Shatel Weighs in on Hoiberg and Husker Hoops

[NUdiehard]

https://omaha.com/sports/huskers/shatel/shatel-as-calendar-shifts-to-february-eyes-arent-on-hoiberg-theyre-on-nebraskas-ceo/article_d5f28759-0654-5320-a7e8-4736074bce40.html

 

I am not not usually one to refer to Shatel and Husker Hoops in the same sentence.  This is the same guy who said Creighton would have to go 10 deep before reaching the level of Nebraska's best player.  But, in this case, and in this article, I feel he has some decent points.  

 

The gist is that the remainder this season isn't about whether NU can squeak out a few wins against B1G bottom dwellers, or even whether or not to retain Hoiberg.  Rather, the bigger issue is for Trev to step up and show his administration truly supports the hoops program and not just the football program.  

 

He has two suggestions:  

 

1.  Hire an associate AD to focus solely on hoops

 

2.  Make sure the NIL support is top notch

 

Hiring a hoops Assoc. AD makes sense.  Trev is naturally going to lean towards the football program, so bring in a guy who really understands hoops and can devote all his/her attention to hoops.  Sounds good.  Let's do it.

 

But IMO, of more importance, is suggestion #2.  NIL is critical.  I mentioned this in one of my earlier posts when discussing whether to bring back Fred.  If NIL isn't active, prominent and nationally competitive for hoops, then it doesn't matter who the coach is.  And if it isn't prominent and available right now, then Trev is leaving Fred out to dry.  There is no way Hoiberg is going to be able to recruit the caliber of recruit/transfers we need if NIL isn't a huge factor.

 

Has everyone noticed how many of the new football recruits are signing contracts with the 1890 Collective, along with many of the returning players.  1890 has openly stated that it is only signing football and volleyball.  I believe there was another collective to handle basketball last year, but I have no idea whether it is still active, or how well funded it is.  Of course Trev can't arrange for the players to be paid directly from the athletic department, but he can--and if he truly wants hoops to succeed he MUST--use his position and clout to meet with large donors and the hoops collective to make sure it is well funded and active and thriving.  Yet, all we hear is crickets. . . .  

 

Quote

— Get NIL for Husker basketball up to speed. This one is huge.  Perhaps it can’t be at the level of Nebraska football. But it’s lagging behind Creighton. It needs to be better.

 

Is this the plan-- to just starve out Fred and let him die on the vine?  Or is there true backing and support to help him try to get the big time recruits he needs to turn this program around.  Again, I don't have any inside info, I don't know for sure, but Shatel (who I imagine is somewhat connected) says that Nebraska falls well behind Creighton in the hoops NIL support.  If true, then this is inexcusable.  Many on here say that the AD left Miles to out to dry by not extending his contract.  Well, in today's era of NIL, if a coach doesn't have considerable NIL support, then this is more deadly than a lack of a contract extension.  It's the nail in the coffin.  How could Nebraska possibly expect to out-recruit other blue blood programs who have much more history and success and who also have consider more money to throw at those recruits? 

 

Once again, it is time for this athletic department and AD to step up and show/prove how it is supporting husker hoops .  For some of us, football isn't the only game in town.  Hopefully the AD feels the same way.

 

[Huskerpapa]

One point of confusion for me...I thought we had a substantial pool of NIL money.  This article says otherwise.

[cornfed24-7]

35 minutes ago, NUdiehard said:

https://omaha.com/sports/huskers/shatel/shatel-as-calendar-shifts-to-february-eyes-arent-on-hoiberg-theyre-on-nebraskas-ceo/article_d5f28759-0654-5320-a7e8-4736074bce40.html

 

I am not not usually one to refer to Shatel and Husker Hoops in the same sentence.  This is the same guy who said Creighton would have to go 10 deep before reaching the level of Nebraska's best player.  But, in this case, and in this article, I feel he has some decent points.  

