Fred recruiting Nebraska players out of High School or Transfer portal.

[Huskers/Cubs]

Since Fred has come to Lincoln he has missed out on most of the best Nebraska high school and transfer portal players. With NIL this has to change, I was hopeful NU would get Frankie but another swing and miss. I know it’s a different era, but NU’s best decade the 90’s, the roster was filled with a mix of Nebraska and out of state talent.

 

 

[49r]

15 minutes ago, Huskers/Cubs said:

With NIL this has to change

 

Maybe you could write him a strongly worded letter demanding an explanation.

[hskr4life]

The players have to WANT to be here too.  Obviously we reached out to Frankie.  He visited.  He chose elsewhere.  We also can’t over pay just to get guys from the state.

 

You make it sound like he has completely ignored in state talent when it seems like we’re usually the first to reach out.

[Swan88]

Sam Griesel, Josh Allick, S. Hoiberg, Teggy Allen, Akoy Arop . . . are among the “best.”

[Vinny]

The way Fred can make them want to come here is continuing to make the tournament, and finally winning a game there. For every class from 2017 to now we had only made the tournament once in their lifetime, and we all know how it ended. 
 

Think about the football team. If they didn’t have their history, are we really expecting kids from Ainsworth with offers from every blue blood to want to play for a lower level P5 program just because it’s in Lincoln?

[hhcmatt]

We arguably have the best kid out of the state this year with Braden Frager.

 

The problem with landing the Nebraska kids out of the portal you're talking about is that they are up there in terms of cost to obtain. Chucky has a Badger tattoo and he's on the road to signing with a Louisville team that lost 24 games last year. $$$ and it's tough to blame him.

[Dead Dog Alley]

1 hour ago, Vinny said:

 

Think about the football team. If they didn’t have their history, are we really expecting kids from Ainsworth with offers from every blue blood to want to play for a lower level P5 program just because it’s in Lincoln?

 

The history did play a huge role in that case, I'd say

[Swan88]

And then there’s this kid too:

[roscoe]

Money talks and bulls*** walks. If they wanted to be here they'd consider taking less NIL to be Husker. 

[Vinny]

22 minutes ago, roscoe said:

Money talks and bulls*** walks. If they wanted to be here they'd consider taking less NIL to be Husker. 

That’s what I’m saying. If we keep winning games and going to the tournament, it will make them want to be here.

[kldm64]

10 hours ago, roscoe said:

Money talks and bulls*** walks. If they wanted to be here they'd consider taking less NIL to be Husker. 

 

You could grow up being a Nebraska fan but if NU only offered you $10,000 but some other school offered you $100,000, what would you do?  The generation of kids growing up fans and wanting to play for a certain school are gone.  Now it all about where can I get the biggest paycheck.

[basketballjones]

18 minutes ago, kldm64 said:

The generation of kids growing up fans and wanting to play for a certain school are gone. 

Especially true for Omaha-metro kids. 

[hhcmatt]

24 minutes ago, kldm64 said:

 

You could grow up being a Nebraska fan but if NU only offered you $10,000 but some other school offered you $100,000, what would you do?  The generation of kids growing up fans and wanting to play for a certain school are gone.  Now it all about where can I get the biggest paycheck.

 

You make it sound like getting paid the most wasn't a factor in the past.  More of what you're seeing here is the ability to transfer....before you had to sit a year or couldn't transfer more than once and that kept the stickiness as much as anything. However, when we're talking about disparate monetary amounts for guys who project to 'decent career in Europe' or 'accountant' can you blame them?

[hskr4life]

55 minutes ago, kldm64 said:

 

You could grow up being a Nebraska fan but if NU only offered you $10,000 but some other school offered you $100,000, what would you do?  The generation of kids growing up fans and wanting to play for a certain school are gone.  Now it all about where can I get the biggest paycheck.

I have a hard time faulting 18-22 year olds from taking advantage of a situation that, frankly, the adults in the room should have thought about.

 

I’m a Husker homer.  100%.  Even I wouldn’t turn down the 100K if offered.  Many of these guys will need a life after basketball and how many of us would have loved to start that life after college with a cool 100K+ in our bank accounts?

 

I think we need to pay Nebraska born players what they’re worth/what we believe they’re worth.  Now, as I said above, I absolutely do not think we should overpay what we believe their worth is.  That may sometimes mean other teams being a higher bidder.  That doesn’t mean we should/did lowball an offer.  It’s a delicate balance and because it’s the Wild West out there right now, things change on what seems like a daily basis.

[LincecumFan]

14 hours ago, Vinny said:

The way Fred can make them want to come here is continuing to make the tournament, and finally winning a game there. For every class from 2017 to now we had only made the tournament once in their lifetime, and we all know how it ended. 
 

Think about the football team. If they didn’t have their history, are we really expecting kids from Ainsworth with offers from every blue blood to want to play for a lower level P5 program just because it’s in Lincoln?

