It’s a crime that Nebraska is not able to keep some of these guys. Tonjes had 32 today for Wisky. Fidler is contributing at Michigan State. Sallis leads Wake. The kid at USC. Hepburn doing great at Louisville. You could build a heck of a team with these guys.
In State Bball talent
- Thread starter regoratsginrom
- Start date
That's correct! An all star team of current D1 Nebraska players would most likely be a top 5 team.....
If we could just get a few of these guys to Lincoln. It is amazing what Tonje is doing at Wisconsin this year. What kind of high school career did he have at Omaha Central? Is he a classic "Late Bloomer"
Why do these Omaha kids keep going to Wisconsin? Raise your kids right for fvcks sake…
And there are others. Just watched Kyle playing for UCLA the other night. Over the years, coaches like Fred and Doc have largely ignored in-state talent so this has been an on going issue. As a kid who grew up a Husker basketball fan and remembers the high hopes we had for the Class of 82 from which we got Dave Hoppen but lost others to Kansas, Marquette and Duke. That class might have brought NU to the Final Four. We'll never know. The class of 92 was also pretty great. But this recent stretch of talent is probably the best the state has ever produced and we've brought in none of it.
Is that really true? So you're saying Fred didn't want or recruit any of the kids mentioned in this thread? I find that really hard to believe. All of the kids mentioned are at schools with a much better basketball history than NU (which admittedly isn't that hard).
You can say Fred hasn't learned how to get a hometown discount, but every one of us die hard fans would have chosen to play at a peak Gonzago over NU 3 years ago.
This topic has come up a couple times so far this year. Not a huge HS recruiting junkie, but of all the players listed only Sallis was a 5 star and "expected" to be a stud. NU was after Sallis, but Gonzaga offered more in NIL when he was coming out of HS. That was probably an indictment of our NIL game at the time as opposed to FH recruiting effort. Funny, but Sallis didn't really do anything until he transferred to Wake. Don't get me wrong. He was a good role player for 2 years and in the top 6-7 in the rotation, yet he was way down the list as far as a scoring option. Pretty sure the same thing happened when he transferred. Huskers were definitely in the mix and maybe even top 2 but got outbid again for NIL.
The others were D1 talent for sure but not projected for great success coming out of HS, save Chucky Hepburn. The others generally went to non-P4 schools and upped their game. I looked at the history of Tonje because he is torching it. When he graduated he wasn't a top-level recruit. He went to CSU and his only other offers (24/7) indicated UNO and MIssouri Western. He transferred to Missouri but never heard much about him. He then committed to transfer to New Mexico but backed out and went to Wisky.
None of these guys are at Creighton. McDermott has been great at getting Nebraska players to CU over the Huskers, yet he wasn't successful at that either.
So, a long post. Not being argumentative. Just providing context. And I share your desire to get more of the top-flight Nebraska kids to stay home. The success the past 2 1/2 years hopefully helps make some inroads.
FWIW, Ron Kellogg has had the smoothest shooting touch to ever come out of Nebraska. Not even close.
Fred had an assistant do about all of the recruiting and that guy didn't hold Nebraska talent in high regard. There really wasn't any focus placed on in-state talent. Mainly on transfers and some HS kids they saw over the summer. They did get a five star recruit who's brother was already here. Fred ignored in-state recruiting and then lost a lot of games. Take that plus NU's lack of basketball success historically and what you wind up with is the perception that NU basketball is "a joke" or in other words an option in-state talent didn't take as a serious option. I'm sure Fred wanted some of these more recent guys but after realizing it was a long shot he moved on.
This is also true. As the great Rick Majerus said many years ago, NU is a tough job because the best kids in the state are gonna go to Kansas or someplace else. He based that on past history and it's been mostly true ever since.
Nee had Strickland and Woolridge shows you how long that Nebraska had some of it’s best high school talent playing in Lincoln.
Of course Woolridge transferred to the East of us.
Of course Woolridge transferred to the East of us.
Sallis is an example of something I brought up in the Coleman thread. Guys can get lost in the shuffle and a system at certain places (happens with NU football) and suddenly blow up when they get to a different situation- better suited system, fewer players ahead of them. Then they prove to be as good or better than anyone thought.
It's been an on-going deal where in-state kids get passed over for out of state kids who aren't any better. Then Husker fans rationalize that the in-state kid who got away wasn't gonna lead us to the final four anyway. (I know you aren't saying this, not directed at you) Anyway, recruiting is about relationships. Take a 3 star out of Omaha and develop them. Then that 2 star who goes to Colorado State or South Dakota St. and wants to transfer, maybe he comes back home? Or maybe Fred actually knows our in-state players on the personal level? Better NIL would help too so you're right there. We did get the Allick kid to come back home because his sister was here. And look at how that kid competed? I think kids compete with a harder mindset when they are playing for their home school as opposed to being just a gun for hire.
Totally agree. What a fun player he would have been to watch if he had played with Hoppen. Then add Kerry Trotter as that slasher on the other wing? Plus a couple lunch pail jucos? NU might have won the Big 8 and it was tough back in those days!
