Alante Brown played quarterback most of his high school career at Chicago Simeon.
During a year at St. Thomas More college preparatory school in Connecticut, he often lined up out of the backfield at running back.
Nebraska thinks he’s going to do just fine at wide receiver in college.
Brown announced his commitment to Nebraska on the Big Ten Network on Wednesday morning.
"I'm really an all-purpose back, so from running back to inside receiver to outside receiver," Brown told BTN when he committed. "If I'm not at running back, I'm at receiver and if I'm not at receiver, I'm at running back. Those are the things that I like to do. And, of course, special teams."Ìý
He was the third player to commit to Nebraska on Signing Day, joining Florida defensive back Jaiden Francois and Florida wideout Marcus Fleming.
People are also reading…
Brown is a midyear enrollee out of prep school, so he will be on campus in January. He told BTN he expects to arrive on campus on Jan. 10.
Brown, a dynamic athlete, switched positions during his lone season at prep school, and had an excellent fall, making him a highly recruited player for the second straight year. The year he spent in Connecticut, he said, helped prepare him for his future.
"I had to grow up, really. I learned from mistakes, went over to Connecticut and it changed me as a person," Brown said. "So really it just made me more mature and made me look at things totally different."
This time around, he’s going to be a Husker.
NU landed the 5-foot-11, 180-pounder on National Signing Day, beating out Maryland, Ole Miss and several others for his services.
Brown started for three high school seasons at Simeon, rising to be one of the most recognizable high school players in Chicago. In his senior season at Simeon, Brown led the school to 11 straight wins and a Class 7A state quarterfinals appearance. He verbally pledged to Michigan State, then ended up signing with Texas Tech before eventually landing at St. Thomas Moore.
There, he played more out of the backfield and continued to hone a versatile skill set, the type Nebraska covets and has found success with in players such as Wan’Dale Robinson.
Brown received a visit from Nebraska offensive coordinator and receivers coach Troy Walters on Dec. 1, the very first day of the contact period, then took an official visit in the middle of last week, sandwiched between visits to the Terrapins and to Ole Miss, where Lane Kiffin is the new head coach.
"Coming down Wednesday, it was just real eye-opening. It went down on a Wednesday, kids doing finals, it's not like they sold me with anything or tried to buy me over," Brown said. "They showed me the school, they showed how they would use me, they showed me the academic side, which I was very impressed with.
"I just really feel like it will be a good thing for me and my family in the future."