 

The gist is that the remainder this season isn't about whether NU can squeak out a few wins against B1G bottom dwellers, or even whether or not to retain Hoiberg.  Rather, the bigger issue is for Trev to step up and show his administration truly supports the hoops program and not just the football program.  

 

He has two suggestions:  

 

1.  Hire an associate AD to focus solely on hoops

 

2.  Make sure the NIL support is top notch

 

Hiring a hoops Assoc. AD makes sense.  Trev is naturally going to lean towards the football program, so bring in a guy who really understands hoops and can devote all his/her attention to hoops.  Sounds good.  Let's do it.

 

But IMO, of more importance, is suggestion #2.  NIL is critical.  I mentioned this in one of my earlier posts when discussing whether to bring back Fred.  If NIL isn't active, prominent and nationally competitive for hoops, then it doesn't matter who the coach is.  And if it isn't prominent and available right now, then Trev is leaving Fred out to dry.  There is no way Hoiberg is going to be able to recruit the caliber of recruit/transfers we need if NIL isn't a huge factor.

 

Has everyone noticed how many of the new football recruits are signing contracts with the 1890 Collective, along with many of the returning players.  1890 has openly stated that it is only signing football and volleyball.  I believe there was another collective to handle basketball last year, but I have no idea whether it is still active, or how well funded it is.  Of course Trev can't arrange for the players to be paid directly from the athletic department, but he can--and if he truly wants hoops to succeed he MUST--use his position and clout to meet with large donors and the hoops collective to make sure it is well funded and active and thriving.  Yet, all we hear is crickets. . . .  

 

 

Is this the plan-- to just starve out Fred and let him die on the vine?  Or is there true backing and support to help him try to get the big time recruits he needs to turn this program around.  Again, I don't have any inside info, I don't know for sure, but Shatel (who I imagine is somewhat connected) says that Nebraska falls well behind Creighton in the hoops NIL support.  If true, then this is inexcusable.  Many on here say that the AD left Miles to out to dry by not extending his contract.  Well, in today's era of NIL, if a coach doesn't have considerable NIL support, then this is more deadly than a lack of a contract extension.  It's the nail in the coffin.  How could Nebraska possibly expect to out-recruit other blue blood programs who have much more history and success and who also have consider more money to throw at those recruits? 

 

Once again, it is time for this athletic department and AD to step up and show/prove how it is supporting husker hoops .  For some of us, football isn't the only game in town.  Hopefully the AD feels the same way.

 

Man, you will find any angle to try and defend the Hoiberg. Hoiberg is failing because of him and him alone. Nothing to do with NIL. Nothing to do with Trev not supporting him.

[HuskerFever]

NIL is fine and all... until they start to ask for them to admit and pay for their girlfriend's law school.

 

 

[The Polish Rifle]

To say we need an Associate AD for Basketball, feels like an indictment on Hoiberg. Does Creighton have an associate AD for Basketball? Does Rutgers? Does Penn St? Iowa? Wisconsin? It's like saying the Basketball portion isn't being run right but it's not the coaches fault. Maybe we just need a HC with the vision to run the  Nebraska Program including all it's flaws and beauty.

[Handy Johnson]

Handing out Blackshirts to the Basketball Team tells you where their priorities lie & where their heads at. 

[Cowboy Kermit]

1 hour ago, The Polish Rifle said:

To say we need an Associate AD for Basketball, feels like an indictment on Hoiberg. Does Creighton have an associate AD for Basketball? Does Rutgers? Does Penn St? Iowa? Wisconsin? It's like saying the Basketball portion isn't being run right but it's not the coaches fault. Maybe we just need a HC with the vision to run the  Nebraska Program including all it's flaws and beauty.

It's not as much of an indictment on Hoiberg is it is an indictment on the fact that the former all American linebacker AD who was brought in to fire and hire a football coach isn't exactly a basketball guy. 

[Cowboy Kermit]

3 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

One point of confusion for me...I thought we had a substantial pool of NIL money.  This article says otherwise.

