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Week 1 takeaways from Nebraska spring ball | Previewing the Crown | Recruiting/Transfer Portal Buzz
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Apr 3, 2025
In this episode, we look ahead to the College Basketball Crown, look back at the first week of Nebraska spring ball, and analyze the latest happenings on the recruiting trail and the latest transfer portal rumblings. #GBR #Huskers 1:08 Nebraska spring ball takeaways 15:05 Recruiting Nuggets: Latest on Trae Taylor 22:50 The Crown and Nebraska basketball portal talk
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0:01
good morning Husker fans welcome back to the Husker big red YouTube channel I'm Chris Peterson and joining me as always is Danny Gillette we're back here for
0:08
another episode of the podcast and we're going to break down the first week of Nebraska football Spring ball and offer up some of our takeaways we're going to
0:14
look ahead as well to the crown tonight we finally have the college basketball Crown Nebraska plays tonight against Arizona State so we'll break that down
0:22
we'll also talk about the latest happenings on the recruiting Trail and the transfer portal we'll get into the Rumblings there so uh before we get into
0:28
it please make sure that you guys hit the like button hit the Subscribe button get into the comment section and Danny how are you on this Monday morning I'm
0:34
doing well it's uh it's almost into April so baseball season started and uh a lot of news for Nebraska too in terms
0:41
of sports so I'm doing well yeah good weekend uh the baseball team took two out of three from number five Oregon
0:47
State so that was good to see them kind of get off the mat and maybe uh maybe that will springboard them into Big 10
0:53
play and kind of turning this season around so it was good to see the Huskers have a good weekend there softball still
0:59
cruising along winning six in a row so um but the biggest story I guess right now in the world of Nebraska Athletics
1:05
um I was going to say the crown I don't think that's it though it's Spring ball um I think that's where everybody is really focused not that there's not a
1:12
lot of interest in the crown and we will get to that here in a second but uh everybody I think there's a lot more um
1:17
in Spring football because I know that some people don't really care about the crown there's kind of mix I know there is here I'll say
1:23
that whereas I'm all in on the crown I think it's a I think it's a a fun field you know you've got a lot of of really
1:29
quality teams in there like I said said previously there's a lot of top 100 teams um so at any rate that's going to
1:35
be a fun um tournament I think it's on a good time I I do like this time slot that they have for it leading up to the
1:41
final four um but yeah Spring football I know fans have uh you know lamented
1:47
about the lack of a spring game but as I've been saying at least Nebraska you know has open practices they give a lot
1:53
of access to the media so even though we're not going to get to see that game we're still going to get a lot of information I think that's proved out to
1:59
be true so far so after looking at open practices you know Rumblings from reporters you know all that type of stuff what are some of
2:05
your takeaways from the first week of Spring ball Daniel hogerson is going to have this offense completely transformed
2:11
to the way he wants it and it's going to be for the better I think when you look at this offense and you even listen to
2:16
his press conference and how he talked about the offense and uh then you look at the weapons that uh Nebraska has it's
2:25
going to be completely different than what it was last year and um you know I think going to be really good for Dylan
2:31
Rola who also has slimmed down a little bit so I think the combination of those two things are really going to be um
2:39
positive aspects for Nebraska football and I think you know we're finally going to see a competent offense with a
2:45
competent offensive scheme and now it's going to be about who passes who on the
2:51
depth chart and how the depth chart itself shakes out because there's a lot of talent at multiple positions yeah it
2:57
was interesting with hul gerson's press conference saying that that you know he didn't want to get back to um like not
3:03
the run and shoot I'm trying to think of what what he terms the off yeah the air raid didn't want to get back to the air
3:09
raid um he said he did they have to run the football they have to control the clock um that type of stuff I thought
3:14
that was interesting but um but yeah definitely going to be a different offense than it was last year and I think the the pieces that you mentioned
3:20
are going to be a huge reason why I mean these wide receivers looking Dynamic um Isaiah mosy really stepping up I mean
3:26
he's been kind of a guy that's been overlooked with all the Cortez Mills Buzz Dane Keen Isaiah Hunter um so I
3:33
