Nebraska Football Makes Offer to In-State 2028 Grand Island Linebacker

Nebraska football appears to have found a hidden gem located within its state borders.

The Huskers offered 2028 Grand Island Central Catholic linebacker Owen Price on Sunday, extending the prospect’s first Power Four offer. Price received his first Division I offer on May 31 from South Dakota State and was then later offered by Miami (OH). Nebraska becomes the linebacker’s third offer from a Division I program.

The Huskers’ offer becomes the second in-state offer for a 2028 prospect after Nebraska extended an offer to Omaha Westside’s Justin Parish, a four-star interior offensive lineman, in mid-May. Parish is regarded as a top-15 rated prospect at his position and the top-rated player in the state of Nebraska for the 2028 cycle.

Price does not yet have a prospect rating from 247Sports, but is listed at 6-3, 210 pounds and has a self-reported 10-8 broad jump, a 40 1/2-inch vertical. and runs a 4.51 40-yard dash. The rising junior is a multi-sport athlete for the Crusaders, competing in Nebraska’s Class C, playing in varsity football and track and field. Price was part of Grand Island Central Catholic’s runner-up finish in the Class C 4×100-meter relay as the second leg of the relay. He also competed in the 100 and 200 meters this spring.

On the field, Price’s numbers jumped significantly in his second varsity season. After playing in nine games as a freshman, stacking 34 total tackles and 4.0 tackles for loss while nabbing an interception and forcing a fumble, the sophomore aided in an 11-2 season and a runner-up finish for Grand Island Central Catholic in Class C2 last fall. Price recorded 96 total tackles, including 24 tackles for loss, while adding 6.0 sacks on the season. He would log his second career interception while forcing three fumbles and recovering three more.

Price did some of his best work in the Crusaders’ postseason run, recording eight total tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble in Grand Island Central Catholic’s first-round win over West Point-Beemer. He would add six tackles and a tackle for loss against Boone Central the following week, then contributed nine tackles and a tackle for loss in a semifinal victory over Ord. Price’s season would conclude with four tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss in the Crusaders’ 37-15 loss in the Class C2 state championship game against Bishop Neumann.

The Grand Island native played mainly as an outside linebacker under head coach Jeff Ashby’s defense, as Price would tally three double-digit tackle contests and two multi-sack games in his sophomore season.

Nebraska extended a Matt Rhule Football Camp invite on April 8 to Price, whose early summer schedule quickly filled up with regional camps. Price was invited to prospect camps for Nebraska, Kansas State, South Dakota State, South Dakota, and Iowa. After attending the Jackrabbits’ camp at the end of May, Price was offered by South Dakota State in a similar timeline to his Nebraska offer.

Price has also attended a camp in Iowa City, as the Hawkeyes are the other Big Ten program to show interest in the Grand Island prospect. It should also be noted that Ashby, Price’s coach at Grand Island Central Catholic, had an in-state prospect become a star player for Iowa football at the coach’s last stop at Giltner High School. Drew Ott was a Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year honoree who would go on to start for the Hawkeyes across four seasons as a defensive end from 2012 to 2015.

Parish and Price now headline a growing class of in-state prospects that could garner more attention as the recruitment cycle goes on. Parish pairs with Westside teammate and defensive lineman Micah Santiago as another in-state target for national attention, as the 6-2, 295-pound defender has offers from Florida State, Iowa State, and Kansas State, among others. Westside’s Micah Benning has received more attention as a prospect to watch after strong camp showings at Nebraska. Benning is the brother of current Husker defensive back Caleb Benning.

Outside of the Omaha metro, Malcolm’s Gerrit DeWaard has six offers from regional schools, including Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Northwestern, but has not yet received a star or recruitment ranking. Although Nebraska football had been criticized in recent years for missing out or not offering in-state prospects, the Huskers prioritized in-state talent for the 2027 class, securing commitments from four of the top seven prospects.

Two of the four commits – quarterback Trae Taylor and receiver Antayvious Ellis – made the decision to transfer from their original schools to Nebraska to aid in peer-recruitment. Both landed at Millard South, giving the Huskers two additional in-state commits. Nebraska also secured the commitments of four-star safety Tory Pittman and three-star lineman Matt Erickson, both of whom attend Millard North. The Huskers are still battling for three-star Ashland-Greenwood interior offensive lineman Barrett Kitrell, the No. 5 prospect in Nebraska. Kitrell has offers from Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, and Minnesota, among others.