Not a ton of overlap between big money football boosters and basketball boosters. ABM basically told basketball they were on their own and some boosters started a small basketball specific collective but it is very very very small. There's a reason you don't see anything that has to do with basketball on the 1890 website. 

[Faux Mike Peltz]

3 hours ago, The Polish Rifle said:

To say we need an Associate AD for Basketball, feels like an indictment on Hoiberg. Does Creighton have an associate AD for Basketball? Does Rutgers? Does Penn St? Iowa? Wisconsin? It's like saying the Basketball portion isn't being run right but it's not the coaches fault. Maybe we just need a HC with the vision to run the  Nebraska Program including all it's flaws and beauty.

Moot point about CU, as they don’t have a football program bringing in 100+ million per year like NU does. Rasmussen was very much the CU AD with a basketball mindset. He did everything he could for the development of the basketball program and it showed. Let’s just not get another Boehm type, that’s all I ask…

[49r]

8 hours ago, Faux Mike Peltz said:

they don’t have a football program bringing in 100+ million per year

 

Yes they do.  It just brings that revenue in to the NUAD.

 

But to the larger point, Shatel is a garbage sports writer and a lazy hack.  This article could have easily been researched and written without bringing up Creighton, it was merely an opportunity to glorify his favorite sports team and run down their local rival, nothing more.  He's doing more to harm Nebraska than help that's for sure, and I'm certain that's exactly why he wrote this tripe.

[HB]

14 hours ago, Huskerpapa said:

One point of confusion for me...I thought we had a substantial pool of NIL money.  This article says otherwise.

Our hoops NIL is decent.  We are competitive with what we’re paying current guys.  Hell, even Jeffrey Grace got a little money.  Understand that the NIL world has been evolving very quickly.  Our group had some stops and starts, and was figuring out how to best raise money.   While it’s organization has lacked the higher profile of 1890 for football and volleyball,  the hoops NIL folks made sure NIL funds were generous for this year’s roster.   Trev has very recently gotten more involved, and met recently with the head of the basketball NIL group (Who has ties to Fred but not Trev).   Shatel isn’t wrong that NIL commitment will be imperative, but I’m optimistic we’ll do well going forward in that arena.

[hhcmatt]

What year is this Shatel column where he fixes everything by making it Omaha-centric from?

[throwback]

30 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

What year is this Shatel column where he fixes everything by making it Omaha-centric from?

Ha - he kind of has a go-to, doesn't he? Hiring the bluebirds' old AD is going to fix NU hoops? I'm sure that'll go well. Wonder if we ever tried hiring one of our rivals' administrators before and how that worked out? (Side note: Are the energy busses still running around campus?)

 

I will say Trev while at UNO had a very strong AD for hockey that helped him out quite a bit, as he knew the sport, helped reach out to Dean Blais and the current coach, Gabinet, etc. Ultimately, though, Trev made those hires. Not sure having a dedicated person to help with finding candidates is as big a deal for a mainstream sport like men's hoops versus more of a niche sport like hockey.

 

We hired one of the hottest names this last go around -- a can't miss hire -- just fine without a dedicated AD. Clearly, it did not work out. So there's no guarantees either way. If Trev feels like he needs a dedicated AD for men's hoops, great. If not, great. It's not going to guarantee success.

 

Ultimately, we can throw out a million ideas, but they aren't going to fix what's going on now. Maybe when the new coach gets here, some of this is worth implementing. But it's pretty clear we need a fresh start first.

 

[Huskerpapa]

18 minutes ago, throwback said:

Wonder if we ever tried hiring one of our rivals' administrators before and how that worked out? (Side note: Are the energy busses still running around campus?)

Well, we did hire Connie Yori...

[hhcmatt]

8 minutes ago, Huskerpapa said:

Well, we did hire Connie Yori...

 

We've hired a few coaches from Creighton over the years and it certainly worked out.  Hiring Rasmussen is a great idea....had we done it 20 years ago when he was 52 and not now when he's 72.  What coach wouldn't want to work with a guy.....who retires again 6 months after they get hired.

