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Yeah, those stupid Nebraska football fans showing up at a basketball game. Surprised they weren't all wearing their Eric Crouch Jerseys. oops, wrong trope.

people don't evolve on our timetables, which we normally understand in every other life context except athletics. you have to judge these moves based on how they look at the time. you can only hit paydirt on a crystal ball so much. It usually dovetails nicely with sheer luck.

I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that not only is this not the starting lineup, but that lineup isn't used more than 10% of the time. My guess would be something like this: Lloyd (or Ulis) Lawrence Keisei Gary Mast * Williams plays starter-like minutes at the 2-3-4 spots

I think Shereef Mitchell is an interesting case study up the road. Creighton gave him a chance even though other high-majors weren't offering. The injuries in 2021-22 completely derailed his career there, so it's not a perfect example, but while he played an important smaller role for them when he was healthy, his offensive game just never really developed the way I'm sure he wanted it to while playing at the highest level, and now he's transferred down to the MAC to continue his career.

I think the path each of those guys took played a big part in the players they became. Griesel's evolution as a player probably doesn't happen at a higher level where he got to play right away as a hustle guy 3/4, then mid-career moved into a point guard role, then after three years developed into a really effective player as a senior that earned him the opportunity to make the leap to a high-major conference. Similarly, I think the freedom Scheierman had early in his career playing against Summit League defenses as a primary initiator allowed him to develop into the dynamic player he became by the end of his time there. I know Matt thinks Creighton messed up by not running everything through him as the point guard, but he's just not dynamic enough physically to consistently create with the ball in his hands in the Big East like he did at the Summit level, though he eventually found a beter balance as the season went on between his on- and off-ball play. There was definitely a big adjustment period for him though. Like Griesel, Tonje and especially Allick were both late bloomers in high school (Griesel was good early then exploded at the end like Tonje, whereas Allick played mostly JV his junior year). Tonje was always a shooter and a bouncy straight-line athlete, but his offensive game really expanded as a senior. Lateral quickness and ball-handling against athleticism were concerns, though. At CSU, John didn't play much as a freshman and wasn't particularly good when he did get a larger role as a sophomore. He broke through a bit as a junior and was their second-best player this past season as a senior. But he has one season out of four as a double-digit scorer in the Mountain West. Does he stick around for four years to become that if Nebraska takes him out of high school? Wrightsell didn't look anything like a high-major player his first two years at CSF, but a breakout year has earned him this opportunity to test himself in the SEC. It's also worth noting that Griesel and Scheierman are the only ones on that list we've actually seen play a season at the high-major level to this point. I think the conversation is far more nuanced than seeing guys have success elsewhere and saying Nebraska should have recruited them out of high school.

Chance to eventually be recruited by Steve Forbes at his next school

Few things 1. Would those guys have become the players they did if they came here and ended on the bench instead of immediate playing time? 2. For every guy you can come up with, I can probably come up with 2+ guys that didn't pan out 3. Mike Daum isn't eligible for 'why didn't Nebraska recruit this Nebraska guy' threads because his coaches at SDSU spent the first year thinking they made a mistake offering him a scholarship Otherwise, Matt A wasn't offering any of these guys because Rivals didn't give them enough stars. Miles whiffed on Tonje. It would seem that things have changed as we have Jacobsen here and have 2 offers to 2025 guys ATM.