Recruiting notes: Nebraska makes final five for Preston Taumua; Gibson Pyle earns bowl invite

One of Nebraska’s top remaining offensive line targets will announce his decision Saturday. Aiea (Hawaii) Waipahu’s Preston Taumua, will pick between NU, Arizona, Auburn, Oregon and Alabama at 1 p.m. Saturday on 247Sports’ YouTube channel. The 6-foot-4, 315-pounder is ranked as the nation’s 178th-best player by ESPN and a four-star by all major recruiting services. Taumua visited Auburn on June 16, Nebraska on June 19 and Oregon on June 23. Should the Huskers grab the commit, it’d be a rare win over an SEC team and Oregon for the same player. Taumua plays tackle now but could project to an interior line spot at the collegiate level. NU already has commits from three projected interior linemen — Landen Davidson, Jake Peters and Gibson Pyle — for the 2024 class. Pyle, out of Klein (Texas) Cain High School, was one of five players to receive an invite to the All-American Bowl after the Football University Top Gun Showcase in Naples, Florida. The 6-4, 275-pounder is the second Husker commit to receiver an invite to the All-American Bowl on Jan. 6, 2024, joining Ainsworth tight end Carter Nelson. Five-star offensive tackle Brandon Baker — the Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei star who visited twice in the spring — on Saturday posted a tweet of himself in the uniform of four schools: Nebraska, Florida State, Georgia and Oregon. The 6-5, 285-pound Baker — rated as the nation’s No. 1 tackle by 247Sports, On3 and Rivals — didn’t take an official visit to NU, but his visit in March was extensive, as featured in a 28-minute video on YouTube. Along the defensive line, four-star edge rusher Jayshawn Ross also included Nebraska in his final group alongside Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State and Tennessee. The 6-4, 220-pounder is Liberty (Mo.) North High School teammates with current Husker commit Keelan Smith. Ross took a midweek unofficial visit to Nebraska in June. Committed elsewhere One of NU’s top linebacker targets committed to Alabama over the weekend. German linebacker Justin Okoronkwo — who had been committed to Maryland for months — decommitted from the Terrapins class and flipped to the Crimson Tide who, like Nebraska, offered Okoronkwo after he attended a camp at the school. At the time NU made its offer, in mid-June, Okoronkwo told the Omaha World-Herald that Nebraska, Maryland and South Carolina were his final three. A visit to Bama changed his plans. Another linebacker target who camped at NU, Avon (Conn.) Old Farms’ Derrick Brown, committed to Duke. Brown is originally from the Charlotte area. The Huskers have Willis McGahee IV and Braylen Prude as linebacker commits, though Prude could also play defensive back and McGahee has, until this upcoming season, played edge rusher in high school. The Huskers offered Junction City (Kan.) linebacker Michael Boganowski but the 6-2, 205-pound four-star visited Kansas, Stanford, Oklahoma, Florida State and Kansas State in June. More four stars for Husker commits Two Husker commits received new four-star ratings Monday. Bay City (Texas) defensive tackle Carlon Jones is On3’s No. 258 player in the country while Lancaster (Texas) running back Kewan Lacy moved to No. 298 in the nation. There are now 10 different Husker commits with four-star designations. Only Nelson is a consensus four-star recruit. 247Sports: Roger Gradney, Daniel Kaelin, Willis McGahee IV, Carter Nelson. ESPN: Nelson, Mario Buford, Dae’vonn Hall. On3: Nelson, Buford, Gradney, Carlon Jones, Kewan Lacy. Rivals: Nelson, Jacory Barney, Ian Flynt, Hall.