I agree with you, Vinny.  NU basketball needs to get back to the Tournament and win a game or two. What was the media storyline for NU in the Tournament this year?  It wasn't the terrific season they had just completed, it was the fact that NU is one of only a few D1 programs that have never won a NCAA Tournament game.  And they sadly fell short again.  I'll even go a step further and say that I believe NU's reputation of being a football only school hurts much more than it helps in attracting the blue chips recruits (high school and transfer). These guys don't want to come here and be ignored in favor of the football program.  Fred needs to show these guys NU can be a consistent basketball school in addition to football.

[Chuck Taylor]

7 minutes ago, LincecumFan said:

I'll even go a step further and say that I believe NU's reputation of being a football only school hurts much more than it helps in attracting the blue chips recruits (high school and transfer). These guys don't want to come here and be ignored in favor of the football program. 

Isn't that hard to do when the basketball recruits get taken to football games? 

[AuroranHusker]

13 hours ago, roscoe said:

Money talks and bulls*** walks. If they wanted to be here they'd consider taking less NIL to be Husker. 

 

Yep, when the rubber hits the road, the guys choose where they wanna be. Money certainly talks loudest, but fit is also a real issue with some. I want dudes who wanna be a Husker, first and foremost. GBR Always.

[AuroranHusker]

24 minutes ago, LincecumFan said:

I agree with you, Vinny.  NU basketball needs to get back to the Tournament and win a game or two. What was the media storyline for NU in the Tournament this year?  It wasn't the terrific season they had just completed, it was the fact that NU is one of only a few D1 programs that have never won a NCAA Tournament game.  And they sadly fell short again.  I'll even go a step further and say that I believe NU's reputation of being a football only school hurts much more than it helps in attracting the blue chips recruits (high school and transfer). These guys don't want to come here and be ignored in favor of the football program.  Fred needs to show these guys NU can be a consistent basketball school in addition to football.

 

That's BS in 2024. Freddy's had his squad 29-14 in his past 43 games. He's building a winner in Lincoln. Recruits actually want to be at a program that supports its teams, too.

 

[hhcmatt]

Winning certainly will help...that's a big reason why Fidler chose Michigan St. It's probably why we a couple of guys to choose us this year.  Nebraska's reputation as a football school seems misguided as there are plenty of schools who excel in both....if anything it's more about priority of football NIL over basketball.

[LincecumFan]

27 minutes ago, AuroranHusker said:

 

That's BS in 2024. Freddy's had his squad 29-14 in his past 43 games. He's building a winner in Lincoln. Recruits actually want to be at a program that supports its teams, too.

 

I agree with you 100%, AuroranHusker, Fred is building a winner in Lincoln. I'm as excited about this as you are. And getting guys like Griffiths and Essegian (both Big 10 veterans who have experienced competing against NU basketball) attests to this fact.  But also the fact that it appears they are having trouble attracting the front court guys they want looks to me like they still have a ways to go. Maybe I'm full of crap and these guys just want to go somewhere with warmer winters, who knows.  And if it's as hhcmatt suggests that football NIL over basketball plays a part, well then....  I only know this whole situation is beginning to give me a damn migraine headache.  

[Swan88]

So . . . if we focus on the Bellevue West three, here's what we see:

• Chucky rejected the Huskers on multiple occasions--and now will forever be remembered as a "traitor" at two B1G universities; and
• Fidler and Kyle are heading to Michigan St. and UCLA, respectively--both could have been home-state heroes (like Griesel and Allick), and one has to wonder if the fans at those new universities will remember their existence more than three months after they move on.

Or if we focus on the Millard North three from the same era, here's what we see:

• Hunter Sallis underperformed expectations at Gonzaga (he will never be remembered favorably there) but is getting close to his high expectations at Wake Forest;
• the one who chose Stanford, Murrell, is (presumably) getting a highly regarded degree--but had only two starts in his 2023-2024 (Senior) season; and
• Saint Thomas has bounced around the mid-majors but is now heading to USC for his fourth season--good for him.   

[Vinny]

Continued success will bring more money to our NIL. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to come here will both increase for local kids. 

[AuroranHusker]

6 minutes ago, LincecumFan said:

I agree with you 100%, AuroranHusker, Fred is building a winner in Lincoln. I'm as excited about this as you are. And getting guys like Griffiths and Essegian (both Big 10 veterans who have experienced competing against NU basketball) attests to this fact.  But also the fact that it appears they are having trouble attracting the front court guys they want looks to me like they still have a ways to go. Maybe I'm full of crap and these guys just want to go somewhere with warmer winters, who knows.  And if it's as hhcmatt suggests that football NIL over basketball plays a part, well then....  I only know this whole situation is beginning to give me a damn migraine headache.  

 

Let's let it play out in its totality.

 

[Handy Johnson]

1 hour ago, Chuck Taylor said:

Isn't that hard to do when the basketball recruits get taken to football games? 

Or get handed out Football Jerseys by the AD after a BIG Win. 

[Huskerpapa]

56 minutes ago, AuroranHusker said:

 

Let's let it play out in its totality.

 

Amen.  As of right this second, we are hurting for bigs.  We may have been rejected by a couple bigs that we were publicly chasing (although that door is not yet fully closed); but I am guessing that Fred still has a few cards up his sleeves.   It is likely worth it for us to wait and see.