucky across the chest, right? (He has an) emotional response. Jasper Johnson has a chance to be a really, really special player here in Kentucky, for sure.”

Don’t believe Pope? Doesn’t matter, because arguably the top agency in the world does. If they can recognize elite talent across every avenue imaginable and hand-pick Jasper Johnson as a client, that tells you everything you need to know.