Nebraska basketball off the bubble, plus 5-star offers and more for Nebraska football recruiting

Hey, Husker fans, welcome to another episode of the Husker Big Red podcast with Chris Peterson

and Danny Gillette. As always, go Big Red. Good morning, Husker fans, and we are back

here at the Husker Big Red YouTube channel. It's been a little while, but Chris Peterson

and joining me as always as my co-host is Danny Gillette, and we're back here for another

episode of the podcast here, and we're back on the YouTube channel. So thanks for joining

us again. I know it's been a while, but I had a new addition to my family last week

a new baby daughter. So been a little busy, but still been following the Huskers and been

watching as much as I can. Been writing some stuff at huskerbigred.com, and we'll get the

podcast going back here. Danny, how you been, man? It's been a little while. I think you're

still muted there, buddy. I am still muted. That's how I've been doing it. I can't even

hit the mute button correctly, but no, I've been doing good. I've been doing good. I've been battling a stomach bug, but watching the basketball team and trying to keep busy, and

I'm glad to hear your new addition to the family is doing well. I imagine you're running low on

sleep, but that's a good thing in this case. A little bit, yeah, just a little bit. She's been

doing pretty well on the sleep, but yeah, trying to stay up at night a lot more than I used to

At any rate, it has been an exciting time for lots of reasons, but exciting time for Husker fans too

So I wanted to start with Nebraska basketball. We'll get to some recruiting information here in

just a few moments. And also, if you guys haven't already, please do us the favor of hitting the

subscribe button, hit the like button on these videos. Really does us a big favor if you

appreciate our content. So thanks for sharing our stuff and supporting the channel. But looking back

at this game on Sunday against Minnesota, the Minnesota head coach, and I'm blanking on his

name right now. Ben Johnson, I believe. Yeah, Ben Johnson. He said, he had a quote about

that's basically what a team that's obsessed looks like. Or I can't remember if that's the

word that he used, but it was something along those lines. And you can see it in this Nebraska

basketball team. I mean, over these last four possessed, the team possessed, that's the word

that he used. And you can see it with this team over the last four games. They've won them all by

double digits. They've moved into the top, way up in the Ken Palm ranking. I mean, John Beeline

I don't know if you guys were watching the post game show the other night, but John Beeline was absolutely gushing about this team. He compared it to his 2018 Michigan team, which went all the

way to the national championship game. And they've got a lot of great pieces. We've talked about it

before. I mean, they can, if you want to go big, they can go big. If you want to go small, they

can go small. And the way, I guess the thing that's turned the corner, that's changed my

perception of this team is the way that they've bought in defensively. This new lineup, I questioned

it, but it has been, yeah, but the way that it's come together defensively with the length

and everything, it's been impressive to watch. And this team isn't just sneaking into the

tournament. I mean, they're dangerous. And I'd lead it off here saying they're off the bubble

I just mean, according to the bracket projections, because for a long time, they've been sitting

there in that one of those teams to get the last double buy. They aren't anymore. Joe Lenardi, VSPN has moved them up. He hasn't released a full bracketology yet. He just

kind of does these teaser ones, but they've definitely moved themselves, I think, into

that eight, nine seed range. They even got votes in the top 25 poll yesterday

Yeah. And it's been really kind of fun to watch how everybody accepts their role. I mean

take a guy like Jamarcus Lawrence, for example, he was a starter last season, looked to be

the next key part of this program. He struggled a little bit. Coach Hoiberg moved him to the bench

He could have sulked. He could have been upset. He could have gave up in terms of effort, but he

hasn't. He's been an absolute spark off the bench. He's accepted his role. And I was a little kind

of curious to see how the one Gary Jamarcus Lawrence flip would work in terms of the lineup

as well. And quite honestly, it's worked beautifully. And I think Gary, a healthy Gary

at that has been one of the biggest X factors for this team. And it's really good to see him

healthy this year, obviously, and be able to contribute because he's been able to put together

some massive, massive games. And Sunday was no different. I thought he really helped kind of

carry and stabilize the offense and just give the offense another piece of depth piece, another

person who could score the basketball. And another thing, and then I'll toss it over to you is we

