Williams and 2025-26

[Gamafn]

First, as a fairly frequent Amy critic, I want to say that her coaching during at least the last half of this season has been terrific.  Almost everyone on the roster has noticeably improved, especially offensively.

As I find myself thinking ahead to next year, IF:

- everyone returns,

- Bozan, Pietrie, Prince, Hargray, Nissley and Hake continue their upward improvement trajectory,

- Potts and Weidner return to at least the contribution level they had when they went down, 

- Amy continues to push the 2025 buttons, and

- the two new freshmen can contribute at somewhere near the level of the departed Moriarty and Rimdal, 

then I think we could be better next year even without bringing in another big.

Of course, it’s unlikely that ALL these will happen, so I’d still like to see better defensive intensity and the addition of a rim protector with some athleticism.  But there is considerable reason for optimism.  Agree or disagree?

[Nails]

I think the loss of Alexis will be huge. We don’t have anybody on the roster that can do what she can do. I am not betting on the knee injuries coming back to the same level. Amy is going to have to hit the portal or international basketball hard. USC won the Big 10 with seven Freshmen on the roster. They have the luxury of an All World Sophomore. The best case for Nebraska to move up is getting Britt closer to being a 20 point a game scorer. Ideally you can be really good if your top three scorers average 50 points a game. 

[redsteve]

Unless a big is brought in....the inside will have to be done by committee. If Potts can come back nearly full speed, alone with the "bigs" we have now, then we may have a good portion of what we need. It looks like all those coming back actually have the potential to be better scorers.

 

Last night teams are double teaming and got real physical with Markowski, and the refs seemed to be making a point to watch every movement she made.  So everyone else must produce...which we did.

Anyway.....losing your top rebounder, and an offensive  threat,  is always hard to replace

[Gamafn]

Agree that we’re not going to fully replace AM.  But if Bozan (or someone else) can become a 10/8 post player and most everyone else improves we should be pretty good.  Not many teams will have 4 bigs next year as good as Potts, Petrie, Hargrove and Bozan, assuming all 4 return and continue their improvement trajectories.

AM has been pretty spectacular for most of the last month or two, but she’s still ‘only’ 16+/8 for the year and 14/9 for her career.  

[Cazzie22]

Markowski is going to leave a huge void in the middle.  I think we will miss Rimdal, who had courage to go to the bucket and at times was a slick passer. Bozan has to get tougher and play defense but may take a big leap between her freshman and sophomore season. Getting a good post in the portal would be my number one request.  Potts, if fully recovered will give us consistent scoring, rebounding and leadership.  Can Weidner recover by October?  Let’s get a win in the NCAA’s in a couple of weeks.

[HUD]

  On 3/9/2025 at 3:03 AM, Cazzie22 said:

Markowski is going to leave a huge void in the middle.  I think we will miss Rimdal, who had courage to go to the bucket and at times was a slick passer. Bozan has to get tougher and play defense but may take a big leap between her freshman and sophomore season. Getting a good post in the portal would be my number one request.  Potts, if fully recovered will give us consistent scoring, rebounding and leadership.  Can Weidner recover by October?  Let’s get a win in the NCAA’s in a couple of weeks.

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Maybe  next year we should try Hargrove at the 3 position.  That's what she was recruited for initially.  Could be could good  for certain matchups.  She made nice steady improvement through out the year.  Can take the ball to the hoop and has a nice outside shot and was our leading rebounder against  UCLA playing only 14 minutes.  She has the size we lack for next year as our guards are 5-4, 5-8, 5-9, 5-10, 5-10, 5-11 and 6 ft.

[Cazzie22]

I may be wrong but I don’t see how Kennadi Williams helps.

[Neb Nets]

  On 3/9/2025 at 11:53 AM, Cazzie22 said:

I may be wrong but I don’t see how Kennadi Williams helps.

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In my opinion, you’re not wrong. I don’t see how she’ll help either. I watched Kennadi play against Lincoln Southeast last year as a senior in high school. (Southwest’s most intense rivalry) Was Kennadi a good player? Sure, without question. Was she head and shoulders the most talented, dominant basketball player on the court that night? Nope. The whole time I watched her I thought “She just doesn’t look like a B1G-caliber recruit to me. Not the kind of athlete that NU needs to compete with the upper echelon of the conference, anyway”

If we ask ourselves an honest question - would NU have recruited Kennadi to play BB if she wasn’t the head coach’s daughter, I believe the answer would be: highly unlikely.
Yes, I realize that she’s on a SB scholarship so she’s not tying up a BB scholarship, so I guess it’s not as consequential of an issue. 

