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Interior offensive lineman Corey Whitaker is 6-foot-5, 270 pounds from Murietta, Calif.
"I was a little underrated," Whitaker told Huskers Illustrated, a recruiting partner to The World Herald.
Once major college football programs saw his film and realized the same thing, Nebraska was in strong position to get Whitaker's commitment. NU did, picking up its 13th pledge for the 2012 recruiting class.
"There's a lot of great opportunities for offensive linemen at Nebraska," he said of his Jan. 21 visit to Lincoln. "I just felt like when I got there the coaches were great to me. I went in there not knowing if I'd get a scholarship, but they quickly offered. They told me I could be a guy that could help make Nebraska a better team.
"I just loved the school, facilities and everyone there was pretty great."
Before the trip, Oregon was Whitaker's dream school. The Ducks, like the Huskers, were likely to offer Whitaker once he arrived on campus.
But the visit to Eugene never came.
"I was leaning toward Oregon and halfway through the visit I was thinking 'Wow, Nebraska is steering me away from the dream school,' " he said. "That's when I started to know that the team I thought was my dream team, wouldn't be the team for me."
Whitaker tried committing to offensive line coach John Garrison and coach Bo Pelini, but neither answered their phone. So he called wide receivers coach Rich Fisher.
"Coach Fisher was super excited when I told him," he said. "The other coaches didn't find out until a little later, but they were pretty excited."
The offensive lineman joins Paul Thurston as the second offensive lineman to commit to the 2012 class. Both Thurston and Whitaker look to be centers or guards at Nebraska. .
Whitaker was a three-year starter and plays with an aggressiveness and motor that jumps off his highlight tape. A run-blocking specialist, Whitaker was a two-time All-CIF and All-Valley first-team selection for the powerful program near San Diego.
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WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:
• Whitaker finds new 'Dream Team' (HuskersIllustrated.com)
• Vista Murrieta's Whitaker to Nebraska (nctimes.com)
• Vista Murrieta's O-line isn't a joke (nctimes.com)
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