LINCOLN — Last week, Nebraska lost a linebacker from its 2012 recruiting class. It gained one Thursday night when Gardena (Calif.) prospect Thomas Brown officially committed to Husker linebackers coach Ross Els.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Brown — a three-star, 88-rating prospect according 247 Sports — visited Nebraska during the Nov. 5 loss to Northwestern. He's the No. 48 recruit in California, according to 247 Sports. Rivals.com ranks him as the No. 71 prospect. He's the eighth known commitment for the 2012 class.

"He's is a great dude," Brown told Huskers Illustrated, a recruiting partner with The World-Herald, about Els. "He has the best interest for his players. He told me he's going to push me to work hard, but we're going to have fun doing it. He told me he'd help me excel to the highest."

Brown had a "soft" commitment to Arizona State on Tuesday night — and was planning more visits to SMU and San Jose State — before becoming a firm commit to Nebraska.

"When I went to Nebraska, everything from academics down to football was top notch," Brown said. "Arizona State wasn't like that. Nebraska has your best interests in academics. They have a special center for athletes to get that attention."

The Huskers also have a head coach. ASU is still looking for one after negotiations with more than one candidate, including SMU's June Jones, have broken down.

NU lost New Orleans linebacker Deion Jones to LSU last week when Tiger coach Les Miles held an in-home visit 48 hours before the SEC championship game.

The Huskers already have commitments from four-star Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst star Michael Rose and three-star junior college prospect Zaire Anderson at the linebacker spot.

Nebraska is also still pursuing linebacker prospects, including Qunazell Lambert of Sicklerville, N.J.; TJ Neal of McKeesport, Pa.; and Jared Afalava of South Jordan, Utah. NU could potentially take two more linebackers in the class.

Burkhead, Cassidy, Fisher earn honors

Add another impressive line to the academic résumés of defenders Austin Cassidy and Sean Fisher. And another story to the growing legend of running back Rex Burkhead.

All three were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America teams Thursday. Cassidy and Burkhead were first-teamers. Fisher made the second team.

"My parents have always preached to me the importance of school work growing up," Burkhead said. "It's something I definitely had in mind after seeing Austin get it last year."

Even with a switch in study focus two weeks into the fall semester. Burkhead became a history major when he realized his goal to graduate next December wouldn't be met as an education major.

He dropped all of his old classes. Signed up for 15 hours of new ones. New books, too. It took him a month, he said, to settle in and catch up. And remember — this is when Burkhead was battling wear and tear on the field.

He's still carrying a 3.38 grade-point average.

Cassidy was a repeat first-team selection. The senior from Lincoln Southwest carries a 3.91 grade-point average, already has earned his undergraduate degree in psychology and is pursuing his MBA. He is the Huskers' first two-time, first-team selection since Kyle Vanden Bosch in 1999 and 2000.

Fisher is a second-team selection as a business administration/pre-medicine major with a 4.0 GPA. The junior linebacker is from Millard North.

Nebraska was the only school with three players on the first- and second-team Academic All-America lists. NU also bumped its nation-leading total of first-team selections to 67, including 14 double winners.

Huskers having fun without coaches

Yoshi Hardrick isn't going to lie. He's enjoyed the first two days of extended bowl practice as coach Bo Pelini was in Orlando, Fla., for the Capital One Bowl press conference and most of his assistants were out recruiting. Hardrick said NU strength coach James Dobson and a limited staff were running practice.

"It's really just been a backyard fight," Hardrick said Thursday. "We're just having fun, out there competing. Couple fights. I'm just glad to see people competing."

It's helped some Huskers shake off the rust, Hardrick said.

"We might have been a little bit more uptight," he said. "But we're a little more loose. It's a little more fun. We're getting the work done."

Florida homecoming for David

Nebraska's bid to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando gives senior linebacker Lavonte David a chance to go home.

David is a senior from Miami, where he starred at Northwestern High. Because he is a junior college transfer, he did not play on the 2008 team that traveled to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.

"It's great," David said. "I get a chance to go out with a bang in my final game in my home state. I have a lot of family members coming out to watch, because I've never had an opportunity to have people come out here and watch me play."

Other Floridians on the NU roster are cornerbacks Antonio Bell (Daytona Beach) and Stanley Jean-Baptiste (Miami), quarterback Brion Carnes (Bradenton), kicker Mauro Bondi (Boca Raton) and offensive tackle Tyler Moore (Clearwater).

Plus, Cassidy said Thursday he was born in Gainesville and lived there briefly while his father, Tim, was director of recruiting and high school relations at Florida in 1987 and '88.

"He was there when Emmitt Smith was there," Austin Cassidy said. "He tells me all the time that he knew him."

David earns All-America honor

David won more on-field All-America honors Thursday when the Walter Camp Foundation named the senior to its second team. He was joined by Alabama's Courtney Upshaw and Notre Dame's Manti Te'o.

— Sam McKewon and Rich Kaipust

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