think you know Dylan Rola called the receiver room Ferraris he said they're F it's filled with a bunch of Ferraris you
3:39
know and last year they probably had some Honda Civics you know in the garage and so quite a big upgrade there but
3:45
yeah the running back room I think is one of my early takeaways outside of the fact that Dylan Rola does look really
3:51
good and I think that's one of the the things that should have Nebraska fans excited um not not just about the weight
3:57
thing but to me it's the fact that he dedicated himself this offseason to becoming a better player he took all the
4:03
steps that he needed to take physically um he's always been you know a great mental student of the game he um
4:09
hogerson talked about has even added more of a leadership Dynamic this season so I think in in terms of riola he's
4:16
done everything that you would want him to do in this offseason I think he's really put himself in a position to have you know a breakout season in year two
4:23
um I think you know he does get a lot of criticism for you know his freshman
4:28
season but I mean he was in a tough spot not only is it hard to be a freshman quarterback you know playing major
4:33
college football but he was in the pressure cooker at Nebraska and he still got this team to a bow Victory and
4:39
frankly if if um some of his receivers would could have caught the ball they probably would have won nine games last year so um I really feel like the arrow
4:47
for Dylan Rola is pointing way up and um I just think that that's something that maybe isn't getting talked about enough
4:54
you know in like the national level of college football like this guy is going to be a dude and I think everything I've seen so far this spring just reinforces
5:01
that I don't love that he did boxing drills during the off season but as long as nothing's broken right now then
5:07
that's okay with me uh I had to laugh when he said he did boxing drills but all all joking aside he did really
5:14
dedicate himself this off season to you know getting better physically and uh
5:19
because we know the arm Talent is there and you know now he's going to have like you said and like he said a bunch of uh
5:27
Ferraris and Lamborghinis to to play with so you know you look at
5:32
some of these wide receivers and it's like man say what you want about maybe underachieving last season and things
5:38
like that but just the pure roster Talent from where we were like two or three years ago I remember me and you
5:44
talking like oh Nebraska is in the depths of Despair this cuper is bare
5:50
right now and you know it doesn't look good now we have almost too many talented wide receivers and and um you
5:58
know a lot of promising talent unproven but promising talent in the running back room and I thought it was really
6:03
interesting how Matt rule talked about the running back room and he gave shout outs to you know Nelson and Quinton IES
6:10
and things like that so I think even there they're starting to get some depth and stability yeah I that was a key takeaway
6:18
I think you know saying that um NE like the running back position isn't somewhere that Nebraska has to add and I
6:24
think you know just not that we've seen a ton but I think there is enough in that room especially with the e of
6:29
jaryan Parker like why waste snaps on a transfer portal guy like let jaryan
6:35
Parker Grow and let quit knives and um mcky Nelson like let them let them do what they do I think there's been a lot
6:41
of positive Buzz about those guys so far and like we you kind of mentioned with the talent I think what you know Roco
6:46
Spindler mentioned that this team he in his opinion has more Talent than the team at Notre Dame that just played for
6:51
the national championship so um you know that's kind of a bold statement I mean guys say things like that all the time I
6:57
think that's a tough thing to measure but you know this team does have in my opinion the uh the talent and the the
7:04
coaching staff and everything it needs to compete for a playoff spot this season I know people think we're crazy
7:09
when we say that but I mean just look at last year just look at last season if a few plays literally a few plays maybe
7:15
five or six plays go another way this team is right on the cusp of the playoffs so I don't think it's
7:21
unrealistic I know people are like sick of those kind of weighted expectations on Nebraska but you know at some point
7:26
this team needs to embrace that and uh just you know deal with the deal with success and find success and I think
7:32
they're on the right path to that yeah and I think also too they're starting to
7:37
really go into the Florida area the Georgia area the down south area we're
7:42
seeing that become a major Focus for recruiting and I think that will help us get to where we want to be and get to
7:48
that maybe Conference Championship level or not even Conference Championship anymore but um no playoff level so I
7:57
think they're taking all the right steps necessary to succeed it's just about putting the pieces together and um you
