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Thanks Norm!

Well, I mean, why wouldn't they be??? It's pretty clear that Barfknecht and probably Rosenthal both do. Pavelka does, even posts here from time to time. So does McKewon. Does that creep you out? No, it makes me quite proud of the company I keep.

Just hire the right assistant coach and all would be OK

Kind of saw her last years progress as an uphill grind, because of the injuries. Unfortunately she missed maybe a third the season, and importantly lots early freshman practices that would have gotten her started the right way. Wouldn't be a bit surprised to see her really take off this year. She just seems to need one or two positive things happen, and she will relax.... and just play. Even last years playing time should make a huge difference as we move along this year. She has the lots of the necessary skills.....she will excel this year.

To me, this is on the opposite end of the spectrum from declaring Tai Webster one of the top 25 recruits in the nation just because Fran McCaffrey said so, or saying that, with a recruiter like Scott Spinelli on board, it's not long before we start making the dance every year. LISTEN TO ME: Rashon Burno was an assistant coach. An assistant. He still is an assistant, just at a different program. And while he would probably have been a very good assistant, he was still an assistant. If he was good enough to make or break our program by his presence or absence ... HE WOULD BE A HEAD COACH SOMEWHERE. He is NOT a head coach somewhere. He is an assistant coach somewhere. An assistant. It might not be great that he left. Sure, the timing sucks. And he was certainly a good hire, from all accounts. Nevertheless, he's still just an assistant coach. There's only so much influence he could possibly have over the program, good or bad. (I say that also for all the people who think our offense went to shit because we hired Jim Molinari.) Climb in from the window ledge; this ain't the end of the world.

My judgment tells me not to comment on Miss Smith. Last year she seemed like an outstanding young player. Rachel will be home tomorrow (Friday). She's home until just before departure to Australia. She'll have prescribed workouts. She told us yesterday that she's been working with Coach Stephens on footwork (after practice). Coach Yori calls my Rachel "RB" because Rachel = Rachel Theriot. Some call her "Burns." She wouldn't mind just being called Blackburn. Rachel is a tough girl. I think you'll enjoy watching her toughness and hustle. Of course I'm biased, but I'll challenge anyone to find a tougher girl on the court.

i hope chandler smith has picked up her game, especially on the offensive side of the ball. didn't she come in known more for her offensive skills? anyway, watching her play as a freshman, her court presence was pretty impressive---showing quite a bit of potential. i hope she worked hard during the off season---imo, she may just have her hands full with competition from the newcomers. was just curious if there is any word on her progress. btw, a big thanks to dlrrk for the info! looking forward to watching rachel compete as a husker!!!

I give the article 5 Koolaids

I'm a bit surprised that everyone seems to be giving the Hurleys an ethical pass on this one. Should they have really been picking this low hanging fruit, given the time of year or should they have expended a tad more effort to mine the deep vein of Duke assistant coaches ( to mix both my metaphors and my cliche's)?

+1 I think everyone is pretty Bummed at what Burno did and the situation he left Nebraska in. I think that it is a lot more reflective on Burno than on Nebraska though. But, if Burno was going to leave, I'd rather it be early in his tenure; before he really got into the program, than later, which could have been much more damaging. A blow, yes, but the tank isn't empty; not by a long shot. Though largely unheralded, we still have Coach Kenya Hunter, Coach Mo, and the remainder of the staff is intact. I believe I'll let Coach Miles (who was able to hire Burno in the first place), determine his replacement. How does Miles begin to dig himself out of this mess? Well, with all the returning experience, and lauded incoming recruiting class, a start might be by having a Stellar season this year! But What do I know? (I've already admitted l don't know beans about basketball! ) I agree with you Red Don. I do not view Burno leaving as an indictment of the program or Miles. I feel as most here do that if it had been anyone else besides Hurley Jr., he would have stayed in Lincoln. I don't believe Burno was unhappy at Nebraska, was having second thoughts, or didn't like working for Miles. It's a poor reflection on him in my opinion, though, because I feel that the ethical course of action would have been to give Nebraska more time and simply wait for the next opening on Hurley's staff to materialize. The timing of the move was devastating to the program. Everyone here wants to compete at the highest level. At the very least, we all have a goal for this program to be competitive in the B1G and generally be a team that finds itself in the upper half of the League instead of the lower half. That goal is going to require a lot of talent in the program, both among its players and staff. That's why the Burno departure was so devastating. It's left us high and dry at a time at which we likely won't be able to find a suitable replacement, and thus the situation has the potential to severely damage the program by saddling it with a substandard assistant and robbing it of access to certain players that Burno likely would have landed. I'll take an internal hire for a year over a substandard coach that will be here for years, but neither scenario is a good one, and both have the potential to severely damage this program in the short term. I just feel it's a much more severe situation than many here want to acknowledge.

