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    Derrick Walker is N

      “Derrick is a physical player who gives us skill and versatility in the post. He has played in big games over the last two years, and his experience will be an asset for us with so many newcomers on the roster.” - Coach Fred Hoiberg

       

      Kansas City, MO native Derrick Walker will transfer and sit out a redshirt year at Nebraska after playing two seasons for Rick Barnes at Tennessee. After a promising freshman year Walker saw his playing time decrease and decided to enter the transfer portal on May 1st. Two weeks later after an unpublicized visit to Nebraska, Walker committed to the Huskers in part because of his long time relationship with Nebraska assistant Matt Abdelmassih.  Abdelmassih and St. John's were one of the finalists the first time around after Walker finished his postgrad year at Sunrise Christian Academy. Prior to his two years at the Kansas Prep school he was a two star athlete at Raytown High school where he also starred as a wide receiver at the former high school of Tyronn Lue.

       

      Walker clocks in at 6'8" 235# and his size and lack of perimeter shooting should slot him as a center for Nebraska. The noted rebounder and verbal leader will have a year to work on his offense and physicality while acting as a mentor and measuring stick for the Huskers young post players.

     




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    3 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

    I did  a search. The name "Derrick Walker" never appeared on this board until today. A bit surprised that we didn't offer the KC native but perhaps it's because he committed so early. (Feb of 2017)

     

    He was a Sunrise academy kid.  Didn’t seem like we recruited it that much.

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    34 minutes ago, tcp said:

    This is a ton of newness. I expect them to struggle quite a bit in a difficult conference. 

     

    And don't finish in last place, which I don't think they'll do. 

     

    If I had to guess, I'd pick 9th or 10th. 

     

    That's about where I'm at.  Somewhere in the 8-12 range is what I'm thinking.

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    This one is a bit of a head scratcher.  His best season was freshman year when he shot 40% from the free throw line, scored 1.9/game and rebounded 2.2. Downhill from there.  But he's big, so there is that.

     

    Season Averages
    season Team
    2017-18
    2018-19
     
    GP GS MPG FG FG% 3PT 3P% FT FT% OR DR REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
    34 0 8.8 0.8-1.4 59.6 0.0-0.0 0.0 0.3-0.7 40.0 0.9 1.4 2.2 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.3 0.6 1.9
    30 0 5.3 0.3-0.6 52.6 0.0-0.0 0.0 0.2-0.6 26.3 0.3 0.8 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.9 0.2 0.8

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    Read some articles from Barnes and he loved the kids potential. Seemed he had trouble getting him to consistently fill his role which lead to the low PT. Hopefully Fred and team can help him reach his potential as he looks the part physically. Redshirt year should help I would hope

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    9 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

    This one is a bit of a head scratcher.  His best season was freshman year when he shot 40% from the free throw line, scored 1.9/game and rebounded 2.2. Downhill from there.  But he's big, so there is that.

     

    Season Averages
    season Team
    2017-18
    2018-19
     
    GP GS MPG FG FG% 3PT 3P% FT FT% OR DR REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
    34 0 8.8 0.8-1.4 59.6 0.0-0.0 0.0 0.3-0.7 40.0 0.9 1.4 2.2 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.3 0.6 1.9
    30 0 5.3 0.3-0.6 52.6 0.0-0.0 0.0 0.2-0.6 26.3 0.3 0.8 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.9 0.2 0.8

     

    His recruiting profile says it came down to Tennessee vs. St. John's. Abdelmassih wanted him there, so I'm guessing he sees something in him. 

     

    Edited by GoBigFred

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    He told Washut, "I can be a junkyard dog if you want me to be."  I love that quote. Said he likes to defend and rebound.

    This really isn't sour grapes... but I was hoping Jayce Johnson wouldn't commit here. He said he's leaving Utah because he wants to be more of a focal point of an offense. He would not have been that at Nebraska. That made me think of Abdelmassih talking about having to be careful with grad transfers, and how they can potentially create locker room problems if they don't get what they want. Walker sounds like he fully understands what his role will be. 

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    3 minutes ago, millerhusker said:

    He told Washut, "I can be a junkyard dog if you want me to be."  I love that quote. Said he likes to defend and rebound.

    This really isn't sour grapes... but I was hoping Jayce Johnson wouldn't commit here. He said he's leaving Utah because he wants to be more of a focal point of an offense. He would not have been that at Nebraska. That made me think of Abdelmassih talking about having to be careful with grad transfers, and how they can potentially create locker room problems if they don't get what they want. Walker sounds like he fully understands what his role will be. 

     

    So you're saying Marquette told a potential transfer what they wanted to hear whether it's true or not?

     

    Ya don't say 

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    29 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

    This one is a bit of a head scratcher.  His best season was freshman year when he shot 40% from the free throw line, scored 1.9/game and rebounded 2.2. Downhill from there.  But he's big, so there is that.