[Gamafn]

  On 3/9/2025 at 3:33 AM, HUD said:

Maybe  next year we should try Hargrove at the 3 position.  That's what she was recruited for initially.  Could be could good  for certain matchups.  She made nice steady improvement through out the year.  Can take the ball to the hoop and has a nice outside shot and was our leading rebounder against  UCLA playing only 14 minutes.  She has the size we lack for next year as our guards are 5-4, 5-8, 5-9, 5-10, 5-10, 5-11 and 6 ft.

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Not sure the traditional position numbers mean much anymore, but if you mean play Hargrove as a small forward on a 3-player front line then I might agree.  Would put arguably our 5 best players on the floor more often as well as improving rebounding.  Two problems - only one front line sub and defensive matchups.  Still need an athletic rim protector imo.

[Fastbreaker]

Denmark Williams is on a BB schol!y

[Fastbreaker]

  On 3/9/2025 at 1:58 PM, Fastbreaker said:

Denmark Williams is on a BB schol!y

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That's Kennadi. Damn spellcheck

[Fastbreaker]

I have heard a rumor that the women's BB team is getting shorted on NIL because UNL needs to keep the VB machine perking along

[Huskerpapa]

A lot of people didn't think Sam Hoiberg would ever play for the men's team.  He likely is playing a bigger role than he should actually...but that is fodder for a different discussion. 

That said, I see Kennadi in a similar role as a leader, ball of energy and a glue type player.  She may not have star power; but she will earn minutes.

[All About the Corn]

I think Kennadi is better suited for SB than BB but if she wants to be on the team then I am fine with it. My problem is Amy makes 900K a year and as a employee her children can go to UNL at a discounted rate. So why is Kennadi on a scholarship? I can also see why more NIL money is going to VB. IMHO I think Weidner needs to call it a career. I understand she wants to finish on a high note but at some point you need to think of your future. 

[Fastbreaker]

  On 3/9/2025 at 3:40 PM, All About the Corn said:

I think Kennadi is better suited for SB than BB but if she wants to be on the team then I am fine with it. My problem is Amy makes 900K a year and as a employee her children can go to UNL at a discounted rate. So why is Kennadi on a scholarship? I can also see why more NIL money is going to VB. IMHO I think Weidner needs to call it a career. I understand she wants to finish on a high note but at some point you need to think of your future. 

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My point Was that The basketball team is getting less NIL money Then Other big 10 teams. For example Iowa's NIL For volleyball Is probably next to nothing All that extra money is available for the Basketball team

[Neb Nets]

  On 3/9/2025 at 1:59 PM, Fastbreaker said:

That's Kennadi. Damn spellcheck

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I could have sworn that Kennadi was on a softball scholarship. Did that change at some point? My bad if I’m misinformed. 

[Neb Nets]

  On 3/9/2025 at 4:09 PM, Fastbreaker said:

My point Was that The basketball team is getting less NIL money Then Other big 10 teams. For example Iowa's NIL For volleyball Is probably next to nothing All that extra money is available for the Basketball team

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Good point about the Iowa VB program. That program is such an afterthought at that university I’m surprised they haven’t dropped the sport to save money altogether 

[All About the Corn]

  On 3/9/2025 at 4:09 PM, Fastbreaker said:

My point Was that The basketball team is getting less NIL money Then Other big 10 teams. For example Iowa's NIL For volleyball Is probably next to nothing All that extra money is available for the Basketball team

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I can understand your point. Most B1G schools NIL money is football, MBB, WBB, and then it gets split over the rest. Now there are a few schools where VB does better, thinking PSU, and WI. But then their WBB programs are not good. Would be interesting to see how the west schools do the NIL. 

[Fastbreaker]

  On 3/9/2025 at 4:33 PM, Neb Nets said:

I could have sworn that Kennadi was on a softball scholarship. Did that change at some point? My bad if I’m misinformed. 

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It never changed.