Eli Drinkwitz and the Missouri football staff have compiled the No. 20 ranked recruiting class in the nation up to this point, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings.

The Tigers hoped to add to that class with the addition of 4-Star safety Jeremiah Jones from Murray, Kentucky, but the talented defender had other ideas.

Despite taking a visit to Columbia last week and speaking highly of his time in Missouri, Jones locked in his commitment to Nebraska this week with a post on social media.

Jones is rated as the No. 4 player in the state of Kentucky and is the No. 35 safety in the nation, according to 247Sports. He committed to Nebraska in July of this year, joining the Cornhuskers’ 21st ranked recruiting class. As just a sophomore at Murray High School in Kentucky, Jones compiled an impressive 97 tackles and five interceptions.

Nebraska has struggled in recent weeks after a hot start that saw them jump out to a 5-1 record. The Cornhuskers now sit at 5-5 after dropping four straight games to conference opponents, but still have a chance at bowl eligibility with games remaining against Wisconsin and Iowa.

Head coach Matt Rhule put together a strong recruiting class in 2024, headlined by 5-Star quarterback Dylan Raiola, that finished in the top-20 in the nation. As it stands now, Nebraska looks to be in position once again to secure a top-20 class potentially.

Despite missing out on the flip, Drinkwitz and Missouri are also still in play for one of the nation’s top classes. The Tigers finished 20th in the country in 2024, and are still in position to do so again.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Is Nebraska a new tourism hot spot?

A new report from Visit Nebraska shows a major increase in travel, providing an economic boost.

Last year, out-of-state visitors spent $4.6 billion in Nebraska, an all-time record.

And since 2019, the number of overnight hotel guests has doubled, with 76% of them coming from out of state.

What happened in 2019? Visit Nebraska began a new marketing strategy that included ideas such as finding out what locations it should be promoting and focusing on attracting out of state visitors.

“Truly it’s just because people have been invited to the state in a way they understand, in a way that makes sense,” said John Ricks, executive director of Visit Nebraska, also known as the Nebraska Tourism Commission.

SEE ALSO: Nebraska tourism slogan is no more. ‘Everything has a shelf life,’ official says

Ricks says the preconceived notion of Nebraska being a flyover state isn’t true. The commission just had to let people know what the state offers.

After talking with out-of-state visitors, it learned what barriers were keeping people from the Cornhusker State.

“There’s just a simple awareness problem and a familiarity problem,” Ricks said.

SEE ALSO: Nebraska Tourism receives second national award for ‘not for everyone’ campaign

We asked users of the Now Local News App, some who live here and some who don’t, what their favorite spots are in Nebraska.

“I think that going out to western Nebraska is my family’s favorite place to go,” Melanie Dawkins said. “I don’t think enough Nebraskans make it all the way out there, like to the Panhandle.”

Kimberly Grace, who lives out of state, said she likes visiting the Stuhr Museum at Grand Island.

“You can learn about the pioneer days, and they have houses that they put on the land where you can go to visit.”

SEE ALSO: Rooms fill up in Lincoln, one of Airbnb renters’ top college football destinations

Ricks says to keep this growth going, it’s always going to be about getting the word out.

“The more people we make aware, the more people who are discovering that, ‘Hey, whatever I heard in the past isn’t true, and this is actually a cool place.’”

According to Ricks, despite the 2023 numbers just getting released, this year’s numbers are already beating last year’s by over 10%.