8:04
know from what from what we saw over the past couple days it looks like Nebraska
8:09
has an extremely talented um group of players on both sides of the football I saw uh oneon-one rep between Andrew
8:17
Marshall and Cortez Mills I think it was and Marshall looked great and Mills was
8:23
fighting the whole way so if that's a preview of what's to come then I'm excited yeah Bry Weber you know I saw
8:30
him making some plays as well um so yeah I just feel like this defensive back
8:35
room that's kind of another one of my takeaways I just feel like Nebraska is so much better at the cornerback room
8:40
just having more options you know um and I haven't even we haven't even talked very much about like Jeremiah Charles a
8:46
6-2 kid who also has is really long and super athletic that can be a factor in this quarterback room but all those guys
8:53
Amari Sanders um Marshall that you mentioned um you know Weber obviously Sayer Wright um Donovan Jones I just
9:01
think that there's a lot of different guys who can actually get up and and play Man coverage and um you know just
9:06
deal with the athletes I feel like that's been a spot Nebraska's kind of struggled with and I feel like they've recruited really well there and they've
9:14
done really good job at wide rece wide receiver I like the uh I feel better about the the defensive line that I
9:21
thought I would going into the spring um and man let's give a shout out to Cory Campbell like holy cow I don't think
9:27
people are giving him enough credit like if you want to look back at you know what was part of the reason that like
9:32
say Michigan had a lot of of success like yeah they had harau and all that but they had Incredible strength program
9:37
they maybe probably had the best strength and conditioning coach in the sport in college football in Ben Herbert and that really matters in terms
9:44
of your development and it's like man look at look at Riley Van Poppel look at Kiana Davis these guys look like an NFL
9:50
team and Matt rle has said that before yeah him the other day I'm like whoa
9:57
yeah so I mean that part of it the physical development like Nebraska's starting to look like an NFL kind of
10:03
team their defensive line their offensive line so I really think Cory Campbell is like one of the more
10:08
underrated coaches on this staff Matt rues said that NFL teams were trying to poach him and I can see why after seeing
10:14
some of the results of the offseason work and I know some people won't want to hear this but it really showed up in
10:21
the uh NFL combine measurements of you know Ty Robinson and Thomas Von and even
10:27
Isaiah n like they performed really really well and I think that's a testament to Campbell's work as well
10:34
yeah and and talking about recruiting like guys want to get drafted and so the more players you get drafted the better chance you have of getting recruited and
10:40
you're starting to win it all adds up so um yes thinking about um you know any
10:46
other takeaways from this past week um you know I think the tight end room is going to be pretty decent Luke Linden
10:52
Meyer and I really like the buzz I've I've heard about hyen M harberg um I think that dude's going to be a great
10:58
tight end for Nebraska um just you know not not necessarily someone who's going to catch you know have 500 yards
11:04
receiving but you know a true kind of blocking um receiving like a true utility tight end I think harber is
11:10
going to be very successful in that role and I love Luke Linden Meer I I I liked what he was able to do last year as a
11:16
pure you know pure receiving tight end not saying that he can't block whatever but he really you know kind of shined
11:23
brightly in the receiving game and um I I like what he was able to do there and I like that he's continuing to progress
11:29
and um I don't know how much the tight end is going to be used in this offense when you look at the receivers and you
11:35
know the the running back room but I do think that they they still will be utilized and um so you you mentioned
11:43
feeling a little bit better about the defensive line I feel a little bit better about the tight end room as well yeah especially with um Dana
11:50
hogerson saying that Carter Nelson will be you know working with the tight ends whenever he comes back from injury hopefully that'll be this fall hopefully
11:57
he will be able to play on on the field yeah I hope they don't rush him yeah and yeah I don't think there is a need to
12:03
rush Carter at this point because for what this offense needs I think harberg and lynon Meer will be just fine I think
12:09
harber is gonna be you know not super Dynamic but I think he's going to be a dynamic uh you know matchup for for
12:15
people because he's going to be tough to cover and once he gets a little more um you know a little more polished with his
12:21
route running and understanding the position because he's never really played it he's he's only ever just like kind of been playing quarterback and
