Rhode Island offensive lineman Ajani Cornelius piles up major Power 5 offers from Nebraska, others

On3 imageby:Kaiden Smith11/30/22

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Rhode Island offensive tackle Ajani Cornelius entered the transfer portal Tuesday, which was followed by a handful of Power 5 schools offering him including Nebraska.

Along with an offer from the Cornhuskers, Cornelius has also received Power 5 offers from Missouri, Virginia, Washington State, West Virginia, and Kansas. He’s also received offers from Group of 5 programs in Cincinnati, Marshall, Temple, and Akron, bringing his number of total offers to 10 in his short period of time in the transfer portal.

Cornelius is a 6-foot-4, 315-pound offensive tackle that started all 11 games in the past two seasons for Rhode Island at the right tackle spot. He was an under-recruited prospect out of high school attending Archbishop Stepinac high school in White Plains, New York, receiving offers from Rhode Island, Bryant, Howard, and Hampton.

In the 2022 season, Cornelius earned First Team All-CAA Football honors, blocking for the third-highest scoring offense in the conference that averaged 30.6 points per game and 168.8 rushing yards per game. He received a 91.1% player grade according to Pro Football Focus, allowing just one sack in 528 snaps, a level of production that many programs could use up front heading into the 2023 season.

Matt Rhule sets lofty standard for recruiting areas, coaching staff

Opening up his era in Nebraska, Matt Rhule outlined his lofty standards for recruiting and his future coaching staff at his press conference on Monday.

“I want young, energetic, dynamic coaches,” Rhule said. “There’s some leagues where you have to go hire some names. I think my ties recruiting and our ties recruiting in Texas are something that we’re going to lean on. If you look at the history of Nebraska and its ties to New Jersey, those are places we’re pretty well known. And Florida. Those are the distinct areas.

“Studying this job, the in-state talent I’m excited about. Then you draw that 500-mile radius… I want to have the best summer camps. I want to have 2,000-3,000 kids coming to our camps a year, not just prospect camps… That’s how you find players that go off to FCS schools and you see them in the draft. I don’t need celebrity coaches that are going to go to one school a day. I need coaches that are going to go and do it the old-school way. We’re going to have a hard-working staff.”

Rhule ideally wants his full staff in place before coaches go on the road recruiting on Dec. 2, but it was too early to say whether that would happen just yet.

“To me, it all comes down to fit,” Rhule said. “People have to want to be here, number one. They have to want to be in the role they’re in, and we have to all move forward… Again, when I’ve not had success, it’s when people are pulling off into one direction, and there will be a very clear vision and process for how we do things inside the walls of the football program and within the x’s and o’s.”

On3’s Nikki Chavanelle contributed to this report