The McNabb Report: Why Burkhead Chose Huskers Over Horns

Plano's Burkhead Adds to Nebraska's Texas Haul Plano running back Rex Burkhead took his time with recruiting. He deferred many summer visits while offers piled up from colleges around the country. Burkhead narrowed his choices to Nebraska, Stanford, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Mississippi. Burkhead went to College Station this past weekend for only his second official visit. The NCAA allows a maximum of five, but his A&M visit only confirmed what Burkhead had been feeling for some time. Burkhead committed to Nebraska, where he took an official visit in September. Rated a four-star recruit by rivals.com, Burkhead adds to Nebraska's resurgence back into Texas recruiting. Abilene linebacker Chris Williams, the 2007 5A Defensive Player of the Year, has committed to Nebraska as well as the 6-4, dual-threat quarterback Cody Green, who has led Dayton to the Class 4A DII state final. Husker assistant coach Tim Beck stopped by Plano on Monday afternoon and Burkhead told him he was ready to commit. They called Nebraska coach Bo Pelini to deliver the good news. It was no accident that Beck was at Plano. He's been a key to Burkhead's recruitment. Beck is a former coach at Carrollton R.L. Turner and Mansfield Summit and Beck helped recruit North Texas for several years as a Kansas assistant. Beck was one of Pelini's first hires at Nebraska. Beck is part of the Cardinal Mooney high school clan from Youngstown, Ohio -- where Pelini, his brother Carl and Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops all attended. And that Beck is Nebraska's running backs coach was a huge factor as well. Burkhead wanted a chance to play running back and Nebraska was one of the first major colleges to recruit him for that position. Many colleges projected Burkhead as a safety, which he also played at Plano at times. Burkhead has played on Plano's varsity since he was a fullback/defensive back as a freshman. "I felt it was the place where I felt I fit in the best," Burkhead said. "And I felt like it was the right time to make my decision. It was really everything about Nebraska - the student body, the coaches, the players, the academics. I can just see myself being there for the next four years." Burkhead took his official visit to Nebraska (following a Plano win over Hebron) and traveled to Nebraska for two other unofficial visits to make sure of his decision. Burkhead has been mixing recruiting with basketball. Plano was eliminated in a second-round state football playoff showdown which Euless Trinity won 42-35. Leading Plano to a 12-1 record, he rushed for 1,762 yards, caught 42 passes for 594 yards and scored 35 touchdowns. Barry Every of rivals.com was impressed with Burkhead's all-purpose back potential and moved him into the Rivals250 at No. 238 last month. "Burkhead is one of the best all-around football players you'll see," said Every. "He can do everything - he has excellent vision, good hands, he's tough, he can run and he's a special teams kid as well. He does everything well. He's the type of kid who will find a place on the field." Burkhead was not recruited heavily by Texas, but the Longhorns tried to get in late as Burkhead's status and reviews steadily gained in prominence. Texas coaches indicated early in recruiting that Burkhead likely wouldn't be a running back prospect and didn't originally offer Burkhead. Texas seeming uncertainty likely killed Texas' recruiting in the end. Texas played an "if you'll accept, we'll offer" game that was too little, too late. Texas has been widely second-guessed for not being more aggressive in recruiting Burkhead. Mesquite 2010 WR Rising Despite Injury It takes a lot of talent for some of the top schools around the country to notice a player despite only playing four games in a season. But Mesquite receiver Davian Harper jumped on radars with strong summer camps last year and has stayed on them even though he missed most of his junior season with injuries. "It didn't go as well as I wanted it to, but it was alright," Harper said. "I had a level three, almost a complete break, high-ankle sprain on my right ankle. It kept me out for about seven weeks before I got back on the field. I only got to play in like four games." Without the 6-foot-3, 200-pound receiver, Mesquite struggled and just barely missed the playoffs. Harper ended his junior season with only eight catches, but plenty of schools have noticed his talent. "I get mail regularly from Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma State, Virginia, Kansas and Oregon," Harper said. The talented wideout was invited to and will attend the Army All-American camp coming up in January. "I talked to coach D.J. McCarthy from LSU and the coaches at Alabama. They both want me to come to their camps this summer. I plan on going to both of those," Harper said. While Haper says he is wide open, there are a few schools that have caught his eye early. "Alabama, LSU, Texas Tech and Oregon are at the top of my list right now. Then USC I'd like to hear from them too," Harper said. DISD Linebacker to Big 10 Adamson linebacker Roderick Goodlow was looking around the country before finally settling on Northwestern in the Big 10. Goodlow had taken visits to Notre Dame and Wisconsin. He also held scholarship offers from Arkansas, Louisiana Tech, Tulsa, Nebraska, Colorado and Arizona. Rivals ranked Goodlow as the No. 34 ranked linebacker in the nation on the strength of summer camp showings in which he worked with defensive backs in covering wide receivers. The 6-2, 200-pound Goodlow shows much promise but missed this season with a torn ACL in a preseason scrimmage.