12:27
been like oh go play tight end some but you know this year actually has a full offseason to you know get his body in the mode of being a tight end because I
12:33
mean you know you can't play like like rues said you can't really play quarterback 240 pounds you know it's
12:39
just a different position and so he's going to be able to put on some more weight block and and catch and so I'm
12:46
I'm excited about him and um another thing I'm really excited about is this linebacking core I think this might be
12:52
the best group of linebackers Nebraska's had since balini was the head coach I mean I agree Shavers mahe Watson Tren
12:59
um I'm missing I'm blanking on the guy that Javin Wright I mean this is just a loaded group Jon McCulla I mean you know
13:07
in that doesn't even talk about Christian Jones and Dawson Merritt like it's this is a loaded linebacker room
13:14
and I mean all those guys can play so I mean look at just like the four or five veterans that they have and man like
13:21
this this linebacking crew I think is really going to stand out so defensively you said it last week you know you think
13:26
that this defense could be better I was I was like a little up in the air but now I'm I'm really starting to believe that this defense can be better than it
13:32
was last season cuz I think on the the linebacker and the secondary they de they're definitely better it's just can
13:38
that defensive line hold up and I think that they can yeah um you know I I I
13:43
feel like um John Butler will be able to disguise coverages um and that will work
13:49
to the skill sets of guys like mgee and Shavers just pure athletic players that
13:55
can rush the passer but also you know drop back and cover if they need to so I'm very curious to see what kind of you
14:02
know packages he works up with them and what kind of you know how he is able to
14:08
generate pass you know rushing pressure because I don't think it's going to be traditionally just you know Edge and you
14:15
know defensive tackles CL you know kind of collaps in the pocket I do think a lot of it's going to come from you know
14:20
guys like Mah and Shavers and I do think a lot of it's going to come from the linebacker position I mean you talk
14:25
about Mulla too that's one thing that he's really known for in his game so I'm very interested to see how all of these
14:32
players kind of mix and match because there is a lot of talent there and I'm excited about it yeah I'm excited to see
14:37
how that uh all develops so we'll uh keep an eye on the spring we'll move up to uh you know the spring whatever the
14:43
spring event Husker fand day whatever they're calling it um but that should be fun I think we'll get more tidbits and
14:49
this week guys they'll start uh bringing on the pads more and like I said about running backs I feel good about it but
14:54
you kind of have to reserve judgment until the pads fully come on that's when you find out so I think we'll we'll hear more Rumblings but uh seems like the
15:01
Huskers feel good about their running back room um a lot of visitors were I I was reading a lot of reports of the
15:07
visits and they were very impressed with what they saw too uh you know one one recruit I think was Jamal rule said he
15:14
you know liked what EMT Johnson brought to the table and could see himself in that similar type of role so I thought
15:19
that was interesting it's always good when you have it you know recruits and they can see themselves fitting in the
15:25
offense so I know recruits say positive things about visits all the time but you know was certainly good to hear that and
15:31
yeah Jamal rule is an interesting um guy that you mentioned he's his recruitment has really started to pick up in the
15:37
past few weeks um new Nebraska was really kind of front and center um but like Wisconsin North Carolina State a
15:44
bunch of other programs have kind of got in the mix with offers um he's good yeah Arkansas just offered him so he uh he
15:51
had an official visit set with Nebraska so it was important for him to come back for this um for an unofficial visit his
15:57
official other official visits are Boston College Wisconsin and North Carolina State right now so um he's
16:03
really trending up uh 672 overall in the 247 composite rankings so it was good to
16:09
have him on campus um and then uh not only did they have um Trey Taylor
16:16
the quarterback but they had um t uh Tory Pitman um another one of
16:22
the top players in Nebraska the top player in Nebraska for the 2027 class was on campus again and I know Nebraska
16:29
hasn't been as focused on instate recruiting in 2026 but they they're focused on the guys they need to be
16:34
focused on yeah and you look at Pitman man his offer sheet LSU I mean this is just in in this year LSU Kansas state
16:42
Missouri Miami Iowa State he had Penn State offer in December um USC Tennessee
16:47
so I mean this is a really be tough to keep up home but yeah and crazy enough I don't think people are realize this I
16:53
