Nebraska in-state whiffs since 2006

[Norm Peterson]

2013   Akoy Agau  ****

2012   Mike Gesell  ****

2010   Elliott Eliason ***

2009   Greg Smith **

2008   Wes Eikmeier ***

2008   Antoine Young  ***

2006   Matt Hill  ***

 

Was thinking about this during state basketball.  Five of these guys I'm certain we offered.  Two of them, I'm not sure of but their subsequent careers would suggest it was a mistake if we didn't.

 

There are other D1 players who came out of Nebraska during this time but I don't believe we offered and don't think their subsequent careers proved that decision wrong.  Josh Jones and Dwight Smith, for a couple examples.

 

Not bagging on any particular coach, as this list crosses three coaching staffs.  Just interesting to look at it graphically depicted.  And, notably, we only lost one of these kids to Creighton.

[FredsSlacks]

the bottom 5 on that list weren't going to make us that much better, and the top 2 remain to be seen. I'd take Fuller or Webster over any of the bottom 5 on that list.

 

Also, we never offered greg smith. I'll blame Doc on that one. I will also blame Doc for not getting Gesell.

 

doc and miles have to both take some blame for not getting akoy,

[The Polish Rifle]

Dont know if you guys remember Jarrell Crayton,

http://www.broncosports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9900&ATCLID=205152417

He was a stud but never had his head on straight, not sure if we ever offered though.

[TheKamdyMan]

I cant even blame Miles on Agau as he did everything he could in the 4-5 months time he had to sign him.  I really think had Miles come a year sooner Agau would be in Lincoln next year.  They had a good relationship but Agau can be assured of a better surrounding right away in Louisville as to the unknown in Lincoln.

[Norm Peterson]

If Miles had come a year earlier.  Or if Akoy had been a junior this year.

[Huskerpapa]

Past is now past, I am more interested in what the future now holds.  Can we lock down our State?

[Norm Peterson]

Past is now past, I am more interested in what the future now holds.  Can we lock down our State?

No, past is not past.  Past is prologue. 

 

As George Santayana once said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

 

Is this an historical trend you'd like to see us continue?  Prolly not, huh?  You don't lock down the state by assuming that every kid who grows up in your back yard will be inclined to stay there.

[nustudent]

Hill was bad....he wouldn't have helped us.  

Young would've.  Solid player.  Sadler was behind the 8 ball there as he was already committed to Creighton when he started.

Eikmeier....eh.  He's a solid Mountain West guy.   Not sure how effective he wouldve been here.  We saw what he did at Iowa State.    I think he's a quality high mid-major guy.  Not sure how good he would've been consistently at the Big 10/12 level.

Greg Smith....we could use him.  Long, athletic.

Eliason...much better than I expected.  He'd help us quite a bit.

Agau and Gesell...both will be losses.   But the with the situation the program was in...we weren't going to get them over current better D1 teams.   Had Miles had time with either one...maybe....but the previous staff did us in on both.

[Norm Peterson]

the bottom 5 on that list weren't going to make us that much better, and the top 2 remain to be seen. I'd take Fuller or Webster over any of the bottom 5 on that list.

 

Also, we never offered greg smith. I'll blame Doc on that one. I will also blame Doc for not getting Gesell.

 

doc and miles have to both take some blame for not getting akoy,

Really?  Bottom 5 wouldn't help us that much?  Well ...

 

Eikmeier and Smith are scoring in double figures for a team that ESPN's rpi calculations have as one of the top 15 teams in the country.  The 2nd best team in the 3rd best conference.

 

And an Eliason on this team and I think we're in the NIT for sure.  We probably have two more wins (and two fewer losses) with an Eliason holding down the middle.

 

Antoine Young was the starting point guard for a team that reached the Sweet 16 last year, while scoring in double figures and averaging better than a 2:1 assist:turnover ratio.

 

Matt Hill obviously didn't accomplish much at Texas where their bench was a lot more loaded but I bet he could have contributed more impressive minutes on a Nebraska team that lacked size and was in need of another big man.

 

I disagree with your conclusions about those players' ability to contribute and make this team, which hasn't sniffed a post-season in a few year, better.

[Norm Peterson]

I agree with nustudent about Eliason.  A lot better than I had expected.  Kid can play.  Would be playing more for us than for Minnesota.  He has really good touch around the paint and the ability to get shots off.  Was surprised he ONLY scored 7 points against us after the way he started, but 3 of Minnesota's better scorers didn't get any points at all, so go figure.  Bottom line:  Eliason helps us.  And would decrease the pressure to try to find another big in this spring recruiting class.