I think you will see a much better team. How much better the record gets is still up for debate as the schedule is tougher. Why do you say the schedule's tougher? Good question. The noncon, outside of Nova, seems much weaker. I also think that the Big 10 will not be as good this year - Wisky loses everyone, Ohio St lost a key cog and others will be down too. Maryland should be very good, but otherwise I see a less dangerous road. Wrong on both fronts. The schedule is much more difficult this year...both in terms of non-con and conference. Big 10 will be better as a whole. Maryland will be improved considering the transfer they got and who is all coming back. Michigan will be MUCH better Michigan State won't be any worse Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern, Illinois will all be better. Wisconsin loses a ton...but it's naive to think that Bo Ryan doesn't have a plan considering he has never finished lower than 4th in the conference. Ohio State loses a lot....but is still replacing everyone with top rated recruits. You might not have a top 5 team like you had last year in Wisconsin, but the rest of the conference is improved. As for the non-con..... Miami, Rhode Island, @Nova, @Creighton, neutral vs. Cincy/GW/Tenn, neutral vs. Cincy/GW/Tenn is better than @Rhode Island, Creighton, @Florida St, @Hawaii, Cincinnati Agree on both accounts...except even though the Big 10 will be better I think our conference schedule won't be as daunting as we get Rutgers, PSU, and NW twice this year.

Two very tough road games at Cal and UConn.

If he was able to take enough classes this summer to graduate from juco in August ... The funny thing I always think of when I see this is that the kid didnt have the drive for 4 year of HS to be eligible in the first place asking them to work harder than someone else to graduate in 3 semesters instead of 4 is like a unicorn. Well, Roburt Sallie did it, so is he a unicorn? I knew he was taking an enhancement product, but I figured it was for something else ... Yes he is because he never played for NU.

Well, I mean, why wouldn't they be??? It's pretty clear that Barfknecht and probably Rosenthal both do. Pavelka does, even posts here from time to time. So does McKewon. Does that creep you out?

I know 43... I can only speak about her. Her two classes went fine. Despite my forewarnings regarding being homesick (experience from my Army days), she was very, very homesick at first. It was doom and gloom homesick. But that's over... She has remained in Lincoln the entire time and has adjusted very well. She refers to all of her teammates as friends. She pals around with Romeo a bit. She told us that she has learned so much in such a short time. The learning curve is steep, but she comes to play hard and learn. The women played the guys a week or two ago and she reported that she more than held her own against them. Prior to Rachel's arrival, Coach Yori stressed the importance of arriving physically fit/prepared. Rachel worked hard, and it has paid off. However, she is sore due to all the hard work. We'll see how it goes.

I can't believe people are actually acting as though Erick Strickland would be a suitable replacement for Rashon Burno. Do some of you have any idea what a high-caliber hire we made there with respect to knowledge of the game, experience, scouting ability, recruiting contacts and skill as a recruiter? You don't lose a guy of that caliber and then go out and hire an Erick Strickland. You just don't. That's really a move right out of the Bo Pelini hiring playbook. I'm still in disbelief over this situation and how it may be resolved. It's an incredible blow to this program, and not one that I expect will have a satisfactory conclusion. Burno screwed over this program to an incredible extent, and I have no idea how Miles is going to dig himself out of this mess. At this point, there just aren't very many legitimate options, and this truly has the potential to set the program back immensely. I believe some of you are greatly underestimating just how dire a situation this truly is. What I do know is that you sure as hell don't get yourself out of this mess by hiring a guy like Erick Strickland, who has very little experience and is not yet worthy of a B1G AC job, not to mention the fact that the guy has very little in the way of recruiting contacts, especially in comparison to someone like Rashon Burno. You can't replace prime rib eye with a can of Spam and act like everything is just fine. If we want to be a legitimate contender in the B1G instead of a perennial doormat, and aspire to make the tournament on a regular basis, then we have to hire a coach consistent with those expectations, and a guy like Erick Strickland or an internal candidate is simply not going to get it done. How about some standards here? Why are so many fans so easily satisfied? I know it's out of our control, but many of you don't seem to feel that this situation is as desperate as it is. It likely will hurt the program in ways people won't even be able to see. The fact is that there are probably key players out there that Burno would have landed who potentially could have changed the fortunes of this program when combined with the outstanding young talent we've brought in. Any replacement coach of a lower caliber won't be able to have the kind of recruiting impact that Burno would have had, and this program is desperate for talent with size right now. I don't believe I'm exaggerating when I say that this is a tragic turn of events for the program. I feel it's much worse than many of you are willing to acknowledge, and if someone like Strickland is hired to replace Burno, then Nebraska has to admit that it's basically given up on trying to be a competitive B1G basketball program and just go back to focusing on football. This may sound like hyperbole to some, but it's reality if we don't hire another home run coach to replace Burno, who himself appeared to be a home run coach. You either seek out the best or just man up and admit that you'll never be a contender and stop wasting everyone's time.

How does one sneak into such a scrimmage... Tell people you're there to install the new 30 second shot clock

Didn't Danny Nee have a line of ties once upon a time?

We also will always need to remember two words...Incarnate Word...

Stay with adidas.

Hard to differentiate from their other shoes, which are just plain garbage.