didn't realize this until I just looked at the stats he's in line he's in line to be a five star according to s Sports
16:59
he's 12th he's the number 12 player in the country in according to 27 Sports in
17:05
the composite rankings he's 14th overall so in terms of musland Targets in the recruiting Spectrum for Nebraska he's
17:11
got to be right near the top he's gota be right near the top but if he gets too far away from Nebraska I wouldn't
17:17
necessarily spend a ton of time I'm and I'm not saying go after like not go after him but you know if if he appears
17:24
Out Of Reach there's just so much other talent that I wouldn't want to miss out on either and uh you know it's tough um
17:31
I know Nebraska made the top five for Ryan Mosley the wide receiver out of Georgia so you know he's a guy that I
17:38
really like too I mean yes we have a ton of receivers but you know you can never
17:43
have too many receivers in my opinion especially as the injuries kind of pile up during camp but um no I mean I
17:50
thought the top five for Mosley was interesting because you know he's a highly touted receiver as well and we
17:56
were able to make his list so um yeah pitman's a guy that's really interesting
18:01
he's a highly valued Prospect and it's kind of interesting that he's a safety
18:07
because you know defensive players obviously Christian Jones is an exception to this but you usually see
18:12
offensive players in the state rated very highly towards that level but
18:17
Pitman is Pitman is going to be very tough to keep home um but I'm excited to
18:22
see where his recruitment goes because you know that'll bring more Focus to the state of Nebraska in terms of you know
18:29
High School football and things like that so it's good for the state um another player who was on campus I think
18:35
that's notable is nir Rankin um and he's interesting Nebraska was in a really
18:40
good spot with him um a wide receiver um recruit and he's ranked um 194th in the
18:45
247 composite rankings but um what's also interesting is that he has now
18:50
gotten an offer from Brad Underwood in Illinois to play basketball um he is from Chicago and the Ali do have a
18:58
crystal ball PR for him but um just a really interesting Dynamic Athlete in the sense that he is
19:04
looking to play both Sports so that would be great for Nebraska um I don't I
19:09
feel like that offer from Illinois is maybe going to help put them over the top but he was on campus and they've
19:15
been near the top of his recruitment throughout so that's another really interesting athlete to uh to have on the radar in the 2026 class and they also
19:22
offered another quarterback whose name I'm blanking on right now but you probably Keegan Croucher is yeah yeah we
19:29
talked about him last week so I'm wondering what that means for Trey Taylor I still think we're in a good spot but I but I feel like they're
19:36
offering Croucher in case things with Taylor don't go as plan yeah it is kind of interesting with Keegan Croucher his
19:42
rate he is ranked higher than Trey Taylor he's 62 overall in the 247 Sports composite rankings it's really weird
19:48
Taylor's still not ranked by 247 but if you look at the on three industry rankings he's like 105th and Rivals too
19:54
I think Rivals is fourstar if I'm not mistaken um Rivals I think has him they have him ranked really high actually um
20:01
let me pull it up here if I can um Rivals has him ranked 11 I mean they have him as the four star but he's 11th
20:07
overall um and the number four quarterback um for R so I wonder what the difference in rankings is if he's
20:13
not even ranked on one side but you know the 11th overall quarterback on the other I wonder no not the 11th
20:20
quarterback the 11th overall player yeah excuse me the 11th overall player yeah and he's
20:25
um 86th from uh uh on three so kind of
20:30
interesting he did um visit Texas A&M on Sunday so he's been taking spring visits
20:37
he's also visiting Auburn he visited Auburn and Notre Dame who weren't part of his top five or whatever so I mean
20:44
that kind of shows he's gone beyond that list a little bit he's expected to make a decision in June um he said that T
20:50
Taylor said he spoke with Dylan Rola this weekend and that conversation opened his eyes um Adam gourney the lead
20:57
recruiting expert for Rivals um quote tweeted a Nebraska reporter and said that he felt Nebraska was in a strong
21:03
position for Trey Taylor um I do think though it's it's still I think it's smart not to put all your eggs in his
21:09
basket and to offer Keegan Croucher who for a guy who's ranked as highly as he
21:14
is his recruitment isn't that far along um he said he wants to take another visit to Nebraska which would be like
21:19
for a game in the fall um so I think it's nice because you have Taylor's
21:25
decision if he makes if you if you get a commitment from Taylor then obviously you just kind of leave you know Croucher
21:30
alone you're not really going to recruit him but if Taylor does you know say go to Michigan or somewhere else then
