In state kids?

[uneblinstu]

Does he have the grades? That seems to be the issue with OPS kids more than anything.

[Navin R. Johnson]

Not for sure on this, but I think there might be grade issues here as well.

[GoBigRed]

Does he have the grades? That seems to be the issue with OPS kids more than anything.

 

I've been told Thurman has no chance, but that Thomas is in ok shape. That was a while ago though.

[Tallbaby21]

It'd be a good master's thesis to figure out why Nebraska's female athletes are phenomenal all americans and the male athletes play in the GPAC.

[Section_316]

Great post ^^^^^

[Hooper]

It'd be a good master's thesis to figure out why Nebraska's female athletes are phenomenal all americans and the male athletes play in the GPAC.

 

The men's game is very different. Explosive athleticism is far more important in the men's game now. 

[TheGov21]

 

It'd be a good master's thesis to figure out why Nebraska's female athletes are phenomenal all americans and the male athletes play in the GPAC.

 

The men's game is very different. Explosive athleticism is far more important in the men's game now. 

 

 

That doesn't change the fact that this state is producing abundance of D1 talent.  Not only to Nebraska and Creighton but other schools.  Heck this state is actually a talent rich state for volleyball.

[HB]

 

 

It'd be a good master's thesis to figure out why Nebraska's female athletes are phenomenal all americans and the male athletes play in the GPAC.

 

The men's game is very different. Explosive athleticism is far more important in the men's game now. 

 

 

That doesn't change the fact that this state is producing abundance of D1 talent.  Not only to Nebraska and Creighton but other schools.  Heck this state is actually a talent rich state for volleyball.

 

 

OK, I'll go there.

 

Men's basketball is an urban, african-american dominated culture.    That's not Nebraska, for the most part, numbers wise.  That is where the dominant number of D1 talent in men's basketball comes from.  Women's basketball--much less so.  In last night's game there were 8 or 9 caucasions on the floor at any one time. From places like Allilance, Seward, and Wahoo.  That would be unheard of in upper D1 men's basketball.  And volleyball is very lily white.  I would think race and urban culture are a factor in the disparate production of high level D1 talent in Nebraska high school girls sports vs. boys. 

 

Not a fool proof theory, but it could explain the dramatic difference in production of D1 talent in women's basketball and volleyball.    Although high school girl's basketball has still probably produced more african-american talent than boys in recent years (Vonnie Turner, KK Houser, Briana Craig come to mind without giving it a bunch of thought) which could debunk the theory to some extent.

[Norm Peterson]

That's an interesting dichotomy that you point out, HB.  It's an empirical fact that we have a large number of white girls from places like Seward and Alliance playing on our women's team.  If we tried that in men's, we'd look like UNK.

 

The fact that there's a difference cannot be argued.  The why would be an interesting discussion.

[Cousin Mose]

That's an interesting dichotomy that you point out, HB.  It's an empirical fact that we have a large number of white girls from places like Seward and Alliance playing on our women's team.  If we tried that in men's, we'd look like UNK.

 

The fact that there's a difference cannot be argued.  The why would be an interesting discussion.

 

This doesn't really explain Iowa's instate talent.

[Jugular]

Iowa has a much larger population andit is spread out in all different directions. Sure, Omaha is quite a bit larger than the Des Moines metro area (and Lincoln is pushing it) but it's the other population centers around Iowa that is the big difference.

Cedar Rapids/Marion - 160K+

Davenport/Bettendorf - 135K and 350K in Quad Cities metro area

Sioux City - 80K+

Iowa City - 90K and a BCS level college town

Waterloo - 70K

Council Bluffs - 60K+ and part of Omaha metro area

Ames - 60K+ and a BCS level college town

Dubuque - 60K

Ankeny - 50K (could be included in DM metro area)

Cedar Falls - 40K and a mid-major D1 college town

Mason City - 30K+

In addition to these, Marshalltown, Ottumwa, Fort Dodge, Clinton, Burlington and Muscatine are all in the 25K area. Compare that to Nebraska (outside of Omaha and Lincoln), where you have Grand Island, Fremont, Kearney, Hastings, Norfolk, North Platte and Columbus...and all but GI and Kearney would be below Mason City.