[jimmykc]

Seems like the new bête noir to blame for lack of success is named Nil. (please refer to Boeheim,James)

Edited February 5, 2023 by jimmykc

[49r]

1 hour ago, hhcmatt said:

What year is this Shatel column where he fixes everything by making it Omaha-centric from?

 

Are you suggesting a quid pro quo?  Wonder how long that deal runs...

[huskercappy]

This is by far the worst article written by Shatel.  Fred has failed because of Fred. Now will Trev have the guts to fix it. Only the rich boosters know for sure.

[HuskerFever]

1 hour ago, jimmykc said:

Seems like the new bête noir to blame for lack of success is named Nil. (please refer to Boeheim,James)

 

This.

 

Call it what you want, but Bruce Pearl has taken a seemingly downtrodden program in a 2nd tier P5 conference and has turned it into a respectable program with sustained success.

 

Speculate how you will about how that success came about, but this was before NIL and at a program that valued football higher than hoops.

 

Same can be said about Nate Oats at Alabama.

[OmahaHusker]

I’m sure the basketball NIL pool is fine as is. It doesn’t really matter if the recruit/transfer doesn’t want to play for a losing coach. If we were winning we would be competitive in NIL I have no doubt. 

[Cazzie22]

1 hour ago, HuskerFever said:

 

This.

 

Call it what you want, but Bruce Pearl has taken a seemingly downtrodden program in a 2nd tier P5 conference and has turned it into a respectable program with sustained success.

 

Speculate how you will about how that success came about, but this was before NIL and at a program that valued football higher than hoops.

 

Same can be said about Nate Oats at Alabama.

I question the ethics of Bruce Pearl but he is a proven winner.  Oats has been successful.  It may be fair to point out that the State of Alabama and the region produce more talent than the region around Nebraska.

[brfrad]

4 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

What year is this Shatel column where he fixes everything by making it Omaha-centric from?

I don't understand playing a game in Omaha every year.  We already play one every other year against Creighton.  When I go to Lincoln, we have to go through Omaha.  It takes 45 minutes to get through Omaha.  It's not like people from Omaha can't make it to one of the 16 or 17 games a year played in Lincoln.

[Norm Peterson]

Seems like we had an assoc. AD for hoops.

 

But then people who had no idea what he actually did assumed he wasn't doing a very good job of it, insisted he get fired, and, well, we no longer have an assoc. AD for hoops.

[HuskerFever]

1 hour ago, Cazzie22 said:

I question the ethics of Bruce Pearl but he is a proven winner.  Oats has been successful.  It may be fair to point out that the State of Alabama and the region produce more talent than the region around Nebraska.

 

This certainly overlooks the level of talent, but when you look at the current rosters you see much more diversity than in-state/border talent. But they do have to travel less to reach those top 5-10 players.

 

Location of Top 10 Players (by Total Points):

Alabama: 1 in-state, 2 border (GA, TN)

Auburn: 1 in-state, 6 border (FL x2, GA x3, TN)

Nebraska: 3 in-state, 1 border (MO)

 

Top 5 Players:

Alabama's top 5 players (11.46 pts/gm) are from: TN, AL, SC, NY, TX

Auburn's top 5 players (11.04 pts/gm) are from: MI, FL, GA, AR, GA

Nebraska's top 5 players (10.26 pts/gm) are from: MO, NE, Japan, Canada, NJ

 

Average Miles from Campus (of Top 5 Players):
Alabama: 412

Auburn: 360

Nebraska: 2,650 (724 for Top 5 USA players)

[Busch Light]

Like most of Shatel’s articles, he’s wrong about most of the things he writes about. Rasmussen was a really good athletic director, but I’m not sure that’s the answer here. I would consult him if we decided to hire a new coach for sure though. His NIL point is solid. We should look to improve this if we are serious about basketball.