21:37
Croucher who is somebody who all these programs like Michigan and these other ones are recruiting then he becomes kind of your top Target you still have a
21:43
chance to get him for some visits get him in for an official visit so I think it's smart and it's a a good move not to
21:50
have all your eggs in one basket although I do feel that they have a pretty good chance of uh you know bringing the Egg of T Taylor back to
21:56
Nebraska with a commitment and you also have you know TJ Latif Dylan Rola for
22:02
probably two more seasons and then Dayton Rola so it's not like you're in a rush to find a quarterback in previous
22:08
Seasons I mean even I I even remember last year we were kind of stressing about or maybe it was two years ago we
22:15
were stressing about how they didn't find a quarterback yet and how they were struggling with quarterback recruiting and now they're in a position where they
22:21
can offer multiple quarterbacks while letting the quarterbacks on the roster develop so they've really handled the
22:26
quarterback position a lot better than even even just two years ago yeah um absolutely so it'll be interesting to
22:33
see how those some of those storylines develop over the next um few weeks and with Trey Taylor if he sticks to that
22:38
timeline if he does you know I would start I would think maybe we'll see some expert uh picks here before too long in
22:43
the next month or so keep an eye on that um in terms of uh recruiting and uh yeah let's uh let's talk the crown man it's a
22:51
the college basketball Crown it's finally here in Nebraska's playing tonight um 7:30 central time they're
22:57
playing Arizona State Fox Sports One um I know that there's some fans aren't that excited about it like we've kind of
23:03
mentioned but um I think this is a chance for Nebraska to go win a postseason tournament which they haven't
23:08
done since 1996 um Arizona State they have lost I think 11 of their last 13 games 12 their
23:16
last 13 games but I mean look the Big 12 is a tough conference like it is and and
23:21
they're ranked in the top 75 of the kenpom rankings that's it you know there's uh there's a lot of top 100
23:27
teams in this tournament so if Nebraska is going to win it uh they're going to have to win probably four games against
23:33
you know top 100 teams I think they have the third best odds Cincinnati is Number One Boise state is number two um but
23:41
yeah what what do you think about tonight's game against Arizona State I think they have a chance to really come
23:46
out strong and make an impact I think when you look at a guy like Conor asan I I I think he he has a chance to really
23:52
have a good game tonight um you know and when you talk about his three-point
23:57
shooting and how he can you know fill up the score sheet in bunches I think he
24:03
had a chance to do that tonight I know he's been inconsistent at times this season but he does bring that
24:08
three-point shooting element and not just tonight but I feel like a good performance um in this tournament
24:15
overall can help him set the stage for next season and potentially a starting role yeah and um you look at so the
24:22
Nebraska side of the bracket um you know Nebraska and Arizona State they will play the winner of George town and
24:29
Washington State there's also Boise State in George Washington today and Butler in Utah so Butler and Utah those
24:35
are two teams that are each ranked in the top 75 of the kenpom rankings Boise State's ranked in the top 50 so those
24:41
Nebraska Nebraska's 50th in the kenpom rankings so I I get it's not the Nate tournament but I actually do like the
24:47
the crown and I think that the crown like with by the end of this tournament I think that people are it's already
24:53
going to have supplanted the NIT is like the second um I think the NIT is going by the Wayside after this it'll be it'll
25:00
be forever a mid- major tournament um you know after after this rendition of the crown in my opinion because I just
25:05
think it's you have a lot of I know I mean you got 12 teams that are basically ranked in like the top 125 of the kenpom
25:12
rankings I know some of them have losing records but I feel like that's also part of just like you know the the the
25:17
conference setup like USC and Nebraska aren't terrible teams like if you put you know if you put Nebraska in any mid-
25:24
major conference they would win it easily I mean they're ranked 50th in the country so like they're better there's a
25:30
these 16 teams are better than a lot of the teams that even played in the NCA tournament you know a lot of the mid majors are are smaller conference
25:36
schools so I'm excited about it I hope that the team is I think Bryce Williams and Jawan Gary were obviously really
25:42
wanted to play in this thing and wanted to go win a championship I think it would be um you know a black eye of
25:49
sorts if they if they went one and done and lost to Arizona State so I I think you know if they're they're there in
25:55