were kind of worried about losing Derek Walker's production and the type of scoring that he brought

inside and the type of toughness inside. And Rick Mast has filled that gap beautifully. He may not

be as physical as Derek Walker at times, but he still brings that inside scoring. He can kind of

control the offense. You heard them talk maybe a little bit on the post game show about how they

kind of run their offense through Rick Mast. So he's been sort of like Walker in the sense that

he can be reliable when you need him to score, but he also, you know, kind of can bring that

post game as well. And, you know, I think Mast and Gary in particular really, really stepped up

along with the usual suspects like Tomonaga and, you know, guys like that. So it's been really

interesting to see how this team has managed to get scoring production, but they're not one

dimensional. Anybody can score from anywhere. Mast on the inside, Tomonaga mostly on the outside

you know, you got Lawrence driving in the basket. There's just so many ways this team can attack you

and that just speaks to the depth that, you know, the program has. Yeah. What's interesting

about Rick Mast is I don't know that anybody would have thought that he'd be Nebraska's

leader in assists, but he is right now. He's got three assists per game, almost 13 points

7.8 rebounds. He's shooting 82% from the free throw line. And you look at, man, like one reason

this team, I feel good about this team as you look at their free throw shootings. Kaysay shoots 90%

rank 82, Bryce Williams 84, Gary's a little low at 65, but CJ Wiltshire 93%, even Josiah Leak

65%. So I mean, in those close, these post-season games when you need to make free throws, I mean

Nebraska does that pretty well. And yeah, Jawan Gary, I mean, even though his numbers, he's not

he's averaged 12 points a game, but I think he's, I think he's Nebraska's most important player. And

I don't really think it's that close because he just does so much offensively and defensively. I

mean, he's such an impact player on both ends of the floor. You know, we saw it like against Kansas

state when he got all those defensive rebounds, all those offensive rebounds, you know, he hit

four three-pointers the other night. He's just, he's more than an X factor for this team. I think

he's, he's the guy that, you know, drives the, drives the train in my opinion. And I mean

there's other guys there. I mean, Rick Mast is, you know, the conductor as well. And I mean

everybody has their role though. And that's what I love about this team. And like you said, I mean, you look at the guys coming off the bench, they got Sam Hoiberg, who is playing lights out, man

Every time he's out there, his defense is spectacular. He just, he just makes plays

He just makes winning plays. And you know, Jamarcus Lawrence, yeah, his offense is now

starting to get to where his defense has been. And I mean, you know, when he's making three

point shots, like that guy is a very good big 10 player. You know, CJ's, you know, got under a

little bit of a cold spell, but I think that he's going to get going again. But I mean, that's three

quality players that you can bring off the bench. And what's nice is, I mean, those are all, you

know, guard slash wings, but that's because Nebraska has got, you know, three guys in the

starting lineup that are six, nine or taller. So they can move guys around, you know, they can take

Bryce Williams and they can play him at the two, the three, the four. He's also been really excellent

Yeah. And it's like, man, he averages almost, you know, 2.7 assists per game. And, you know

so it's like him and him and Gary can play basically anywhere two through four. And then

you have a leak and Mast who can play the four and the five, you know? And so it's just like

they've got a lot of really, I mean, even CJ Wiltshire can play some for it if he needs to

in this era of college basketball. And so it's like Fred just has so many pieces to work with

And it's been a spectacular job. And you know what? Trev Albert seems to get Fred Hoiberg signed

up to a long-term contract very soon because, you know, the trajectory of this program is

is only going up. And I mean, it's not, I'm not saying that everybody's going to come back, but you look at this roster and with everything, I know it's different with the COVID stuff

but the only seniors on this roster right now are Kasey Tomonaga and Josiah Leak and

Jaron Coleman, who basically doesn't play. So you could have a very, you know, when

when you think about, you know, the recruiting classes coming back, if they can get all these guys back, which I believe that they can, because I don't as, as good as all these guys are. I don't

know that anybody's like a first round pick. And if they're not a for, and if they're not that high

of a pick you know, you can usually get them back with a strong NIL deal, which is how I think