[Cookie Belcher]

Antoine Young was the starting point guard for a team that reached the Sweet 16 last year, while scoring in double figures and averaging better than a 2:1 assist:turnover ratio.

I could have sworn he went to Creighton.

[uneblinstu]

Antoine Young was the starting point guard for a team that reached the Sweet 16 last year, while scoring in double figures and averaging better than a 2:1 assist:turnover ratio.

I could have sworn he went to Creighton.

He sure did.

[Norm Peterson]

Cookie's right.  I couldn't remember for sure how far they went and I looked it up and it said "NCAA 3rd round."  Well, 3rd round, to me, has always been the Sweet 16.  I guess, not anymore.  Now, with that play-in round, the "3rd round" is the same thing as the round of 32.  So, good catch, Cookie.  My bad.  My error.

 

Still, the point remains.  Antoine started at point for a team that went further in the NCAA tourney than any team Nebraska has ever had.  And we don't think he would have helped us?  Besides being a home-grown kid, based on his ability alone I beg to differ.

[nebrasketball10]

Not sure I see Eik, Hill, or Smith as misses. Eik and Hill both failed at our level. Did Smith have any real offers out of high school? Is it a "miss" if a guy didn't really show promise in high school, but later developed into a serviceable player? Would anyone have considered him a good sign out of high school?

I don't blame any coach for Agau or Gessel. Both went to programs that were/are in better places than ours at the time (as did Hill).

Elliot and Young maybe. Who did we sign instead of them in their respective recruiting classes?

Also, this could go in the general discussion thread.

[Norm Peterson]

How did Eik "fail" at our level?  There were issues on that ISU team.  Everyone failed at our level with a team that talented only winning 4 conference games.  He currently plays in one of the toughest conferences in the country.  In fact, CBSsports.com has the Mountain West as the #1 rpi conference in the country.  How is that not at our level?  That's a few spots above where the Big 12 is.

 

And I don't know about offers coming out of high school, but Smith had plenty of promise.  He was a skilled 6'7" kid who could shoot the ball.  And he was an in-state player so the propensity to take a gamble on him should have been higher.  Tim Miles apparently saw something in him.  And we passed on him.  And look who was right.

 

And Hill, honestly, failed above our level.  The fact he didn't play a lot for Texas at that time doesn't mean he couldn't have contributed on a Husker team that lacked big men.

[Norm Peterson]

My point must have been a little too subtle.  We haven't signed an in-state high school player since Wes Wilkinson, Jason Dourrisseau and Roy Enright in 2002.  That's 11 recruiting classes down the road since we last signed an in-state kid out of high school.  Every coach that comes through here talks about nailing down the borders of the state for recruiting.  We haven't done it. 

 

I didn't list all the players in that timeframe who went D1 either.  I left out Josh Jones, Dwight Smith, Jesse Carr and probably some others that I've forgotten.  I only included the guys who were either being recruited at our level coming out of HS or who wound up "panning out" if you will.

 

You can make excuses for lack of talent identification and say that Eikmeier "failed" at our level (though I disagree with that statement.)  But the fact remains that he starts, and contributes double-figure scoring, on a team with a top 20 rpi that will be in the NCAA tournament while we sit home once again.

 

Same with Greg Smith.  He's also a starter and double figure scorer on that same team.  And they weren't good enough for 14-17 and two-spots-out-of-last-place-in-the-B1G Nebraska?  Are you kidding me?

 

That's a long goddam list of in-state players who went elsewhere over the last 8 years.  I can't believe people looking at that list and saying, "well, they wouldn't have helped us anyway."  While they play in the dance and we sit at home.  Yeah, right. 

[Norm Peterson]

Since my OP evidently missed the mark, let's try this. 

 

Here is a list of Nebraska high school kids who will be playing in the 2013 NCAA tourney:

 

2012  Mike Gesell, Iowa¹

2010  Elliott Eliason, Minnesota

2009  Greg Smith, Colorado State¹

2008  Wes Eikmeier, Colorado State¹

 

^{1  Denotes starter on an NCAA tourney-bound team.}

[nebrasketball10]

The Mountain West isn't at our level... no matter what any RPI rankings say. It's probably harsh to say he "failed" at Iowa State, since he was only there for a year. Agree that Hill would've played more for us, but it's not like he was a huge miss. If I remember correctly (and I certainly could be wrong), the recruits we brought in instead of Smith (if he was even an option) were Ubel, Gallegos and Standhardinger. I don't think too many college coaches would've taken Smith over either any of them out of HS. That might've been Lance Jeter's year first year, too? I took a quick look on Rivals (I'm terrible at researching offers and what not), and it looks like his other offer was Northern Illinois, and he never visited either school before committing (Also looked at Dwight Smith who had no other offers).