Vegas like let's make a run and win this Championship or at least get to the finals and get 20 wins I think that
26:00
would be um I think that would be a worthwhile goal for this program yeah when you look at how how
26:07
busy they've been contacting players in the transfer portal I know we were worried or I was worried that you know
26:12
this tournament would interfere with the transfer portal but Nebraska's also done their homework there so um yeah they've
26:19
been busy you know holding Zoom meetings and showing interest in a bunch of these
26:25
guys and I just hope that they can land a few yeah I think a lot of their work's going to have to come after this week um
26:31
you know price Sanford is is one guy that they are still in the mix for um he's going to visit Illinois and I think
26:38
iow there's a return to Iowa is also um you know on the table markwell Sutton the kid from Omaha um The Summit player
26:46
League player of the year is also um there was talks he was going to hold a zoom with Nebraska so you know there
26:52
there's a couple of irons in the fire but I think it's I think we'll see it pick up more obviously after you know
26:57
after this week is done and um you know they're just going to have I think they're going to have to be smart about
27:03
where they go I mean they're not going to go They're not going to out bid some of these programs for some of these top guys but you know they they've done
27:10
Fred's done a good job of you know Finding really good talent I mean look at Bryce Williams as a great example of
27:16
that they need to they need to try to go do something like that again um so you
27:21
know they need a big guy they need scoring they need guards they need a lot of things but I feel like I feel like
27:27
Fred will uh will have it handled and I have complete confidence in uh in Fred hyberg so I'm I'm looking forward to
27:33
them making a run this weekend starting tonight and you look at Arizona State I mean they one thing that worries me
27:39
about this matchup is they they are a really good three-point shooting team they're third in the big in the Big 12 in three-point makes per game um almost
27:46
nine per game and so we know Nebraska gives up a ton of three-pointers so that's kind of my one reservation about
27:53
tonight's game um Arizona state turns the ball over a bunch um not going to have I don't think their their full
28:00
backcourt um because of injuries and you know guys doing the portal thing or whatever and uh they haven't played well
28:07
so I mean motivation is another big big factor I feel like this is this tournament's a lot like a bowl game you
28:13
know if you're gonna you know your culture and how much you really want to be there and how much it means to you is
28:19
really going to matter so hopefully it means a lot to this Nebraska team because I I really do think they could win this tournament but um you know they
28:26
can't give up a ton of three-pointers tonight and and and and Arizona state has some guys who can really shoot the heck out of it um led by Adam Miller who
28:32
you know used to play for Illinois so keep an eye on him tonight yeah they got to make sure they they collapse defensively and and get to the shooters
28:40
quickly and are quick with their rotations because there were stretches this season where they played excellent
28:46
defense and one of the things that they really improved on was you know getting to the basketball quicker and getting to
28:51
the shooters quicker and rotating quicker but when they didn't do that you know it was like a three-point party for
28:57
the opposition so if they can do that tonight then I feel good about their chances of winning like we've said you
29:03
know we know Arizona State's you know not good but they're still a decent team
29:08
and so U Nebraska's goingon to have their work cut out for him I don't think this would be an easy tournament by any
29:13
means but this is one last chance for everybody to kind of you know band
29:20
together as this Nebraska team and make some noise I think uh yeah it's a big
29:26
weekend especially for you like you said Conor aan um you know berky uh bantel I
29:32
think it's a big weekend for him if he could play really well and kind of create some positive momentum uh you
29:37
know going into next season hell I mean if he plays too well though then he's going to get scouted by the NBA so I mean let's not go crazy but let's play
29:44
Just well enough to get some momentum going into next season but not going pro um because I do think even though people
29:50
don't want to like admit that like some a lot of basketball scouting is potential and you look at berky he's got
29:55
a ton of it at 610 24 40 I mean he was like third on the team in three-pointers this year so it didn't necessarily work
30:02
out quite as well as Nebraska hoped but I do think he's still one of the you know bigger upside guys on this roster
30:08
so like you look at like if if you if you talk to like an NBA Scout about Joan Gary or bery like it's not even a debate
