The Nebraska football team made a late addition to its 2020 scholarship recruiting class, and it's an interesting one.
Daniel Cerni, an Australian rules football player from Melbourne, Australia, announced Monday he will join the Huskers as a punter. He'll presumably compete for a starting job immediately.Â
Nebraska previously signed 23 players in its scholarship class of 2020. With the addition of Cerni, the Huskers still have a scholarship available to offer, and it'll likely go to a transfer if the right player materializes.Â
As for Cerni, the fact he's a scholarship player alone suggests he has an inside track to the starting job in 2020, as punters seldom enter programs on scholarship. Nebraska's roster currently includes two punters who have never attempted a punt at NU: sophomore William Przystup, who transferred to NU last season from Michigan State, and Grant Detlefsen, a redshirt freshman from Lincoln Southeast.
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Isaac Armstrong handled punting duties for Nebraska last season, averaging 40.9 yards on 59 attempts as the Huskers ranked 42nd nationally in net punting.Â
According to his Twitter account, Cerni trains for Prokick Australia, which, according to its website, was developed in 2007 "to help guide and transition Australian athletes to perform at the college/NFL level, and with our natural Aussie instinct of kicking a ball, we have focused on that area."
Prokick Australia boasts five winners of the annual Ray Guy Award, which goes to the nation's top collegiate punter.Â
Former Auburn punter Arryn Siposs, who trained at Prokick Australia, recently signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent. So, a connection: Jonathan Rutledge is in his first year as Nebraska’s senior special teams analyst after spending the past two seasons at Auburn.
Przystup, a native of Oviedo, Florida, played in eight games in 2019 in his first season at Nebraska, recording 11 touchbacks on 34 kickoffs. He appeared in four games as a true freshman at Michigan State in 2018, preserving a season of eligibility by utilizing his redshirt season.
He ended that season as MSU's starting punter, earning his first career start when the Spartans traveled to Lincoln to take on the Huskers in November. On the year, he averaged 40.6 yards per punt with five punts of 50 yards or longer.
In other Nebraska recruiting news, the Huskers added another player for the 2020 roster Friday when Drew Monin, of Avon, Connecticut, announced he'll join the program as a walk-on. He posted 300-plus career tackles for Old Farms, the alma mater of current Husker defensive end Casey Rogers.
The latest updates from the Nebraska football recruiting trail
Campus and in-home visits are on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. But recruiting isn't necessarily slowing down. Here's the latest from the Huskers.Â
Nebraska is in the final group for an offensive lineman it's been recruiting for some time.Â
The NJCAA announced Monday that it will not play football this fall, which could have ripple effects for the Huskers' recruiting efforts.
College football will see no in-person recruiting before the scheduled start of the season — at the earliest.Â
Nebraska added a big piece to its offensive line situation on Wednesday.Â
The former prep wrestling phenom — and current freshman DL — says he doesn't intend to double-dip, though "he would be a stud Division I wrestler."
The Huskers continue their blitz for linebackers — the Iowa native marks the fourth LB in a nine-member class of 2021 group.Â
Husker offensive line commit Teddy Prochazka has been working out at a gym owned by the brother of NU strength coach Zach Duval.
Nebraska lost a recruiting battle to Iowa State over the weekend when three-star wide receiver Jaylin Noel picked the Cyclones over the Husker…