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-We're trying hard to get William Kyle, who would be one of if not the best athletes on the team. -If you watch Milicic tape, he's got a lot more to his game than Allick did and he is not unathletic in the least. Based on his frame and shooting numbers you might assume he's Brian Conklin, but that he is not. He blocked 35 shots last year. Our highest on the team was 21 (Brice and Juwan). We haven't had a player with 35 blocks since 2018-19 (Roby had 66). Those two guys would be instant, huge upgrades and impact players. Now looking at what we already have: -Griffiths is more athletic and 6-8 compared to Keisei's "6-2" and, try as he might, was a big liability on defense. Griffiths blocked 13 shots in 571 minutes last year. For comparison, Allick blocked 12 shots in 785 minutes. Keisei and Lawrence each blocked 1 shot in 800+ minutes. -Eli Rice and CJ Wilcher were not athletic. Essegian isn't Lebron James but he's no stiff out there. -Morgan is more athletic than Mast, especially if Mast is hobbling out there. -Ulis and Worster will give us way more at the PG spot than Lawrence did. We haven't added any high fliers or anything but I think sneakily we've gotten more athletic, and if we can get Kyle and Milicic (please!!!), I will be expecting us to be a Top 25 type of team throughout the year.

Per Washut: William Kyle canceled his visit to Iowa State. Still visiting Wake Forest Sunday-Monday, then back in Lincoln for spring game weekend. Nebraska staff visited him again earlier this week. Milicic decision coming as soon as this weekend.

A better one. We're adding a big PG with elite passing and solid defense in addition to Ulis who is a good PG. We're adding a 6'8" guard who has an NBA future and will undoubtedly find his shot with Fred. We're adding a skilled, athletic 6'10" center who was all conference and can stretch the court. We're likely adding another solid 6'4" guard from Wisconsin who is a 3pt specialist. We're likely going to get Kyle to help with our front court athleticism. We have a chance to land Milicic as another versatile weapon at 6'10" who can play the 4-5. In all seriousness, I think the most important thing Fred is looking for is skill. All of these guys outside of maybe Kyle (who is tremendously skilled defensively) can handle the ball and shoot. Typically skilled players have learned a lot and worked on their game on their own a lot, which probably means they have a high IQ and work ethic to match their skills. Coach's dream. Defensively, our system requires smart players but it's so help heavy it's basically a zone which typically makes up for some lack of athleticism. I think Fred is looking for long players who can fill it up on offense with the hope that their length creates problems in our hybrid defense. Brice is like this. Mast is like this. Gary is probably the only player left that doesn't quite fit this mold exactly but he has really worked on his offense, and he was already an elite defender, so he still fits in very well. I'm intrigued.

Also doesn’t these last couple of guys balance the classes some. I know nobody will stay the whole time. But you also don’t want to have knowingly have to bring in 7 new players each year because of one and dones.

If that's what his role would be here, like CJ, then he would be an upgrade. Just watch some film before you get too upset. I love CJ, but there's not one aspect of the game that he's better than Essegian at. Don't trust Greg Gard and his offense that doesn't generate open looks. You'll see Essegian, Chucky and Storr's efficiency metrics all magically go up next year.

As for Morgan. I think we went after him early because he is a solid all around big guy who is willing to come off the bench. Most of those guys want starting roles. I think he is perfect as long as we get 1-2 more starter types. In all it appears to me we are getting much more athletic and increasing our skill as well. We are not going to be Tx AM athletic but we should be stronger and more athletic than last year. The one piece I wanted to see was a lead guard who could get in the lane and create for others. Maybe Ulis / Rollie can but I wanted to shoot high for that spot. We might have settled here for consistency over dynamic. Overall if we get Kyle / Milicic (at least 1) I am going to be very happy and feels like we can be better than last year. Assuming they play for each other like the last two years.

Hyper athletic guys aren't always that skilled, but I think we do have two dudes who can guard a quick PG now. We didn't have that last season, and when we finally went against a true NBA pg against A&M it showed. From what I can tell, Worster is a very good perimeter defender and a big body who has no problem punishing smaller players on the other end. Ulis seems to have the capability to guard the perimeter as well. We don't currently have a great defender at the 2 but I think Brice is serviceable. He's just long and, again, will outscore about 95% of his matchups this season at 6'7". As for the transfers from other programs, it really depends on what the team needs are going to be and what their situation was. The kid from Nova got recruited there by an all time great in Jay Wright and then had to play for someone mediocre when he arrived. The kid from Wiscy was getting spot minutes for all star prick Greg Gard, but it looks like he has a higher ceiling to me, and he blew up Nebraska when we played there this season. I think he also can be serviceable as a perimeter defender. In both instances, as specialists, they are almost certain to be able to get a decent paycheck to go somewhere else. The all conference caliber mid-majors are trying to put their play on film at the high major level and also get a paycheck likely higher than any Euro team would ever offer them.