30:15
who has a brighter like professional future it's bery he probably has a brighter future than Bryce Williams to be honest like I know Bryce Williams is
30:21
a great player but he just doesn't you know what's he going to do in the NBA he's like a hundred other guys but berky
30:27
has and that three-point shooting ability so to me like he's got the most Pro potential on this team and if he
30:33
could have a good tournament and they could get him you know right next year and I think he could be an all big 10
30:39
you know contributor at some point I really do and also speaking of next year I've heard some really good Returns on
30:45
Nick janeski and Braden frager so you know maybe they'll be able to make a bigger impact than we think next year
30:52
and uh really step into step into a major role and you know I was so excited
30:59
when Nick Janowski committed and frer as well I was I was very happy about them both and now it could be their chance to
31:05
really step up and make an impact for the program yeah I mean top top 100 type
31:11
kid um in Janowski so it's time to you know realize that hype it's disappointing that they can't play this
31:17
week um there's not the same postseason rules in college basketball so you know if they played they would burn their red
31:23
shirt which I think is dumb but I mean it is what it is um they would be be great to have those guys instead
31:29
Nebraska's going to kind of have a bit of a short bench that's going to be everybody I think in this tournament so
31:34
um you know that's going to be something to watch like Raley wer is gonna be out um Braxton may have has been practicing
31:40
so I think he's gonna play but um you know we'll see it's it's going to be um
31:46
kind of a mix in match but you know what Bryce Williams and Joan Gary really wanted to play in this tournament so I feel like they need to play a lot and I
31:53
think like they're going to lead the you know be the horses that are leading the cart so to speak and if if Nebraska's going to win this tournament it's going
31:59
to be you know those two guys balling out I know Berk's going to have to play well and do those things but but Gary
32:05
and Bryce Williams are GNA have to play really well and if they do that and to win this tournament I think that would be a great sendoff
32:11
absolutely I mean you talk about what they've done throughout their entire Nebraska basketball careers and you know
32:18
Gary's been the anchor defensively Bryce has been you know in in offensive spark
32:24
plug and Bryce really carried the team offensively this season and that's not even an exaggeration and um if he can
32:31
just do that for a couple more games then Nebraska will be in good shape it's just so fun to watch him create shots
32:37
get to the free throw line shoot the three he can do it all and he's exactly the type of player that NBA teams are
32:43
looking for so I feel good about his Pro future after after he finishes his
32:48
Nebraska career yeah it'll be interesting to see if he gets drafted I think he's got a chance in the second round with his shot making ability um
32:55
and the size so um we'll see how that goes so hopefully the Huskers will pull it off tonight what's uh Nebraska's a
33:01
five and a half Point favorite what's your prediction I'm going to say Nebraska 70
33:07
and then 63 so so 70 63 Huskers I'm
33:12
gonna say Nebraska 79 uh to 67 I think they're just going to be more motivated
33:18
I think Bryce Williams is going to hit some shots and I think uh Arizona State without you know one of their best
33:24
guards too I just I just don't think they're going to be quite as motivated for this as Nebraska so I think Nebraska will win and cover the spread and move
33:30
into the quarterfinals on Wednesday so uh we can talk about that on Wednesday so that'll be exciting yeah for sure as
33:36
long as they as long as Nebraska plays good rotational defense and rotates quickly then should be good if they
33:41
don't it could be a problem but we'll see and then um you know if you win on
33:47
Wednesday which you know not going to be a guarantee but then you can get that game against Boise State which would be
33:52
you know a battle of two top 50 teams in the kenpom so I mean I think that would be pretty exciting I do like that the
33:58
the timing of it I know people are probably you know wanting basketball with the final four you know we always
34:03
have this wait up until the final four so I think that the crown was smart in their time slot um I really do think
34:09
they stole the thunder away from the NIT and um yeah we'll see how it goes but I'm excited about it I'm just excited to
34:15
watch Jawan Gary and Bryce Williams play in Nebraska uniform as long as possible so go Big Red let's get a win tonight
34:23
and uh we'll wrap up the show there if you guys haven't already hit the like button hit the Subscribe button get in the comment section and as always go Big
34:30
Red go Big Red
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