Nebraska got, you know, Rick mass and all these guys. So I think, you know, this run isn't just

going to be a one-year thing. There's a very good chance that most of these pieces could be back next year. And, you know the coaching staff has shown, especially for the last two seasons now

an ability to recognize and hit on talent in the transfer portal. You got, you got a leak

you got masked, you got, you know Bryce Williams, you have, you know, I believe was, was Tomonaga

a transfer portal addition last year, or did he just come to the program? He was the high school

recruit. I believe he was a high school recruit, but yeah, he yeah, he was a guy, he was a guy that

yeah, basically a recruit I met in, you know, he was an international type guy. Yeah. He was

signed by Fred. You look at Bryce Williams and you look at mass and you look at a leak and you look

at, you know, somebody, you know, like a, even a Derek Walker type from way back when I say I'm

Greasel type from, you know, last season, Fred has shown that he can hit on the transfer portal

recruits, transfer portal targets. And, you know, I think, especially in today's day and age, he's

hit at a fairly high rate. And so even if some of these key contributors leave, I have confidence

that Fred will be able, and the coaching staff will be able to land, you know, transfer portal

players that will fit the identity of this team because they've spent the last two seasons

in particular building one. And now they know the formula to win in the big 10. So, I mean

given how much, you know, success these, these transfer portal players have had, you know

I don't have any doubt as to the fact that this coaching staff will be able to get some more

contributors with some of the departures on this roster. Yeah. Plus you have Jakowski from

Wisconsin, who I think is a guy that can contribute right away. Yeah. Yeah. I think that he'll, you

know, hopefully kind of take into not right away, but eventually take over that kind of case a

Tomonaga role of that score. Sure. You know, it's kind of your primary score by his sophomore season

because that's what I'm saying. He's the kind of guy that, you know, in two or three years, I think

could be an NBA player. And so if you're in, if you're in Nebraska, if you can get that guy to be

that's like, that's like the golden goose in college basketball right now, it's not the one and

done because those guys just aren't that they're, they're not, I mean, yes. Like if you get a Zion

Williamson or whatever, but they're, they're not always make that impact right away. So like

getting, especially those guys that are like in the 10 to 30 range, those five stars, they're

they're not like the end all be all of college basketball, just ask the Michigan Wolverines

But if you get those guys that are like 60 to 100 and you can develop an in the NBA level

prospects, that's the golden ticket. Cause you get them for two or three years as opposed to

the one and done guy who plays his best basketball in the NBA. And we, I mean, we saw that here

I'm blanking on the, on the guy's name. Yeah. Bryce McGowan's. Yeah. Like if Bryce McGowan's

his second year, he would have been, you know, spectacular and he was good his first year, but

just, you know, there was, you know, defense and all those other things. It takes a long time to

adjust to college basketball, but at any rate, you know, there's a lot to like about this team

And yes, there's still, you know, road games at Ohio state and Michigan, which aren't going to be

easy. But right now they're sitting at 10 and seven in the big 10 and they're right in the mix

actually for a double buy. So it's not even Wisconsin's at 10 and six Northwestern's at 10

and six Nebraska's at 10 and seven. So they're tied in the wind column. So they do need those

teams to get losses. They split with Northwestern and Wisconsin. So I'm not sure exactly what

how the tiebreaker would, would fall out there, but it's very possible that they get the double

buy. And then if you talk about the women's basketball team, which got another victory

they're 11 and six. They are one, basically their magic number for the double buy is one

So they either need one victory or a loss by Michigan state and they get a double buy. So

in terms of like Nebraska basketball, men and women, this could be the best season we've ever

seen as Husker fans. Yeah. And you take a look and you think about, you know, what

what that does for recruiting as well. I mean, now you have a vision to sell for both programs

You can point to recent success, not just past success. And you can say, here's where you fit

