Huskers land transfer portal commitment from Arizona State lineman Ben Scott
Nebraska added a major piece to its offensive line for the 2023 football season. Arizona State’s Ben Scott announced on Friday his plans to transfer to Nebraska.
The addition of Scott marks one of the first proven Power Five offensive line pieces NU has gotten in the transfer portal era. It’s also now the 20th scholarship roster addition Rhule and his staff have made since Dec. 6 and the sixth scholarship offensive lineman.
“Nebraska just felt like home to me,” Scott told HuskerOnline. “My mom’s side of the family is from Columbus, Nebraska, and with Donovan Raiola being the coach with Hawaii ties and his brother Dominic being from my high school, it just felt like everything was in place for a reason. I like the atmosphere and the fans are amazing and coach (Matt) Rhule is building something great in Lincoln and I want to be a part of it.”
It gives Donovan Raiola a player he can plug in immediately on his offensive line at center.
Scott’s decision to pick the Huskers comes as a shocker to the recruiting world, as several On3 experts put their RPMs for Scott to Auburn after his visit there last weekend. He visited UCLA and was at NU on the weekend of Dec. 9. According to Auburn Live, Scott had discussed visiting Miami and Florida State in January. An announcement to pick Nebraska appeared nowhere on the radar just days ago.
The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Scott started all 13 games for ASU at right tackle in 2021 and 11 games at center in 2022. He has logged 28 starts over the last three seasons and 1,776 total snaps in three seasons, according to PFF.
In 2021, he played 794 of Arizona State’s 808 snaps on offense and 704 this past season at center. With the COVID year, Scott technically has two years of eligibility remaining. He redshirted in 2019. He graduated from ASU this month.
The Raiola connection to Ben Scott was a key factor
When you look at connections, Scott has a few to Nebraska.
He played high school football at the prestigious St. Louis in Honolulu, Hawaii. That is also the home of both current Husker offensive line coach Donovan Raiola and his brother Dominic.
It’s no coincidence that Dominic Raiola was in town the weekend of his Dec. 8 visit. He sat with his brother Donovan near Scott and his family during the Purdue vs. Nebraska basketball game.
“Having coach Donovan Raiola as the offensive line coach and being from Hawaii and his brother Dominic being from my high school who I trained with before one spring break. I knew the technique Raiola teaches and how it translates to the field and the NFL,” Scott said of the Raiola family. “It is great to have that Hawaii connection and someone that can relate to me and understand my mindset and goals of going to the next level is great!”
Scott will play center at Nebraska
Scott has played center and right tackle, two areas of need on the Husker roster. Center Trent Hixson graduated and right tackle Bryce Benhart moved in and out of the line-up at times in 2022.
However, Scott confirmed to HuskerOnline that he will play center at NU in 2023.
“I am a center and will be coming in as a center,” Scott said. “I played tackle in the Pac-12 and moved to center because that is what I will be drafted at, so I am looking to build off of this past season and get at least two years under my belt at center, which will be great for me.”
Another interesting nugget on Scott is he camped at Nebraska during the summers of 2016 and 2017.
Scott’s mother Renee is a Columbus native, giving the family another strong tie to the NU program. He has several family members that still live around the Columbus area.
“My mom is from Nebraska and all of her family is in Nebraska,” Scott said. “They are all die-hard fans and already said they are going to every game. Out of high school, I really wanted to go to Nebraska and went to two years of camps with no success.
“Now that I’ve grown in college I think that Lincoln is still the place I want to be. Right now I’m in Arizona where my parents are enjoying the holidays and training, so I’m ready when I get on campus for the next semester.”
