New Nebraska commit Brice Turner's recruiting process ended with one phone call
The only thing faster than Brice Turner’s track times was his recruiting process.
It took the Bay City (Texas) speedster all of one phone call on Tuesday to tell Nebraska assistant coach Evan Cooper “yes.”
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Turner runs 10.25 seconds in the 100 meters, 20.97 in the 200 and 47.78 in the 400. His 100 time won state in Texas Class 4A and finished second all-class, according to his high school football and track coach Robert Jones.
One thing Jones also made clear about Nebraska is it is targeting speed.
“This morning (Coach Evan Cooper) called, and he had reached out to me to talk about Brice,” Jones said. “When he was at Baylor, he said he had recruited some of the track guys that played football. He said, ‘You can’t coach that type of speed.’ He was asking a lot of the good and bad things about him.
“I just told him he’s kind of a raw route runner that needs a little work with his footwork, but with him being 6-2 and 180 pounds and running as he can run, it’s very rare you can get a guy like that.”
Brice Turner will start out at WR for Nebraska
Another interesting question: What position will Turner play for the Huskers?
According to Jones, his most comfortable position is at receiver.
“Nebraska also asked me if he could play in the secondary,” Jones said. “If it was up to me and you asked me where to play him in the secondary, I’d put him at corner.”
Turner also gave Husker assistant track coach Brenton Emanuel a lot of credit for steering the new NU football staff in his direction.
Emanuel had already been recruiting Turner in track, and once he found out Matt Rhule and was targeting track speed, he led them in his direction.
“It was a really big blessing,” Turner said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time since I was a sophomore. I was hearing from a lot of coaches, but nobody really responded. When he gave me that opportunity, I decided to take it, because I didn’t know what was going to happen in the future. It’s a really big blessing overall.”
Turner will visit Lincoln on the weekend of Dec. 16. His recruiting process is shut down now and he plans to sign with the Huskers on Dec. 21.
“I bring heart. I bring talent. I bring everything that needs to be brought,” Turner said. “I can really help this team mentally and physically. I just want to help this team and be a leader on the team and do whatever I need to do. I just want to go out there and have fun and do my thing on the track.”
Jones will still have Turner for the track season, and he said its been a lot of fun having him on the football field.
As a senior for Bay City, Turner had 22 catches for 495 yards and six touchdowns to go along with 170 yards rushing and two touchdowns, according to the school’s MaxPreps page. Bay City went 8-4 this season, losing in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs. It was its best season since 2005.
“He made a lot of big plays for us that kept us in games and opened games up for us,” Jones said of Turner. “When he hits the crease, the band can start standing up and playing the fight song. Ain’t too many people going to catch him.”