Here's why we want you. Here's what we've done, you know, where we think you can make an impact

over the last couple of seasons. So, you know, I think there's a plan in place for both programs

and the foundation is kind of being built. Players are buying into the foundation and

you know, I think some deep March runs and even, you know, a deep big 10 tournament run

would do wonders for recruiting because now, you know, recruits want to be like, what have you done

for the program lately? Why should I come here? I mean, that's a pretty solid resume builder from

both programs. Should they be able to make a deep tournament and, you know, hopefully NCAA tournament

as well as big 10 tournament run? Yeah. It would be something special to see, you know, this team

finally get that first ever NCAA tournament win, but still got to get there. Still three games to

go. I think this team can do it. I'm not, I think so too. I think so too. Yeah. People are, you know

I don't want to get up, you know, put the cart before the horse, but I mean, this is, this is

in a team, like if you're, especially if they can win, you know, these next three games, like they

could get up to a number seven seat and that's a, that's a huge difference. So if they could get

just keep winning. That's why, I mean, I do think that, you know, barring a total collapse

they are going to make the tournament, but these next three games in terms of seating, very important, you know, in, in, in trying to give yourself a chance maybe to get a win

and who knows, maybe get beyond the first weekend of the tournament. I don't think it's impossible

You know, this team has the pieces to do it. So at this rate, let's switch over to football. A lot

of stuff going on with, with recruiting, a lot of offers, not, you know, we're, we're coming up

with visits soon. There's going to be the dead period will be ending. I think it's

I want to say March 3rd, maybe March 1st, somewhere early March. So you'll see, that's

when you'll see, you know, some of these guys start taking visits and stuff. Nebraska did offer

over like 10 players this weekend. Going back to Friday, one of them, Danny, you wrote about it at

huskerbigred.com, the five-star offensive tackle, David Sanders, out of Providence day in Charlotte

six, five, 275 pounds, elite athlete. He's ranked number one among offensive tackles in the 24

seven composite rankings. Number two, overall Dylan Riola doing his bit to, you know, get hit

get some recruiting going and hopefully they can get them on campus. Maybe, you know, Brandon Baker

you know, part two, but this time maybe it will work out for the Huskers. What are your thoughts

about this offer by Nebraska? It's kind of late though. It is kind of late, but having Riola

certainly makes it a little bit of an easier sell. And it's not like they need offensive lineman per

se. Like it's a position where, you know, it's like, oh, oh, we got to get one or else we're

screwed. You know, we're kind of past that point now. Now we're just recruiting for the future and

you know, kind of, um, wanting to build that offensive line out. And, you know, I think it's

a really interesting offer because I would rather us miss than not try at all, because if we didn't

try at all, we would have never gotten Dylan Riola. We probably would have never gotten Danny

Kaling. And, you know, even when, even when, um, you know, Malachi Coleman back then started

taking visits, you know, we still kept the pedal to the metal and wanted him focused on Nebraska

and we were able to land him. So, I mean, the fact that they're still trying to, you know

get elite talent to commit to the program with, you know, an elite quarterback in the fold now

makes it a lot easier. And, you know, I think Dylan Riola may be the biggest recruiter in this

program. I definitely think he's going to be a nice selling point, you know, playing for a five

star quarterback, a guy that, you know, we all think is going to be a future first round draft

pick and a guy that's going to bring along hopefully a great era of success. So it will be

interesting with David Sanders. Like I wrote on my roundup the other day, if Nebraska, you know

is going to be serious here, they got to get him on campus. So that's the next step. They also

offered a DJ Pickett, a five star safety out of Miami, um, in Tampa, Miami, which I'm not sure

which one actually, but he's a really, he's seventh ranked overall in this class. I'm like

six to 205 pounds. I'm a really dynamic defensive back. So I'm not sure if that's going to go

anywhere. He's already got four visits scheduled. I think Georgia, Miami, Oregon, and another big

school for maybe Florida state, but, um, we'll see if Nebraska can get either of those guys

on campus, but they are getting a lot of, uh, you know, big time visitors, I would say, you know

another guy that's, uh, you know, set up a visit is, um, a manual choice, a wide, a four star wide

receiver. Um, you know, that was just allowed announced yesterday, Mason Garcia, four star

offensive lineman. Um, they've got chase Lofton coming in for an unofficial visit. So, you know

they've got a lot of, you know, quality guys coming here and, uh, they just have to, you know

building that process, uh, going forward, but I like what they're at right now in terms of the

2025 class. And some of these offers have been, you know, somewhat intriguing, even though they

offered a kid from Billings, Montana, Matt Ludwig. And I can tell you, I've seen this kid play three

times. I saw him play three times as a sophomore and he is a better prospect than Quinn Clark by

far. Like I have no doubt in my mind about that. Um, you know, like he he's a sophomore and it was

clear in the games that he played, he was clearly the best player on the field for either team

And his team didn't win any of the games that I saw. He got hurt and won actually a playoff game

He got hurt. So he missed like the entire second half, but this guy's a matchup nightmare. And

it's going to be really interesting to see how that recruitment plays out. And, but I'm excited

that Nebraska is, you know, making those offers. Cause I think he's a good under the radar prospect

Texas tech has offered already, and it's good to get in early. And this is a good kid from Montana

to get, there's not that many from Montana that you want, but Matt Ludwig is one of them. I believe

Although Nebraska has got a punter from Montana, they have Quinn Clark and now, and now they're

offering Ludwig. So maybe they found a secret state in Montana that they've kind of been able

to tap into, but, uh, it'll be interesting. Yeah. It was some more a Ture also from Montana

Darian and white transferred to the women's basketball team from Montana state. So it is kind of a, there are, there are players going there from Montana. It's kind of interesting

And I'll be very interested. You mentioned DJ Pickett. He's the brother of Booker Pickett

currently committed to Miami. So I'll be very interested in that commitment

Um, and see if DJ goes with his brother or if he likes to go somewhere else, but Nebraska has

been able to hit on Florida recently. So, um, I'll be very interested on how that

on how that recruitment kind of comes about and yeah, they've been busy on the recruiting show

A lot of offers, which I love to see, uh, they're never resting. They're never, you know, just

sitting on their hands, doing nothing. They're always out recruiting and always trying to make

the program better. And, you know, I think the upcoming visit weekend, like last year

it may not lead to a lot of commitments, but it will give some recruits a chance to really find

out what the program is. And again, kind of like the basketball team lay the foundation

um, and kind of build for the 2025 class. And let's be honest here. They've already

done a very good job in state in 2025. And it's good that they have that headstart because now

they can kind of expand a little bit after locking down, you know, some of the, some of the

uh, Nebraska's best high school recruits. Yeah. They still, you know, um, Christian Jones

Lofton is out there, Jackson Carpenter, um, Pierce Newberry. They're in strong position

with all four of those guys. So I feel good about Lofton. I don't know about, um

about, uh, Christian Jones, but I feel good about Lofton. Well, it'll be interesting. Lofton doesn't have any projections yet. Christian Jones does. So

we'll see. Um, but yeah, those are the four guys that I would be paying attention to the most as

you know, in-state recruits. And I think Nebraska is at least, I would say in the top two or three

for all of them. So, um, you know, in very strong positions. And then I wanted to just close up with

the slam dunk competition. I thought this was another, um, another Matt rule special. I just

thought, you know, it's a fun thing to get the players involved and, um, to just, you know, add

more camaraderie, camaraderie, excuse me, but, uh, Jeremiah Charles came up and ended up, you

know, winning it. He dunked over Matt rule, you know, went between his legs, but I was really

impressed with him and Thomas Fedoni, all the guys really, but, but seeing those two guys kind

of jump out of the gym really got me excited about, you know, Fedoni this year. And I'm just

excited about Jeremiah Charles, uh, future as a defensive back, like, Holy cow, that guy can run

and jump and he can do anything you want as an athlete. He was a really good basketball player

in high school too. So that, that comes as no surprise, but I was impressed with the air that

Kai Wallin got. I mean, Kai Wallin was able to get up and you have to wonder if he'll be jumping

over a offensive lineman on the field, uh, in the fall. But, um, yeah, no, I, I just thought it was

really cool. Again, it's, it's a case where Matt rule is involving himself in the school community

You know, he's, you know, showing up publicly at these events, supporting the team, you know

having fun with the players. It's not always business and it's not always recruiting. You

know, he's, he, he makes himself a very accessible coach. I mean, I saw a tweet the other day where

you know, even some Iowa fair, even some Iowa fans were liking rule and, you know, rule spoke highly

of, you know, Iowa fans and it's hard not to like Matt rule. I mean, you know, say what you want

about him on the field last year, whatever, but it's not for his lack of trying. That's for sure

And I think that's, you know, honestly a big difference between him and the other regime is

you know, he's always trying, whether it's in public at these events or on the field

you can tell that he really cares about everything he does from, you know, standing on court at the dunk contest to coaching on the field

Yeah. And I think, you know, last year they did a lot of good things. They just had to get the

quarterback. And I think that that shows again, you know, how important that position is in this

game. You know, if you don't have a quarterback in college or, or, you know, the end of even high

school, if you don't have a quality quarterback, you're not going to win that much. It doesn't, you don't have to have a MVP, you know, pro bowl, whatever, but you have to have a guy that can

you know, hang onto the football and just produce, you know, produce points, you know, like

Jim Harbaugh likes to use that. They don't use this statistic much in football, but he always

talked about it as points, points per possession. How many, how many points does your quarterback

get every possession? And so he's talking about, you know, he talked about that a lot with Cade McNamara, you know, they, he didn't always put up touchdowns, but he got points on most of his

possessions and that's what Nebraska needs. But the thing is, is that Dylan Riola is

he's not that kind of quarterback. He's, he can be that and much, much, much more. So

that's why I'm really excited about this season. I think that's why all the national media is really excited about this season. There's a lot of great pieces in the trenches and I just love

that, you know, Matt Ruhle just gets the buy-in of these players. And, and, you know, I was looking

somewhere too, you know, he, they talked about a list, it was a list of teams that, you know

would have playoff bursts, you know, if the 12 team playoff was, you know, a thing going back to

like 2014 and Baylor would be in there three times and a couple of those are like Matt Ruhle, you

know, so Matt Ruhle has coached teams into that level before. He can do it again here at Nebraska

and I for one can't wait for this 2024 season to, you know, basically get started. It's going to be

I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I can't wait for spring ball and I just can't wait to

see Dylan Riola like in the scarlet and cream. It's just, it's going to be so awesome

Spring practices are coming up soon, right? Yes. Yeah. Cause the spring game is April 27th. Is that right

Yeah. That's a little late. I would rather be earlier. Yeah. I would say in the next few weeks, I'm not, I will have to check cause I know Michigan

their spring game is the 20th and I think they're starting practice like March 18th

So sometime this month, I don't, I don't believe we've seen an official date for the start of

practice, but my guess would be around the 20th or so they'll probably get things going

Yeah. So soon. So very soon guys. So we'll be back. You know, we'll do another episode. Shoot. I'm trying to

think what day it is now. Maybe we'll do one, maybe Thursday. We'll probably, and then get our

stream back going this weekend. We'll try to get our schedule back that we had before had to take

some time off here for the new baby, the new Husker fan in my life. So I've already been

teaching her go big red and all that stuff. So got another, got another faithful to join us here

Yeah. I just hope she's ready for the heartbreak. Cause there is going to be some, I think, and

I'll tell you if she was around in the 2021 season, I don't know if she'd still be a Husker fan

Yeah. Who knows, but the diehards, you know, it's a, it's unconditional love, man

Just teach her no Iowa. And we'll, and we'll be a step in the right direction already

Yeah. That's right. Yeah. She already hates Iowa. So that was her birth and a Colorado and Oklahoma, but you know, they're not in our conference anymore. So whatever

Well, Hey, Colorado, this season is going to be an interesting one. I'll tell you that. That will be very fun. I would love to beat the crap out of Deion Sanders and those guys

I would love it. It's going to be quite the show because honestly, I mean, as much as I hate

hate them, I love watching, you know, should air play and, you know, his mobility as a quarterback

he has tons of tools. So I'm excited to watch that one. Had we had a confident quarterback

last year, we probably would have won last year too. But I mean, Dylan Rayo and

chitter Sanders signed me up. That's going to be a fun one. Oh, that will be a fun one. So, yeah. So make sure you guys, thanks for joining this episode

Make sure you guys hit the like button, hit subscribe, and as always go big red, go big red