The sting over the Nebraska football team losing its quarterback on Monday night is still there. However, the Huskers did their best to blunt it with a brand new commitment on Tuesday morning in Tree Babalade.
Babalade is now the second offensive lineman the Huskers have landed since Sunday and continues a much-needed offensive line rebuild under new position coach Geep Wade. This particular commitment might be due in large part to one of his new assistants, Lonnie Beasley, who coached Babalade in South Carolina this season.
Babalade started 15 games during his three-year career with the Gamecocks. He'll be the odds on favorite to start at one of the tackle positions for Nebraska next season.
Nebraska uses Lonnie Beasley connection to land Tree Babalade
Babalade moved into the starting lineup at left tackle as a true freshman and played in 11 games, starting nine. He redshirted in 2024, but did start a game against Vanderbilt. This past season, he began the year as a backup but started five games in the middle of the season.
As a member of the Class of 2023, Babalade was a four-star recruit out of Hyattsville (M.D.) DeMatha Catholic, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking. He was the No. 4 overall prospect in the state, the No. 16 offensive tackle in the class, and the No. 221 overall prospect in the class.
Over 421 snaps in 2025, Babalade scored a decent if not outstanding Pro Football Focus overall blocking grade of 60.1 while being cleaerly better in pass block (68.5) compared to run blocking (55.0).
Considering Nebraska's pass blocking was abysmal for a large portion of the season, the South Carolina transfer is a welcome addition.