This is a dumb topic but Neb definitely needs to add UNMC to UNL. It would just be an administrative change. Sports bring in a lot of money but research is where the real money for universities. When you hear sports talk idoits say things like "no one pays to watch people play with beakers and bunson burners." That may be true but people pay billions to figure stuff out. Adding UNMC would probably add about $200M to UNL total. Still last but much closer to next one. I don't believe any other B1G school does not have a medical school which isbthe big driver here.

FWIW: Gavin Griffiths was a top 50 national recruit with offers from UCONN, Alabama, Creighton and others. Nick Janowski was a top 130 national recruit with offers from Marquette, Wisconsin, Iowa State and others. Eli Rice was a top 300 recruit with offers from Georgetown and St. Bonaventure. Jamarques Lawrence was a top 200 recruit with offers from Wake Forest, Cal and DePaul. At least on paper, this is a serious upgrade in talent at guard over Rice and Lawrence. Now, Keisei's clutch shots and momentum changing shots will certainly be missed, don't get me wrong. At the end of the day he provided 15.1 ppg and was a 37.6% three point shooter. I think Griffiths/Janowski and the increased volume for Williams can make up all that difference, and we'll be better defensively just by not having Keisei out there.

I read an article on Essegian. Fans were very high on him and excited about him coming into the season after being on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team. He hurt his back in the first game of the season, then received little playing time because Gard didn't like his defensive effort. Yet as Essegian jogged from the scorers table out onto the court, the ovation was loud. He grinned wryly as he settled into his defensive spot. And as quick as Essegian's joy revealed itself, it vanished. Jacksonville State guard Caleb Johnson cut backdoor, with Essegian allowing a layup to Johnson on his first play of the game. Gard called guard Isaac Lindsey off the bench, who replaced Essegian on the court just 25 seconds after he entered. The cheers for his arrival turned to boos as he departed. He draped a towel over his head and paced for a moment before finding his spot on the bench, again, to wait. "We can't afford to let him play through it," Gard said. "The stakes are too high in terms of what this team wants to accomplish." After Essegian's eighth game of less than 10 minutes, the waiting still continues. The sophomore did check in again, hitting a 3-pointer to finish with three points on 1-of-2 from deep in four minutes, but it's his play on the other end of the floor that put Gard in a position where he feels he cannot allow Essegian to find a rhythm with court time." **I don't know enough about his defensive effort, but I do know Wisconsin fans more or less despise Gard and how he "developed" Essegian.

We also have to trust that Fred knows what he’s looking for now. He’s got the formula to the secret sauce that works for him. I don’t think he’d go away from that just to get more athletic. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Fred was completely transparent and honest with what he expected and envisioned for each player we’ve recruited. I would hope, much like Boogie, that each player took that to heart before committing and they know that we expect ‘we over me’.

I mean— he played 7 MPG last year. I’d venture to say we can offer more than that off the bench, so next exactly parallel move— even though he might still be projected to come off the bench.

Great breakdown, I think a lot of people are underselling the overall upgrade of length and athleticism. Just think, no matter what high major we were playing, when cj and keisei were on the floor they were the 2 worst athletes 8/10 times

Just because we got beat by Terrence Shannon, does not mean we need Terrence Shannon. We have added athleticism and length. It’s going to help our defense tremendously, and that’s where we need to improve the most. We didn’t lose to A and M or Illinois because we couldn’t score enough. We lost because we gave up 98 points.

I'd take Essegian for sure. He's a good player who will be unlocked wherever he goes. His freshmen year was super impressive. Against Kansas he looked like one of the best players on the court throughout that whole game. I just went back and watched some of that game and he and Kevin McCullar were matched up on each other in the second half and overtime. Not just a shooter. Good athlete, good size, he can put the ball on the floor and finish at the rim. Griffiths has more next level potential but I'd be more confident in Essegian being a significant contributor next year. Unpopular opinion but Essegian>Hickman at the Big Ten level imo.

This dude appears to be that sixth or seventh man who is a specialist. Sort of a CJ type of player. The hope is that he can come in and light it up from three point line and provides a hard driven 15 to 16 minutes a game. I may be totally off base; but that is my initial reaction.

Here’s him going for 25/12/12/6 Stl playing point center this season. I’ll never be ok.

Conferences are desperate to grow revenue. I can't dismiss this enough.

I wouldn’t necessarily call a multiple year starting PG at Utah, a former top 25 SG, and a big man who we beat another B1G team (who was closer to home than us) underwhelming. Especially when we’ve basically upgraded/equaled out each position we’ve lost. Lawrence - Woosley Diop/Keita - Morgan Rice/Tominaga - Griffiths and we still have 3 ships to fill.

Dude is an absolute legend and his fame continues to grow!