I think Hoppen was the best. For NU at least. The game was different then. Playing with your back to the basket was a big deal. Oklahoma had Tisdale, Creighton had Benoit Benjamin. Bill Jackman was a nice player-- would be a great stretch five for today's game. Trotter, Kellogg. I believe Bart Kofoed at Kearney developed into a great player as well. That kid would be a six figure NIL transfer in today's world. Just a great class. A few others went Division I that year as well.
Last edited:
I thought Sallis was overrated in high school and especially after his first two years at Gonzaga. He did not look anywhere close to an NBA lottery pick like he had been hyped in high school. Brice Williams seemed like a better pickup at the time.
Good for him that he has really flourished at Wake Forest, though he will likely be a 2nd round pick now. His 3-point percentage has gone down quite a bit this year compared to last year. Still would have loved to see him as a Husker. Hepburn is the one we really needed. This team has lacked a true point guard for the last couple of years.
Good for him that he has really flourished at Wake Forest, though he will likely be a 2nd round pick now. His 3-point percentage has gone down quite a bit this year compared to last year. Still would have loved to see him as a Husker. Hepburn is the one we really needed. This team has lacked a true point guard for the last couple of years.
i saw Simeon Witcher playing for St. john today so i looked up CJ... not many minutes, not much impact....wish he was here
You guys remember Mike McGee? He was a handful of years before that 82 class, maybe 77 or so. Went to Michigan and then went on to play for the Lakers. I was too young to really remember much about his actual play but I think he was probably the most highly regarded guy to come out of Omaha.
At that time, Bobby Jackson went from Westetn Nebraska CC to Minnesota and led them to a final 4. If we prioritize him over Garner; we would have had two first round and three total NBA draft picks in Jackson, Lue, and Strickland on the same team.
Went to Mosser basketball camp with him and played against him when he played for Omaha North.
Best pure shooter the state has ever seen he was the first player to lead Michigan 4 consecutive years in scoring..
For years we didn’t have much of a coach to attract the best player from the state, Joe cip mo iba, Danny was pretty decent but then we back slid doc was a talker but not much for results
Nebraska has had a ton of local talent from the Omaha Metro. Even if NU is recruiting them, I’m not sure that they are paying attention. These dudes are growing up watching Creighton. NU isn’t their number one (or likely their parents if they are an Omaha Bball family). We need some wins in the tourney, and maybe a deep run one of these years. We’re just not building up enough of a brand to bring these guys in yet IMO. Just like kids wanna play in bowl games… These kids want to go to the tournament.
Last edited:
I think, hope, that Fred can build the credibility to get these instate kids to stay home. I’ve been saying for years that Nebraska’s ability (or inability 🫤) to win in March and put kids in the league will do more for instate recruiting than our coaches ability to recruit. Fred gets us that 1st tourney win it will pretty much give the program instant credibility it has never experienced.
Also… the Hoiberg haters better prepare themselves. He’s not going anywhere anytime soon. This team will make the tournament, which will likely buy Fred 2-3 more years minimum. If he wins in the tournament… I don’t think it’s crazy to think he’ll be Nebraska’s coach for the next 20-25 years or whenever Fred decides to retire.
For Nebraska? Yeah, just my personal opinion but I think it's still a big accomplishment. I guarantee the AD thinks it is.
Last edited:
I get that it is for Nebraska but that’s pretty pitiful and not sure why anyone outside of Nebraska would think it’s a big deal.
There are 364 teams playing D1 basketball. 68 make the tourney. I think it's always something to celebrate, even for the teams that make it every year.
Just watch teams that make the dance on selection Sunday. Even the ones that make it on a regular basis.watch the reaction when they see their school on the big board. Ya it’s no big deal though.
Yep, the Omaha kids either follow Kansas or Creighton. There is no interest in the Huskers. That's probably not going to change unless we start winning some NCAA tournament games and Creighton goes through a down period.
I still think Fred's biggest miss was Scheierman. 6'6" kid that could absolutely shoot the lights out in HS, and he would've gone to Nebraska in a heartbeat if we offered. No telling how his career would've turned out and his path is probably what was best for him. But selfishly I'll never get over that one.
A difficulty in a lot of men’s sports with recruiting for D1 is that most programs want their class filled / committed when kids are sophomores (rising juniors). The ones who improve their last 2 years often are passed over already. Nowadays, those kids go to lower level programs where they immediately start and can prove themselves. Scheierman, as an example, likely doesn’t get the same minutes and development if he went straight to NU.
Are you talking about getting him out of the portal or out of high school?
Fred has made a little hay with Nebraska kids out of the portal, Greisel, Allick and who could forget Teddy Buckets.
If the kid becomes available I do think Fred should take a hard look at Bangot Dak from Colorado. Went to Lincoln Southeast and is a 6'11 freak who is crazy athletic. Is a little on the skinny side, but has held his own in the Big 12. Reminds me a little of Kimani Friend.
Scheierman was Tim Miles' miss. Fred tried to get him out of the portal in 2022 but you can't blame him for choosing Creighton, especially considering how bad Fred's first few years had gone. Regardless, Scheierman only averaged about 6 ppg his first year at South Dakota State. Had he gone to a major program right way, he likely wouldn't have gotten enough playing time early on to develop the way he did.
Last edited: