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Here's what Fred had to say - apologies for typos : Minneapolis is always one of my favorite places - great to be back Enjoyable group to coach We compete every day Were able to take a lot of new faces to Spain and was great for them Job is easier for us coaches when the team is ready to work every day and loves to compete 9 players on team with 4+ years of experience playing college basketball Like the way we finished the year last year - gave us great momentum That momentum allowed us to get impactful transfers over the offseason Impressive physicality and toughness with this group Gary is important to have back - worked on his shooting a lot - has been great thus far in training camp Allick saw success Griesel had last year & we were fortunate to get him - tenacious player, great rebounder - has worked on his shot a lot and will be able to stretch the floor Mast has a physicality and toughness - works so hard we almost have to slow him down - great rebounder Williams is going to be able to work as a point because of ball handling - can score at all three levels - great rebounder who can heat it up offensively Keisei was a huge benefit to our team having him come back - such a unique player - guys follow him because of the way that he plays CJ is having a great preseason - in best shape he's been in Sam had a great last half of the season - developing more and more confidence Lawrence is shifting positions & playing almost exclusively at the point - want him to continue to be aggressive there while also balancing running the entire show - he's still learning that and it'll probably continue into the first part of the season Diop - incredible athlete with tons of upside - may play meaningful minutes as a true frosh Rice - led us in scoring in Spain Questions HOW HAVE NEW PIECES BLENDED WITH OLDER PLAYERS? Last year's team set the culture - flipped it - we have a very mature group of guys. Can't say we have any one particular leader, but we have a committee of leaders. Blending players in the portal is just part of the deal in college basketball now. We have a lot of guys who've started a lot of games, and with the culture we have set up, the new guys are taking it to another level. We fought through injury adversity last year and thrived, and I think this team will do the same in fighting through any adversity. HOW TO GET GUYS TO ACCEPT ROLES ON A DEEP TEAM? Good challenge and good problem to have - need to figure out the rotation. Scrimmaged last week & again this Thursday, that's where we figure out the rotation. Mixing up the teams regularly to see who fits well together. We can put a lot of combinations on the floor - small skilled lineups or large physical lineups. We haven't had this ability to mix things up like this since I've been here, especially the physicality and big lineups. We talk a lot about role acceptance, I'm confident our guys will do that. WHAT GOES INTO THE IDEA OF SEEKING EXPERIENCED PLAYERS? We seek out players who the fan base can get behind. I talked last year about how enjoyable that team would be to watch because of the way they played so hard. I think if we had stayed injury free, we'd have made the tournament - diving after balls, taking charges, played with a great toughness. I talk to our staff about finding those types of players & they've done a great job. This is an important year to take the next step. This group that will continue to fight, no matter what happens on the floor. Excited about this group & I think our fans will enjoy watching this team.

i just get the feeling the teams battling in that 6-7-8-9 and possibly 10 position could do a lot of bouncing around in the standings. HUD.....Illinois got a couple of transfers that should help them quite a bit. Illinois struggled a bit down the stretch....i may be proven wrong, but, i think the coach (Shauna Green) could very well turn into one of the better coaches in the Big10. we'll see.

Rotation, a guess Guards 1. Coleman/Lawrence (Lloyd/Jacobsen) 2. Keisei (Coleman/Brice/Lawrence/Wilcher/Lloyd/Hoiberg) 3. Brice/Wilcher (Rice/Lloyd) F/C 4. Gary/Allick (Wilcher/Brice/Rice) 5. Mast (Allick/Keita/Diop) Listing guys by positions I think they play by default BOLD indicates guys I think are in the rotation to start the season Guys in (parentheses) are the backups I have Keita listed as in the rotation and a backup because I think he's in the rotation when healthy and I'm not sure when he'll be healthy enough to be in the rotation We have 3 post players for roughly two spots with Keita and Diop being question marks. That tells me we don't have the luxury of rolling out Mast, Allick and Gary at the same time The limiting factors of our guards I see in the rotation are that only 2 guys can likely play PG and Keisei can only be a SG. I think another limiting factor is that you don't want to play Keisei and Wilcher together much for defensive purposes. With the size and rebounding ability of some of our big guards I expect to see some 4 guard lineups

From Robin Washut: Hoiberg forgot to mention Jarron "Boogie" Coleman during his main podium interview when talking about Nebraska's point guard position. He clarified that Coleman was very much in that mix. The Ball State transfer was one of NU's top two ball handlers in practice right now, along with Jamarques Lawrence.

