It's not every day you see a major basketball player receive a football offer. But that was the case for Manasseh Kasongo Maru, who recently visited Nebraska football practice.
The 6-foot-7, 220-pound junior is a hardwood center and gridiron defensive end for East High School in Sioux City, Iowa. After visiting Lincoln on March 28, he took home his first football offer. It probably won't be his last.
The 2025 prospect had positive things to say about the Nebraska program and his offer.
“What makes Nebraska unique is its cities, the people who live there, and the fact that they care about education and life after sports.”
People often forget that it's not all about sports. Many of these players don't make it to the next level, so schooling can be very important. In life you never know what the next step will be.
“Coach Matt Rhule (head coach), Coach Terrence Knighton (defensive line coach), Keith Williams (assistant director of player personnel) and Vincent Johnson (assistant athletics coach) were the ones I connected with the most. They didn't rush me into anything and they were really reasonable with me and I was there for the football. I felt like I could make a good connection with them even if I had to go. ”
As mentioned earlier, he is a basketball star and talked about his shock when he received a soccer offer.
“Well, I never took soccer that seriously because I was a big basketball star and I never thought I was good at soccer. But now that I got the offer, I definitely took it more seriously. I’m going to take it and try to make sure I can play some football.’ I’m at the top of my game. ”
He also admitted that even though basketball is his primary sport, he is considering football at the University of Nebraska.