     

    Season Averages
    season Team
    2017-18
    2018-19
     
    GP GS MPG FG FG% 3PT 3P% FT FT% OR DR REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
    34 0 8.8 0.8-1.4 59.6 0.0-0.0 0.0 0.3-0.7 40.0 0.9 1.4 2.2 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.3 0.6 1.9
    30 0 5.3 0.3-0.6 52.6 0.0-0.0 0.0 0.2-0.6 26.3 0.3 0.8 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.9 0.2 0.8

    I would predict the staff projects him as front-court depth.

    Hoiberg likes to run a point, three wings/shooters and a big.

    So for 2020-21, the starters might look like this:

    PG: Mack (Jr.)

    Wings: Burke (Sr.), Green (Sr.), Stevenson (Jr.)

    Big: Ouedraogo (So.)

    With Cross and Arop also on the roster and with abilities that might allow them to play on the wing some in 2021-22, Walker projects as a backup big behind Ouedraogo, maybe getting 15-20 minutes in both of his years of eligibility. Of course, we'll want more production per minute than these stats show, but his first real game for UNL will be in November 2020. I predict he'll mature and improve his game under Fred, Doc, Armon, Matt and Bobby.

    If he can't contribute, we know this staff will show little mercy in showing him the door.

    Edited by jayschool

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    45 minutes ago, khoock said:

    So when did he sneak on campus?!!

     

    Finals at Tennessee ended last Tuesday (May 7th).  I just looked at their academic calendar and they have a weird schedule for finals.  Tuesday, April 30th to Tuesday May 7th.

     

    Assuming he had to wait until even the end of finals, he still had time to come back to his home in KC easily by the end of last week.  It's not impossible to think he could have driven up to Lincoln (maybe even multiple times) before making a commitment today.  Who knows?  He could even have driven up this morning to take the picture with Fred and everything.

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    Okay, so looking closer, it appears that the tweet was posted at 12:05 from Raytown, MO so it's likely that picture was taken before today.

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    30 minutes ago, millerhusker said:

    He told Washut, "I can be a junkyard dog if you want me to be."  I love that quote. Said he likes to defend and rebound.

    This really isn't sour grapes... but I was hoping Jayce Johnson wouldn't commit here. He said he's leaving Utah because he wants to be more of a focal point of an offense. He would not have been that at Nebraska. That made me think of Abdelmassih talking about having to be careful with grad transfers, and how they can potentially create locker room problems if they don't get what they want. Walker sounds like he fully understands what his role will be. 

    To add on to this, in his post-commitment interviews Cheatham talked about taking pride in defending the other teams best perimeter player and being a vocal leader.

     

    As for Kavas, I lived in Seattle the past year and enjoyed going to Redhawk games. I was fortunate enough to sit next to an elderly lady who’d been going to games since the 50’s. She loved talking about watching “Elgin (Baylor) and the boys” play when she was a student. Anyway, Kavas is all business. He has a quiet confidence and his teammates respect the hell out of him. His post-game interviews are hilarious. Very matter of fact and doesn’t care for small talk. He’s coming to Nebraska to shoot threes and he knows it.

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    3 hours ago, tcp said:

    This is a ton of newness. I expect them to struggle quite a bit in a difficult conference. 

     

    And don't finish in last place, which I don't think they'll do. 

     

    If I had to guess, I'd pick 9th or 10th. 

     

    Good thing we have that Italy trip.

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    This one mystifies me. We don’t need a sit-out big. We need an immediately-eligible, experienced big, like a senior transfer who doesn’t take away a spot from a 2020 recruit and who can hold down the fort while our two freshmen get acclimated. But, y’know, what do I know?

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    3 hours ago, jayschool said:

    This eight-man rotation finished 10th in a 12-team league:

    • Dylan Talley
    • Ray Gallegos
    • Brandon Ubel
    • Shavon Shields
    • David Rivers
    • Andre Almeida
    • Benny Parker
    • Mike Peltz/Jordan Tyrance

    How will this eight-man rotation finish in a 14-team league?

    • Cam Mack
    • Jervay Green
    • Dachon Burke
    • Haanif Cheatham
    • Matej Kavas
    • Shamiel Stevenson
    • Yvan Ouedraogo
    • Kevin Cross

     

    Imma say top 10.

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    1 minute ago, Norm Peterson said:

    This one mystifies me. We don’t need a sit-out big. We need an immediately-eligible, experienced big, like a senior transfer who doesn’t take away a spot from a 2020 recruit and who can hold down the fort while our two freshmen get acclimated. But, y’know, what do I know?

    That was my thought also. I hope they push for him to become immediately eligible. He would make me feel much better about the front court situation if he can play

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