The Nebraska football team made an offer to a quarterback on Monday who is still trying to decide whether he might play basketball or football at the next level. Riley Leonard, out of Fairhope, Alabama, announced on Twitter he’d officially gotten the call from the Huskers.
The offer from the Cornhuskers was the sixth one for Leonard to play football from an FBS school, suggesting that interest in him appears to have picked up quite a bit in the last few weeks. In fact, the number of schools that have officially come calling for Leonard doubled in the last three days. In addition to the Huskers, Duke and Syracuse both came calling over the weekend.
Extremely Blessed to receive an offer from Duke University ??? #GoDuke pic.twitter.com/ZbWWOrdkMc
— Riley Leonard (@rileyleonard13_) May 3, 2020
Leonard is so far flying under the radar of recruiting services, despite being a member of the 2021 class. He doesn’t have an official rating on either 247Sports or Rivals .
Very thankful to receive an offer from Syracuse University ??? pic.twitter.com/ZbBP058ajq
— Riley Leonard (@rileyleonard13_) May 3, 2020
Leonard’s lack of a star rating could be because he hasn’t come to a decision on what sport he wants to play in college. If it was up to his high school coach, however, it appears that he believes the prospect should be highly ranked.
Blessed to receive an offer from The University of Nebraska?? #GOHUSKERS @coach_frost pic.twitter.com/j5qH10yXcS
— Riley Leonard (@rileyleonard13_) May 4, 2020
AL.com recently did a story on Leonard and talked to his head coach, Tim Carter. He told the paper he believes his star player is the best quarterback he’s ever coached.
“He’s extremely intelligent, makes really good grades, thinks well on his feet and is extremely competitive,” he said.
Carter also said Leonard is starting to come into his own physically and had recently enjoyed a growth spurt of sorts. He thinks the player is taller than 6-feet-3-inches these days and weighs in at around 200 pounds.
Last season, Leonard passed for 1,231 yards while completing 102 of 172 passes. He also hurt opponents on the ground, rushing for 499 yards and eight touchdowns on just 96 carries.
While Nebraska and the other schools that want him to play football might be hoping that performance convinced him to turn his back on basketball, he arguably had a better season shooting hoops.
In his junior season, Leonard averaged 20.9 points and 8.5 rebounds a game for Fairhope. He added 58 blocks and 76 steals to his resume. He ended up being one of three finalists for Player of the Year in his high school division. If there is something that might pull him toward football, it would be that the schools offering him a spot on the basketball team aren’t quite as high-profile.
Leonard said he has offers from North Alabama, UAB, Samford, and Missouri State. None of those schools are in traditional “power” conferences in that sport. For now, he needs to not only decide between Nebraska and the other schools that have given him an offer, but also needs to decide which sport he wants to play in college.
