Tight End Erik Olsen Names Nebraska Cornhuskers As Only Big Ten Team Among Favorites
Tight end prospect Erik Olsen named the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers among his Top 10 choices over the weekend. The Colorado product took to his Twitter account to announce the teams that are still in the running for his services.
The Huskers stood out as the only Big Ten school to make Olsen’s cut. They might find themselves at a disadvantage when trying to secure his loyalty, as many of the teams he’s chosen to focus on are part of the Pac 12 conference.
Alongside the Cornhuskers, Olsen named University of Utah; Iowa State University; UCLA; Arizona State University; University of Washington; Stanford University; University of California, Berkeley; Kansas State University; and Colorado University. Interestingly, other than Nebraska, the only teams outside his home conference reside in the Big 12.
Should the Huskers manage to land Olsen, it would mean they’ve secured the commitment of yet another big-bodied tight end, who is said to have a nice mix of speed and hands. 247Sports rates him as a 3-star prospect, though the site’s composite ratings haven’t yet evaluated him. They rank him as the sixth-best player in Colorado and the 43rd best tight end in the class of 2021.
It doesn’t appear there’s a strict consensus on where he could end up in the ratings, as Rivals has him as a 4-star player. Unfortunately for Cornhuskers fans, that recruiting site also believes he has a slight preference for Kansas State.
Top 10: @Utah_Football @UW_Football @CycloneFB @StanfordFball @UCLAFootball @CalFootball @HuskerFBNation @KStateFB @ASUFootball @CUBuffsFootball pic.twitter.com/tTfFcDFMzz
— Erik Olsen (@e_olsen12) April 19, 2020
The Huskers have got their foot in the door when it comes to Olsen and unofficial visits. He took two trips to the school last fall and winter, after having first traveled to UCLA. He was also in Lincoln to see the Huskers knock off the Northwestern Wildcats.
The 6 foot-5 inch tight end recently told 247Sports his timeline for when he’s going to pick a school has changed due to the coronavirus outbreak. He said he originally wanted to commit before the start of his senior year, but that’s not likely to happen now.
The NCAA has put a strict restriction on in-person recruiting, and Olsen said he wants to make quite a few more visits — both official and unofficial — to schools before making a decision. He talked about wanting to see the Cornhuskers and Memorial stadium as well as another visit to UCLA and most of the other Pac 12 programs on his list. He’s also looking to see Colorado since “they’re so close.”
The Huskers have been on a bit of a run lately when it comes to making prospects’ Top 10 lists. In addition to Olsen, Patrick Hisatake and Logan Diggs are also still considering Nebraska.
