Cheadle chasing Nebraska offer

The drive from Lee's Summit, Mo., to Lincoln, Neb., is becoming routine for cornerback Logan Cheadle. So, in a lot of ways, as he prepares to make his fourth visit to Nebraska's campus, it's simply more of the same.

Coach Bo Pelini's staff has been recruiting Cheadle for months. Conversations are frequent and the letters never stop. That stuff isn't new. It's all as familiar as the drive he'll make to attend the Husker's spring game on Saturday.

There is, however, reason for him to believe that this drive will yield something more concrete than a handshake and a "thanks for coming." Suddenly, the Lee's Summit West standout is sounding cautiously optimistic about a scholarship offer.

"I wouldn't say I'm expecting an offer," Cheadle said. "I mean, I would hope that they would offer me soon because I'm really interested in the program, but I'm not going up there expecting anything.

"The reason I'm going up there is that I talked to their corners coach last week, and he was really encouraging me to come up there because he wants to talk to me for a while before the game and introduce me a few of his players and stuff like that."

Cheadle wants an offer from Nebraska. He doesn't hide his feelings on that. That's not to say he's living for one, though. Despite the connotation of his comments and the relationship he has with the Huskers' staff, Pelini and company aren't merely a scholarship offer away from landing his commitment. The situation is more complicated than that.

When Cheadle is asked pointblank if an offer would move Nebraska to the top of his list, his tune changes significantly.

"I wouldn't say that at all," he said. "It's definitely a school I'll consider, but they wouldn't automatically be the top. They would be the fourth school to offer me, but they have offered 12 or 13 2014 corners already, so I'm not exactly at the top of their list right now."

Offer or nor offer, Cheadle plans to bring his recruitment to an end in the near future. He plans to make a commitment this summer in an effort to clear his mind before he starts his senior season. And if he's left to choose between his current offers, - offers that come from Missouri, Iowa State and Northern Illinois -- so be it.

"Missouri was probably … actually, definitely No. 1 one in my mind, but I visited Northern Illinois, and it's is a great program, too," Cheadle said. "Then, when I visited Iowa State, I was shocked by them. Everything is really, really nice up there. I wasn't really expecting much from them, but it was really, really great. That's going to make it hard for me."

Cheadle says few teams outside of Nebraska and the three programs from which he currently holds offers are seriously involved in his recruitment. He was, at a time, in frequent contact with coaches from Kansas but has not heard from the Jayhawks' staff in recent weeks.