3-star RB Ashton Hayes decommits from Nebraska flips to Cal

Nebraska lost a commitment Monday from its only running back commitment in the Class of 2022. Ashton Hayes of Reno (Nevada) McQueen has backed away from the Huskers and is now committed to Cal, according to a report from the Omaha World-Herald.

“The new staff coming in doesn’t really know Ashton,” McQueen head coach Jim Snelling told the Omaha World-Herald. “It just appeared to be a little bit better fit (at Cal). Ashton and his family were a little bit concerned about it.

“Talking with Coach Frost as well, he actually understood the situation and said, ‘You know what? You’ve still got a scholarship here,’ but encouraged Ashton to take a look and make sure he was 100% sure. The staff that recruited him at Cal was still there.”

Ashton Hayes was lone running back commit for NU

Currently, Nebraska does not have a running back coach. But this past week an offer was made to Richfield (Minn.) Holy Angels Emmett Johnson, who also took his official visit to Lincoln.

Ashton Hayes is ranked as the No. 47 running back in the country and the No. 10 player in Nevada, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. On3 ranks Hayes as the No. 42 running back in the country and the 11^th-best player in Nevada.

With Ashton Hayes’ commitment, the Bears have the No. 52 class in the country, according to the On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Rank.

Without Ashton Hayes in the 2022 class, the Huskers have 10 commitments and the No. 57 class overall in the country. The class also ranks No. 14 in the Big Ten Conference.

The Huskers plan to sign a smaller class all along, head coach Scott Frost said. Ashton Hayes was the Huskers’ second-highest commitment in the 2022 class behind three-star linebacker Ernest Hausmann.