No. 5 2028 DL Cory Cunningham recaps first Nebraska visit
2027 Charlotte (N.C) Providence four-star defensive lineman Cory Cunningham recently debuted as a top-60 prospect and the No. 5 defensive line prospect in the initial Rivals300 rankings.
Coming off a sophomore season in which he recorded 60 tackles, 15 sacks and 26 quarterback hurries, the four-star added an offer from Nebraska in January. Over the weekend, as part of the Hudl Futures Forum, Cunningham made his first trip to Lincoln.
“Being real, once I came out here I expected it to be barns, cornfields, stuff like that,” he said, laughing. “I’ve never been to Nebraska before, so that’s what I expected.”
How did Lincoln compare to initial expectations?
“Complete opposite,” he said. “It’s a lot of buildings, it’s a lot of people. It’s great to be around, there’s a lot of things to do down here, I’m not going to lie”
Cunningham admittedly didn’t get much time with new defensive line coach Corey Brown on Saturday, but paid close attention to his unit in the spring game.
“It just looks like they want to dominate, they’re all big guys who can function and move,” he said. “They did a couple drills that I do in high school now, so that’s why I can kind of correlate how they do it and why it looks like that.”
The the 6-foot-4, 265 pounder can see himself fitting in a few different spots along Nebraska’s defensive front.
“I feel like I can do anything, honestly four-man [front], three-man [front], I’m just versatile,” he said. “I can bounce out from being the end or the three-technique, so I feel like I could be put anywhere and learn it and execute it.”
Though he didn’t get much time with Brown, Cunningham felt the love from Nebraska’s staff while on campus. He met new run game coordinator Lonnie Teasley at a camp in middle school, has been hearing from recruiting coordinator Matt Pearce, Nebraska’s Carolina connection and connected with head strength and conditioning coach Corey Campbell.
“It was just a genuine connection,” he said of his time with Campbell. “Asking questions to see how the facility is, how it is for the guys to condition, how practice looks like. We chopped it up mostly about that stuff.”
Nebraska’s facilities typically impress first-time visitors and they certainly had that effect on Cunningham, who also found motivation roaming through the Osborne Legacy Complex.
“It was perfect,” he said. “Just to see the accolades, they’re placed everywhere and just realize the work you have to put in to be great.”
Perhaps the most impactful part of the four-star’s weekend in Lincoln was hearing from Emmett Johnson and Jacory Barney Jr., who detailed their college experience and what it takes to find success like Johnson did in 2025.
“A lot of gems from they guys they pulled in here, Jacory and Emmett, what those guys said stuck with me,” he said. “They know how college is and coming from guys like Emmett, he didn’t really have as much [recruiting attention out of high school] and realizing how much work he had to put in to be at where he’s at now, that’s what stuck with me.”
Coming out of his first trip to Nebraska, Cunningham is hoping to get back multiple times, especially as his recruitment comes into focus heading into his junior season.
““Hopefully, [got to] keep in contact with the coaches to make sure we stay in touch,” he said. “With me going into my junior year, I would want to come down here a lot more for sure.”