Athlete of the week: Husker commit Jacob Willardson
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) -A junior from Grand Forks, ND committed to the big red this past week.
Jacob Willardson, a 6 foot 5 right handed pitcher, announced his decision to sign with Nebraska, on his X account.
I am proud to announce my commitment to play Division 1 baseball at the University of Nebraska. GBR pic.twitter.com/OYKKF1Bd70
— Jacob Willardson (@Jacob_Will2) February 18, 2026
He’s the number 12 ranked player in the class of 2027, and he says he’s excelling at his game right now.
“I had a really good offseason, I got up to 91 a few times now, pretty much staying 88-90,” Willardson said. “North Dakota baseball is not really a big sport, so it will be nice to be around a lot more people.”
The hard throwing right hander went down for a Nebraska camp back on Jan 18. Then a few weeks later, he took a visit to Lincoln, and got to experience the Nebraska vs Purdue Men’s basketball game. He says, that was the biggest selling point.
“After my conversation with Coach Childress when I was on my visit, I knew I was probably going to end up at Nebraska,” said Willardson.
“What really set it home was when I went to Nebraska vs. Purdue. I’ve never been in an atmosphere like that, that was fun to be part of.”
But, for Willardson, the work has just begun. He says he’ll be ready to go in the fall of 2027.
“I’m a big person, 6’5. So, I’m probably going to be throwing pretty hard. I’m going to keep working to put myself in a good position to when I’m on campus I can make an impact hopefully my first year.”
Willardson will begin his Junior season at Red River this spring.