 

Eik graduated in '08, right? So we took Jorge, Bear Jones and Niemann over him? Niemann turned out to be a bust, but would you have taken Eikmeier over him out of high school?

 

And just because those two kids panned out at CSU doesn't mean we were "wrong" on them. They went to a program that plays against lesser competition. They were able to play young and gain experience. They don't get that luxery at Nebraska, and who knows if they pan out?

 

I would've been upset had we offered Carr or Dwight Smith a scholarship. Josh Jones wouldn't have been all that exciting (pretty sure he had mid-major interest only). He was the same year as Eikmeir, I think. At the time, I wouldn't have taken him over any of those guys that we got.

 

I get the point that it's important to own your state... but to what extent? If we had signed all these guys, we're no better than we are now (not including the guys we really TRIED for but couldn't get). When we built a team around Turek, Mulheisan, JD and Wilkinson, we were OK but not good. It'd be OK to have one or two of the players listed as role-type players, but I have a hard time calling them "misses."

[Norm Peterson]

Knowing what I saw of Eikmeier as a HS senior and what I saw from Bear Jones as a freshman, I would have taken Eikmeier over Bear without batting an eyelash about it.  And if you doubt me on that, you can go back and see what I said about him on the old board right after the state tournament finals his senior year.  You could also check what I said about Greg Smith the following state tourney when Smith was a senior.  We had room for Myles Holley but not for Greg Smith?  WTH?  Hell, we took Adrian Coleman over Greg Smith apparently.

 

And I think a team of Eikmeier, Smith, Eliason and Gesell would be a pretty solid group of contributors in the top 8 of your rotation.   You just need to find 4 other decent guys -- Ubel, Talley, Shields and Gallegos -- and I think you have a pretty competitive team there.

[nebrasketball10]

I don't doubt you... but coming out of high school Bear was a much more sought after recruit. I remember him having offers from Indiana (which means Sampson was cheating to get him!) and Memphis, among many others. Quick look at Rivals says he had offers from Cincy, Georgetown, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia, Oregon St...

 

And I don't think we took Holley or Coleman over Greg Smith... I think we took Ubel, Gallegos, Standhardinger and Jeter. Which of those would you have taken Smith over coming out of High School (or JuCo in Jeter's case)? If I'm wrong about these years I'm going to sound like an idiot... I should probably look them up. But I still don't think a Big 12/10 program takes a chance on offering Smith a scholarship regardless (no one else did).

 

I don't disagree with your last paragraph, but again... who knows how Eikmeier and Smith pan out if they ride the pine 2 years before sniffing the court? In a program where they are expected to be role players, not primary contributors. Plus we couldn't have Smith AND Ubel/Gallegos, as we certainly wouldn't have taken him over Standhardinger or Jeter at that time.

[Norm Peterson]

Well, according to Rivals, our '09 recruiting class included Ubel, Gallegos, Jeter, Standhardinger, Hankins-Cole, Holley and Coleman.

 

I think teams pretty much backed off of Bear Jones.  I seriously doubt he had a commitable offer to Indiana when he signed with us.  The problem with Bear and Holley is that they both had chronic injury issues that affected their ability to perform.  I am certain that other teams backed off of Bear.  I have no idea how many legit offers still were there when he finally commited to us.

[nebrasketball10]

I'm not sure about that with Bear. I think he did go to a prep school and didn't have as many offers from there. But I do know he had other major-conference offers.

 

I can't imagine we had a 7-man recruiting class... now I have to look it up... Our 2009-10 roster has Ubel, Gallegos and Standhardinger as Freshmah, with Jeter and Hankins-Cole as JuCo transfers. Ok Holley transferred in as a sophomore. Did Coleman ever make it here? Holley chose us over Miami, IIRC.

[Norm Peterson]

Coleman made it.  Played a semester and transferred in December of that year.  Not sure he played in a single game other than perhaps an exhibition.

[nebrasketball10]

I don't disagree that Coleman and Holley are examples of bad recruiting. I don't agree that there have been numerous large misses.

 

In my opinion, Elliason is the best example of a miss. Other major schools were after him and we didn't even try.

 

Agau and Gessel are examples of not having our home state "locked down," but both went to programs that show(ed) more promise than Nebraska at the time. When Gessel committed to Iowa, we had zero momentum (which is why it was necessary for Doc to go). I don't think it mattered if Miles had another year or Agau was a junior... we still couldn't offer him the chance to play for a legendary coach on a Final Four-caliber team.

[Cookie Belcher]

lol I just liked pointing out that Creighton has never been to the Sweet 16.

Cheers, Norm.