With all of that said, after living in Iowa for 10 years I cannot explain the fact that there are so many small towns with really tall kids. It's fairly normal to find multiple kids 6'5 to 6'7 on teams that would be C1 or lower size in Nebraska...and they are big strong kids. If I am a small college coach in Nebraska I would becrossing the river to recruit SW and NW Iowa schools. Especially with the poor play of kids in Nebraska high schools.

That's an interesting dichotomy that you point out, HB. It's an empirical fact that we have a large number of white girls from places like Seward and Alliance playing on our women's team. If we tried that in men's, we'd look like UNK.

The fact that there's a difference cannot be argued. The why would be an interesting discussion.

This doesn't really explain Iowa's instate talent.

[throwback]

^^^^

This is an interesting post - with what I do I get a chance to see quite a bit of A & B basketball in Nebraska, outside of Omaha. It's really hard to believe how little size - let alone quality size - there seems to be at these schools. Class B this season especially seems to be below average talent & size wise, although I haven't seen Elkhorn South yet. It's strange.

[MichHusker]

Yea, last time I visited Nebraska and watched a varsity basketball game, I was mildly surprised at how little talent there was. Many of the kids wouldn't have even made my high schools JV team as juniors or seniors

[bobcat402]

any word on Morrow? he is a Nebraskan by extension.

[Creighton Fan]

ive always beleived that Nebr doesnt have as many d1 hoopers is because the best kids get steered toward football and away from hoops at an early age. This happens even in omaha.

[huskerbaseball13]

ive always beleived that Nebr doesnt have as many d1 hoopers is because the best kids get steered toward football and away from hoops at an early age. This happens even in omaha.

 

Perhaps...but for quite some time now Omaha has not been great at producing football talent as well. 

[uneblinstu]

ive always beleived that Nebr doesnt have as many d1 hoopers is because the best kids get steered toward football and away from hoops at an early age. This happens even in omaha.

That's part of it. Omaha produces a lot of baseball talent, too. There's enough talent in the metro that it should produce more talent than it does. I'd maintain that there's a lack of development pre-high school. Not sure if that's interest based or no one's made the opportunity available to kids.

[Jugular]

Basketball is down in the state...and it's not just at producing D1 kids. Look at schools like UNK, Wayne, Wesleyan, Doane and Hastings. Yes, Hastings is having a nice season but other than that those teams (and others) are nowhere near as talented or good as they were 10-20 years ago. There were some great SCORERS year in and year out on these teams and they don't have anyone close to that now. Hell, even the crappy teams back then had studs that could fill it.

Yea, last time I visited Nebraska and watched a varsity basketball game, I was mildly surprised at how little talent there was. Many of the kids wouldn't have even made my high schools JV team as juniors or seniors

[TheNovice]

On the Ohio State post game show, Coach Miles said that he had three in state recruits in attendance.  I believe he called them the best three recruits in the state.  Coach said the three were very impressed with the environment and the crowd.  OK - who was he talking about?  

[FredsSlacks]

On the Ohio State post game show, Coach Miles said that he had three in state recruits in attendance.  I believe he called them the best three recruits in the state.  Coach said the three were very impressed with the environment and the crowd.  OK - who was he talking about?  

If we don't know who they are, then they probably aren't very highly touted player anyways.

[TheGov21]

On the Ohio State post game show, Coach Miles said that he had three in state recruits in attendance.  I believe he called them the best three recruits in the state.  Coach said the three were very impressed with the environment and the crowd.  OK - who was he talking about?  

 

Well if it's the three best players in the state then it's probably Thurman (Central) and Thomas (Benson) for sure.

[Norm Peterson]

 

That's an interesting dichotomy that you point out, HB.  It's an empirical fact that we have a large number of white girls from places like Seward and Alliance playing on our women's team.  If we tried that in men's, we'd look like UNK.

 

The fact that there's a difference cannot be argued.  The why would be an interesting discussion.

 

This doesn't really explain Iowa's instate talent.