On pace to be 7'1" by the time he graduates

This conference is going to be brutal this season. I watched the B1G media days interviews on B1G TV this afternoon and all the schools seemed to have major Conference transfers added to their rosters. Ohio St looks to be very strong as does Maryland, Indiana and Michigan. I think Minnesota will be very good and there is Iowa. I forgot that Purdue finished strong last season. NU finishing in the top half might be a great accomplishment. Our returnees have to be improved, cut down on turnovers and hope the newbies can at least cover part of the loss of Bourne and Haiby. A healthy Weidner is huge.

Sit down with Fred, Mast, and CJ: TEAM THAT NO ONE WANTED TO PLAY AT THE END OF THE YEAR - HOW? Fred - players deserve that credit for building a chemistry and culture that we could fight through the injury adversity - built a mindset of defense and toughness - after we lost 2 primary guys who were the heart and soul of that defensive team, we needed other guys to step up - Lawrence, Sam, CJ, all had big games - just the culture and chemistry that these guys built allowed us to fight through adversity and to build momentum for finding impactful transfers and freshmen - really helped attract guys who will help us in a big way. CJ - Testament to our coaches for setting the standard to meet every day - Griesel and Walker were guys who led by example, they played hard so we followed suit - testament to consistency. WHAT MADE NU ATTRACTIVE? Mast - How they showed in Feb their promise for the future - the way they played fit in well with my style of play, how coach likes to run offense, and how they play hard defense - I like to pass and play smart, but also play physical - try to bring a lot of versatility. TEAM PLAYED ONE WAY AT BEGINING OF YEAR, PLAYED DIFFERENTLY LATER IN THE YEAR, YOU'VE HISTORICALLY PLAYED FAST, WHAT'S THE IDENTITY THIS YEAR? Fred - Still figuring it out - we're playing fast right now in practice - I think we have the personnel with Mast & Allick, guys that can really shoot - bigs that can stretch the floor in the trail position - opens driving lanes - when we've had that element in my offense at Iowa St & Chicago, it works - Walker led us in assists - but Mast is a shooter too - we had a potent offense last year with Keisei out there, but we had to play more zone, and we were able to flip the way we played middle of the year. KEISEI, GREAT SUMMER, BUT DESCRIBE HIS LEVEL OF CELEBRITY IN LINCOLN? CJ - Not just on campus, it's everywhere in the country I go - Keisei is a household name - our fans are the best fans in the country, so every one is on a celebrity status, but he's on another level - we came in together, so i'm happy to see him receive his due SUDDENLY HE FLIPPED A SWITCH, IT WAS CRAZY Fred: It really was remarkable - he's not just a great shooter - 2nd in B1G in 2-pt FG % - that just shows how well he cuts and moves without the ball - he was the focal point for defenses, but he still found a way to get his points - what he did this summer on national team is carrying over now with us - he's so level headed - not very many guys get a tweet from Curry, but he just stays level headed - lot of fun to see him have success. - We go into opposing arenas and they are in awe of this guy, great to see.

No hair on those legs...still got some growing to do

Facts

I have no idea how much Boogie is playing this year but seems noteworthy that Hoiberg brought up Brice playing some point and not Boogie

Something that has gone completely unnoticed is the fact that Henry Burt was listed at 6'4" on the roster last year and is now 6'7"!

During the presser today Hoiberg mentioned he's throwing lineups out there to find good ones so the takeaway might be who is on the court as opposed to who is on what squad.

Nebraska Volleyball- Maggie Mendelson interview (Oct. 4, 2023) - YouTube.weblocNebraska Volleyball- Maggie Mendelson interview (Oct. 4, 2023) - YouTube.weblocNebraska Volleyball- Maggie Mendelson interview (Oct. 4, 2023) - YouTube.webloc

No mention of Boogie...?

From my observations watching Darian she is very quick, tough, durable, and proves that height isn't everything. Great at both ends of the court. As I said earlier at the end of the season we will wish we had her more than one year.

I like that we are being overlooked. I think people are underestimating out talent. Our team seems hungry to me. I like what Coach Williams is saying about the team comraderie and support for one another. Weidner is going to be HUGE, and I heard (from a very reliable source) that White is exceeding any expectations the coaches had of her, as far as skill and intensity, and that her ball handling, passing and defense are the best they've seen in a very long time. If all of this is true, the turnovers should be much improved.

I can't believe it's media day already. Sheesh.

Speaking from the perspective of someone who used to enjoy going to watch Doc Sadler run basketball practices, I was OK with the format. I think they're trying to avoid the theatrics of an All-Star game kind of environment. It might have helped to have ongoing commentary piped into the arena of Kent talking to Fred or one of the assistants about the finer details of each drill and what they've been seeing from the players during regular practices and so forth. But drills instead of a dunk-fest with no defense? Yeah, I'm actually OK with that.