Seeing red: Lutovsky picks Nebraska

MT. PLEASANT - Mt. Pleasant's biggest football recruit has made his decision. Junior guard Henry Lutovsky, a 6'6 335 lbs. offensive lineman will be heading west to play for Nebraska. He made the announcement on his Twitter page on Sunday.

'I saw a lot of places throughout the Midwest, and none of them even compared,” Lutovsky said. 'I went to Iowa, Iowa State, Mizzou, Wisconsin, Notre Dame. I just loved Nebraska, and I know I'll have a great time there.”

Lutovsky is a three-star prospect on rivals and has gotten national attention over the last year. Along with a big list of Midwestern schools, Lutovsky received an offer from Georgia. Of the six teams listed in Lutovsky's 'schools of interest,” four of them are currently ranked in the Top 25.

Lutovsky is coming off a year where his Panthers went 6-3, thanks in part to the team's ability to run behind him and fellow junior big man Cooper Pullis. Despite being known as a passing team, the Panthers went for just under 2,000 yards on the ground this season, averaging 6.4 yards per carry, which was fifth best in Class 3A.

Lutovsky says he never really had a favorite team, despite growing up an hour away from Iowa City. He says he sees a uptick in interest from players his age since Scott Frost has taken over as Nebraska head coach.

'I just think it's kind of cool how some of the kids in Iowa grow up, and some of them expect them to be Hawkeye fans, and if you are D1, go up and play for Iowa, but that's not always the case,” Lutovsky says. 'I think in my class, there are a lot of kids who like Nebraska more than they have in the past, with the new staff that's there.”

Lutovsky says he connects with Coach Frost, who took over as Nebraska head coach in 2018.

'He's pretty quiet actually,” Lutovsky says. 'He kind of grew up a quiet farm kid, and he's still that way. He's not one to get all excited and yell, and I really like that about him. He reminds me a lot of myself, because I'm pretty laid back and cool, and so is he.”

Lutovsky says he's excited to be more than just a Husker football player when he gets to Lincoln in the fall of 2021.

'I feel like everyone is like, ‘Oh there is this big football guy. He's all special and what not,'” Lutovsky says. 'But really I'm just a normal person. I just want to be a person there who happens to be on the football team, if that makes any sense.”

Nebraska is currently 4-6 overall, needing wins at Maryland and at home against Iowa to become bowl eligible. The Huskers went to 11-straight bowl games between 2005-2016, but have missed the postseason in the past two years.

With a year left of high school football, Lutovsky says he's going to continue to sharpen his skills in preparation for Division 1 football. He credits his recent growth with doing things right on and off the football field.

'I feel like I've been able to develop myself as a player, and just an athlete in general, by getting in the weight room a lot and doing all the right things with eating and sleep,” Lutovsky says. 'I feel like that's paid off for me.”

Lutovsky plans on doing his official signing sometime next year. The Panthers will be back on the football field when practice begins next August.