 

I wasn't explaining things.  Just agreeing that there is a disparity and I don't know why there's a disparity but it's not even arguable that there is one.  Small-town Nebraska is producing D1 athletes all over the place in volleyball and girls' basketball.  Jordan Larson from Hooper is one of the best women's volleyball players in the world.  Jordan Hooper from Alliance is one of the best women's basketball players in the country. 

 

If I sat down and tried, I could come up with quite a list of girls from Nebraska in the last several years who have gone on to or been offered by D1 programs in women's hoops, but a brief list of current D1 players or recruits from in-state:

 

Jordan Hooper, Alliance (UNL)

Emily Cady, Seward (UNL)

Hannah Tvrdy, Seward (UNL)

KK Houser, Lincoln (Purdue)

Alexa Kastanek, Lincoln (Iowa)

Marissa Kastanek, Lincoln  (NC State)

Brianna Craig, Lincoln (KState)

McKenzie Fujan, Wahoo (Creighton)

Lauren Works, Lincoln (Creighton)

Alexis Akin-Otiko Bellevue (Creighton)

Alyssa Kamphaus, Seward (Creighton)

Jess Shepard, Fremont (UNL commit)

Chatrice White, Shelby (Illinois commit)

Maddie Simon, Lincoln (UNL commit)

Kiana Ibis, Omaha (UNL and Creighton offers among others)

Brooke, Jamie and Taylor Kissinger, Minden (Illinois, San Diego and uncommitted but Illinois offer)

[Norm Peterson]

Boy D1 players/recruits from the same timeframe:

 

Elliot Eliason (Minnesota)

Mike Gesell (Iowa)

Deverell Biggs (Nebraska)

 

???  Who am I missing?

[hhcmatt]

 

On the Ohio State post game show, Coach Miles said that he had three in state recruits in attendance.  I believe he called them the best three recruits in the state.  Coach said the three were very impressed with the environment and the crowd.  OK - who was he talking about?  

If we don't know who they are, then they probably aren't very highly touted player anyways.

 

 

If we're talking about three kids from the state of Nebraska that Miles spent time talking to before and after the game, it doesn't matter if they're nationally ranked or not.  It matters and it's important....especially if you do want to land the future highly touted players from this state.

[HB]

 

 

That's an interesting dichotomy that you point out, HB.  It's an empirical fact that we have a large number of white girls from places like Seward and Alliance playing on our women's team.  If we tried that in men's, we'd look like UNK.

 

The fact that there's a difference cannot be argued.  The why would be an interesting discussion.

 

This doesn't really explain Iowa's instate talent.

 

I wasn't explaining things.  Just agreeing that there is a disparity and I don't know why there's a disparity but it's not even arguable that there is one.  Small-town Nebraska is producing D1 athletes all over the place in volleyball and girls' basketball.  Jordan Larson from Hooper is one of the best women's volleyball players in the world.  Jordan Hooper from Alliance is one of the best women's basketball players in the country. 

 

If I sat down and tried, I could come up with quite a list of girls from Nebraska in the last several years who have gone on to or been offered by D1 programs in women's hoops, but a brief list of current D1 players or recruits from in-state:

 

Jordan Hooper, Alliance (UNL)

Emily Cady, Seward (UNL)

Hannah Tvrdy, Seward (UNL)

KK Houser, Lincoln (Purdue)

Alexa Kastanek, Lincoln (Iowa)

Marissa Kastanek, Lincoln  (NC State)

Brianna Craig, Lincoln (KState)

McKenzie Fujan, Wahoo (Creighton)

Lauren Works, Lincoln (Creighton)

Alexis Akin-Otiko Bellevue (Creighton)

Alyssa Kamphaus, Seward (Creighton)

Jess Shepard, Fremont (UNL commit)

Chatrice White, Shelby (Illinois commit)

Maddie Simon, Lincoln (UNL commit)

Kiana Ibis, Omaha (UNL and Creighton offers among others)

Brooke, Jamie and Taylor Kissinger, Minden (Illinois, San Diego and uncommitted but Illinois offer)

 

 

Depending on how you define "few years", Vonnie Turner and Dominque Kelley were very good players on our sweet 16 teams just 4 years ago.   The Creghton player from West Point.  Player from York went ot Wyoming.  Probably some more out there but would have to jog my memory.