Jordan HammIn college football, coaching turnover can create recruiting turnover in the blink of an eye. For Centennial running back and linebacker Dedrick Young, that was not the case. Young committed to the University of Nebraska on Monday after newly appointed head coach Mike Riley took over for Bo Pelini last week.
“It didn’t affect me too much because at Oregon State, (Riley) offered me and all that, so I knew them a little bit and it didn’t affect me that much,” Young said.
Riley and the Cornhuskers pick up a versatile back and punishing linebacker with a nose for the football. Young leaves Centennial with over 4,400 total yards and has the second most tackles in school history. There is a bit of uncertainty regarding where Young will play, but he said he thinks the Nebraska coaching staff wants him to play on the defensive side of the ball.
Either way, Centennial head football coach Richard Taylor said Young wants to help the team any way he can, and his mix of humility and confidence he showed as a sophomore in high school will continue to help him at the next level.
“When he was a sophomore and I realized he was a (Division-I) kid, I said, ‘Make sure you keep your grades up because there’s going to be a lot of colleges talking to you’,” Taylor said. “He just said, ‘Really?’ He had no idea that he was that good.”
An accomplished football player, as well as a student with a 3.7 GPA, Young said the opportunities both as a student and an athlete ultimately drew him to the Cornhuskers.
“There’s a lot of opportunities there on the academics part, and I just feel like at home there,” Young said.
“He isn’t going to college to get to the pros. He’s going to college to get an education and a degree. If anything else happens that’s good,” Taylor said. “If you had a room full of Dedricks, you would have to fight people away from the teaching profession.”
With another top prospect off the board, the flurry of commitments in the state of Arizona continues. Brophy’s Isaiah Oliver and Chandler’s Justin Jan both committed to Colorado. Mountain Pointe offensive tackle Davis Perrott gave his verbal to Mike Leach and Washington State, and the state’s top recruit, Christian Kirk, is scheduled to announce his commitment on Wednesday.
