Football: Crete junior picks NU

LINCOLN — It could have been the adrenaline. Or maybe the immediate weight of higher expectations on the way.

But Ryne Reeves hardly surprised his dad with his destination Wednesday night after returning to Crete, Neb., from football camp at the University of Nebraska.

The weight room.

Reeves concluded 2½ days at the Big Red Football School with a promise of a scholarship from the Huskers — an offer he accepted. The surprising part was that the offensive lineman will be only a junior for Crete coach Chuck McGinnis next season, making him NU's first commitment for 2011.

His father, John Reeves, is the offensive line coach at Crete. He said McGinnis let his son know immediately that he'll be carrying a target on his back and that complacency cannot be an issue.

No problem, said Ryne Reeves, a 6-foot-3½, 287-pounder who started as a sophomore last season for the Cardinals.

“It'll probably just motivate me to be better,” Reeves said. “I need to impress people and show why I got the offer.”

By NCAA rules, colleges cannot make a written scholarship offer until Sept. 1 for players heading into their junior seasons. John Reeves said the NU staff basically told his son it had a scholarship for him and it would send something in the mail on Sept. 1.

Also, Ryne and John Reeves needed to leave campus after the camp concluded and then return before NU coaches could make the offer.

Ryne Reeves, who turns 17 next month, hardly hesitated when the offer came from head coach Bo Pelini and assistant coach Barney Cotton.

“I guess his hope was just to get on Nebraska's radar, so they would look at him and maybe invite him to a game or two,” said John Reeves, a former Doane College offensive lineman and assistant coach. “When I went to pick him up, he said ‘Coach Cotton wants to see us in his office,' and I was just shocked.”

McGinnis said he watched Ryne Reeves in one-on-one drills Tuesday and “thought he was the best kid there.” But that didn't surprise McGinnis after Reeves played offensive guard and rotated on the defensive line for Crete last fall.

Also as a sophomore, Reeves started in basketball and qualified for the state track meet in the shot put.

But the offer Wednesday from NU solidified football as his long-term future. The Huskers project him as a center.

“I've always wanted to play football for Nebraska,'' Reeves said. “So today was a pretty good day.”

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com