Phil Beckner named the next assistant coach at Nebraska

[hhcmatt]

 

 

Phil Beckner and Damian Lillard

The last time Tim Miles had to fill an assistant position back in April, the 2014-15 season had just ended and Miles had plenty of time to fill the position. Less than a month later Miles tabbed former Florida assistant Rashon Burno and the Huskers had roped in an up and coming assistant with an impressive resume and pedigree. After exactly 50 days as assistant (is this the shortest coaching tenure in Nebrasketball history?) Burno jumped ship as the Hurley family turned their assistant problem into our assistant problem. While July isn't exactly an optimal time to find an assistant, you have to wonder how short our list was last April that we haven't been able to simply pick the next guy on the list for this year's staff. Wonder no more as Phil Beckner has been tabbed for what hopefully will be the last assistant hire this season.

 

After a college basketball career at NAIA Kansas Wesleyan, the Arizona native worked his way up the ranks to assistant under Randy Rahe at Weber St. During his time at Weber St it was Beckner's work with current NBA star Damian Lillard that has gained him a bit of notoriety. Beckner and Lillard's relationship has continued with references to Beckner being dropped on Grantland in addition to still training the former NBA rookie of the year.

 

When Beckner's name started popping up on our forums, it wasn't a shock to find out that he'd been in Lincoln a couple of weeks ago about the position. While he's obviously scored major street cred working with Lillard, he wasn't the one who recruited Lillard to Weber St. Can he recruit high level talent to a school like Nebraska? Will he branch the Huskers into his reputed area of recruiting in the Southwest? Is Damian Lillard going to be showing up on the Husker's Instagram account in the near future?

 

One thing we do know for sure

 

The Huskers don't need to worry about whether or not he has an active passport for the Spain trip.

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[FredsSlacks]

i could be wrong, but this seems like a guy we won't have to worry about leaving after 2 months. hopefully he can recruit.

[hhcmatt]

Some Weber State scuttlebutt on Beckner FWIW they thought fairly highly of him.

[Huskerpapa]

I hope this works out...

[Red Don]

i could be wrong, but this seems like a guy we won't have to worry about leaving after 2 months. hopefully he can recruit.

 

Craig Smith says he is "LOYAL!"

 

[Red Don]

And Well-Traveled!

 

[49r]

Some Weber State scuttlebutt on Beckner FWIW they thought fairly highly of him.

 

Didn't seem to have any concerns about his ability to recruit...

 

Beckner will be able to focus almost exclusively on player development and won't have to worry about those things he didn't really like about DI basketball (recruiting, even though he was really good at it).

[AuroranHusker]

[AuroranHusker]

[Silverbacked1]

Just good to hear we will be at full strength this fall, and he will get to know guys on the trip. Looks like a solid hire.

[Silverbacked1]

Oh and welcome to Nebraska! And yes it is always this hot and humid.

[AuroranHusker]

[AuroranHusker]

[swmckewon]

I think if you're going to bring in a guy like this - who's really into whole player development and foundational thinking and motivation techniques - a massive freshman/newcomer class is the best time to do it. 

[colhusker]

Guess time will tell if this is-was a good hire.

[lanigan123]

Not a fan, unless a current assistant is leaving relatively soon. We need recruiting more than anything else. I think the hired is weird and so different than RB I question it greatly.

[Huskerpapa]

http://collegecoachnow.blogspot.com/2013/01/phil-beckners-100-things-ive-learned.html#!/2013/01/phil-beckners-100-things-ive-learned.html

[AuroranHusker]

Not a fan, unless a current assistant is leaving relatively soon. We need recruiting more than anything else. I think the hired is weird and so different than RB I question it greatly.

 

For sure it's a different hire than Burno, but different doesn't have to mean "poor" in my estimation. Different can be 'good.' Time will tell how it goes with Bechner. The comments by Craig Smith are very enlightening as to Miles' mindset on this one as I'd guess that Tim & Craig confer with one another from time to time. We'll find out in the next couple years how Bechner meshes with Miles, Mo & Hunter in all facets of coaching in terms of cohesion, development & recruitment. On that latter part, Bechner will have NU back in Texas which is a positive sign for Nebraska.

[Swan88]

Phil Beckner looks like a high quality coach and a high quality person. Looks like a solid hire.

Obviously, this isn't a sexy hire. But then, the last one of those didn't work out so well.

He looks like a typical Miles type of guy: smart, hard worker, high character, knows his stuff.

Too bad Miles didn't pick this guy several months ago.

[AuroranHusker]

A great article on Bechner from LJS:

 

http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/mens-basketball/article_7c84f4d8-f97d-55a6-943d-fbb04b56cbdb.html

[arliepro]

Tweet from Dame Lillard: "@Huskers got a great one in @PhilBeckner ... A huge part of my success and progress as a man. He's asking handful but he's worth it lol"

[HB]

http://collegecoachnow.blogspot.com/2013/01/phil-beckners-100-things-ive-learned.html#!/2013/01/phil-beckners-100-things-ive-learned.html

 

I especially like #59-61.  Read them and see if he nailed it.   If there has been a constant with regard to our struggles in the Doc/Miles eras, it has been poor shooting.  

[colhusker]

 

http://collegecoachnow.blogspot.com/2013/01/phil-beckners-100-things-ive-learned.html#!/2013/01/phil-beckners-100-things-ive-learned.html

 

I especially like #59-61.  Read them and see if he nailed it.   If there has been a constant with regard to our struggles in the Doc/Miles eras, it has been poor shooting.  

 

I think those three are key to be successful.

[Red Don]

Good Find CWG (and HB).  Seems like a lot of wisdom in those 100 points!  

 

(The future looks bright  )

[ajb5856]

I hope this works out...

Now that this is done, this is what I will say. Many were/still are very disappointed that Burno bailed and are luke warm with the Beckner hire in comparison to when Burno was brought on board. Beckner here will work out much much better from a team morale standpoint than if Burno had stayed. Beckner will mesh with the current coaches much better than Burno was fitting into the coaching group and fitting into his role.