His agent negotiated that he got the locker furthest away from Hunter Dickenson

My simple wish is that KU won't have to suffer through the agony of another 23-win season. Those poor bastards.

Worster is crafty and physical, particularly in P&R. Gets in the paint and sprays it around at will. Just not a great outside shooter. He is a true primary ballhandler and creator. A lot of his 10ppg are at the rim/line. I think the incoming shooters really help Brice/Worster with space. Morgan is very good off the dribble for a 5. I expect another big jump from Gary with his ballhandling in 1v1. GG is a good leaper and willing finisher if he puts on some weight. The kid that might fit your description best could very well be Janowski. He is a problem 1v1 - great shooter, physical, and extremely crafty in drawing contact. Might not be textbook quickness drives from the wing, but his midrange post iso game is very impressive. Three level scorer.

P.S. in that game mentioned above for Essegian, Wisconsin was up 46-37 with 13:50 remaining when Gard put him in, and that basket he allowed made it 46-39, and Gard benched him 22 seconds later at the next dead ball. Some might call that tough love coaching, others might call it being a d!ck, and others might call it showing up and embarrassing your player. You're going to pull a guy after giving him 20 seconds and one mistake while you're up 7 on Jacksonville State? Why even put him in then if you have that little confidence in him? Just strange. I would imagine at that moment Essegian put both feet out the door.

It's because of AJ Storr. Storr was much more versatile offensively and defensively. Wiscy was a a NIT team with Essigian playing a lot of minutes in 22-23 and this year the Badgers were a 5 seed in the tourney with Storr. I guess I would take Essigan, but it wouldn't get me that excited.

Agree and we beat Illinois the first time, #$@# refs

I agree with you 100%. We need to improve our athleticism. It wasn’t just A&M.

Sir Edmund Hillary? Did he lead an expedition to Panorama Point or something?

Connor EssegianTransfer SG6-4185 85.05 NIL Value: undisclosed #1 95.7% #2 2.8% 4/19/24 09:59 AM Connor EssegianTransfer SG6-4185 85.05 NIL Value: undisclosed Robin Washut Male

Maybe it's our PGs or maybe we don't need it but I'm struggling to see a guy who can drive to the basket and draw contact. Maybe that's Brice but boy we'd better hope that building the entire team around Brice is going to work.

Steve Forbes needs to stay away.

Looks like Hausen is at KSU right now too and coming on Monday. Get one of these and I'm fine. I prefer Hausen, but I'd take either.

I wouldn’t totally dismiss this idea. We need to get AAU Certification and we need to start winning in Football. In this day and age of realignment one cannot be certain of security.

I believe Janowski is going to play and play big time.

He would've been cool actually.

That I don't know, and I've been wrong already today....but hearing good things.

Don't think he will be, but he'll always be one of my favorites of all time. He started for less than 1.5 seasons but played with so much passion and brought a lot of excitement.

Kevin cross got springy and is in better shape - see a highlight of him this season…

They would role players here on hopefully a real good team, exactly what we want. I hope Jano can do it too but those guys are experienced high level shooters in major conferences and we have plenty of room. Better safe than sorry, get talent here and go from there.

Absolutely will have to agree to disagree on that, I think they are both well above average shooters.

No serious person would think this could be even a remote possibility, plus it wouldn't move the AAU needle in even the slightest for U of N. This is the path, and it should have been done before we lost AAU membership. We had at least a decade to get this done and failed to do so. This move would also put us in line with our peers like Kansas, Mizzou, Iowa and others.

I’m meh on Essegian. Id rather almost roll with Janowski. If we get Igor and Kyle, I’ll feel good about next year

Janowski should have been included with Griffiths to make it a more equal comparison. I think Janowski can have a better freshman year than Eli Rice did production wise. And I think Griffiths can have a much better first year here than Keisei did his first year (5.7 ppg, 33% from 3). But it's hard to see Griffiths equaling Keisei's 15.1 points per game and shooting percentages from this season. Also, none of these guys should be confused with being elite defenders. But Eli was terribly slow and Griffiths is 6-8 too and seems way more athletic, so if he even tries that should be an upgrade. And Janowski should be a better defender than Keisei even as a freshman. According to this analytics site EvanMiya.com, Eli Rice had the least defensive value on the team at 0.29. CJ was next at 0.29. Keisei was next at 0.64.

Wouldn't think so until we dot our i's and grapheme our c's

How would you feel if we got Milicic?

We're still very active. Believe a couple of guys are visiting today. Shooting guard and big post player. Somehow the post player has been under the radar.

Biggest Fear #204748- We get torched by a former player in a game that matters. Best of luck to Eli. Hope he finds a solid role and scores 15 PPG except against us.

The connection to note for Eli Rice to Penn St is that Rice was heavily recruited by VCU who at the time was coached by now Penn St coach Mike Rhodes.

That was a Dan Hurley squad