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My Thoughts: 1. This has to be one of the biggest, longest, and versatile teams that have ever set foot on campus. I posted early simply about the heights of the guys who "started," but everyone else is also huge. 2. This team is athletic in ways but also woefully unathletic in others. We are long, tall, strong, and have some guys who can get vertical. But we are very much missing "twitchy" guys. Ulis does add a nice defensive element off the bench from a quickness/twitchy perspective, but I could see us having a bit of a problem with quick guards. However, our length and verticality, plus Meah protecting the rim, should hopefully mitigate some of that. 3. The main line-up will be: Worster Williams Gary Berke Meah Ulis Morgan Essegian Then guys like Griffiths, Hoiberg, will definitely have roles but will be determined by the type of game. I don't think any of the freshman are really "ready" to play any type of meaningful role yet. 4. Brice Williams is the best player on the team. I am not 100% sure how I feel about that. He almost has one of the most NBA-type games we've ever had here... But I am not sure where he is at mentality-wise. Not a knock on him, necessarily... but is he a killer? Is he going to be aggressive? Can he lead verbally? 5. They clearly have a long way to go offensively to be considered a well-oiled machine. Hoiberg mentioned this after the scrimmage. Gavin Griffiths, who was kinda disappointing, is swimming in it. Definitely not understanding the flow of the offense yet, or the spacing. He is a very natural and instinctual basketball player - but for those of you who have coached and played - you can see how maybe "being in a 'system'" is not something that is natural or instinctual for him. Will take some time to get him in the flow. But he is going to "make plays" out of nowhere, for sure. 6. I'm not concerned about the shooting. There's guys who can clearly make them and their shots look nice. That will sort itself out in a real game, when not everyone is shooting. 7. Reink and Josiah were the heart and soul of this team last year, and they will be sorely missed from an intangibles perspective... But man, I really think we should be able to replace their actual production fairly well with Meah, Berke, Morgan - who are all very capable dudes. Meah's gonna add an element defensively we've essentially never had here. And offensively for that matter, catching lobs and being a pain on the O boards for easy put backs and tip ins. However, the less Braxton Meah handles the ball in any form, the better. I am not sure how they are going to get Reink/DWalker level production out of him in the high post or the full-court as a pressure release/trailer - he does NOT have that game. I will wait to see if Morgan does, but Meah absolutely does not have that. He's a ball screen and roll, hand-off, dunker spot to dunker spot guy. I do not believe he possesses the skills to run the offense through him at the high post. 8. I understand Fred's offense, I really do... but I can't stand some of the "false motion" that they do. All those touch passes and faux reversals do nothing to move the defense. But it can be very effective when you have five guys who know what they're doing, and run that false motion with speed and efficiency. That's why guys like Griffiths will struggle to play right away, until he starts understanding that spacing and movement - he's a tempo killer right now. 9. Hot take... we're not going to miss KT much. I think this team will flow better, guard better, and be more versatile/unselfish without him. 10. I like this team... I like it a lot. We have the truest Point Guard we've had in a LONG TIME in Rollie. You give me height, length, a true point guard, and a true defensive big - along with some of the other rebounding upgrades we made - and we're going to be a very tough out.

Red team starters were not necessarily the starting lineup I expected going in - but after watching the scrimmage that would probably be who I would project to start now - although we clearly have a lot of depth and can put some different kinds of lineups on the court. So I could see playing time for some guys vary quite a bit based on matchups and playing the hot hand - which is also what we have seen from Hoiberg in the past. Thought Brice was the best player on the floor by a lot - and he and Juwan were clearly the leaders - but some of that may them just being more comfortable with the system and environment. Berke definitley has a Big 10 body and if he can develop his offensive game and play with the kind of effort we get from Juwan Gary - he could be really special. He hit a 3 - but just not sure he can do that consistently yet. But he also has the size to guard 5's so I could see us using him at that spot some as well - at least against certain teams. Worster was definitely looking to distribute - but I think he can contribute as a scorer as well - at least hope so. Uhlis and Jacobson are also PG options. Connor E is a great shooter and will get lots of minutes as a result and we need to find him looks. But others are going to have to be outside threats to so teams can't just focus on defending Connor there. Griffiths may have that ability but did not shoot that well today although he is very active on the court which looked good. Just also very thin and will need to show Big 10 strength on the defensive end. Meah and Morgan with both contribute at the 5 - but are very different players. I think who gets the most minutes between them may depend on the opponent. Meah clearly has more size and he seemed to have decent vision - but also is not going to be much of an offensive threat. Morgan was not as big as I hoped but was active and I think can spread the floor some. Did not shoot much - but form looked like he could shoot well. That said I don't think either of them is Rienk Mast by a long shot. I thought Frager looked much more ready to play in the Big 10 than I expected - although I am not sure where the minutes will come from this year. On the flip side - Nick J. was not at the level I was hoping for from him. Maybe he still just needs to adjust to the speed of the college game - but appeared to me to be a step slow and not that athletic - and while he clearly has a shooter reputation it appears he will struggle to get his shot off at this level. Of course - for both of these guys I am making judgements off of a very small sample size - so could very well be proven wrong. Overall the scrimmage was fun to watch and hope they continue to do that in the future.

Theoretically you might want Meah as a starter because he is a 49% FT shooter so you don't want him in there at the end

Doc occasionally threw out this lineup for a couple minutes at times in 2009: 5 - Sek Henry (6'3") 4 - Paul Velander (6'2") 3 - Brandon Richardson (6'0") 2 - Steve Harley (5'11") 1 - Cookie Miller (5'7")

This is the team photo right here that goes down in history and will be framed in all of our man caves for years to come.

I attended the scrimmage as well. I agree with your assessment. It will be interesting with Rollie and Ahron as they both are very solid and are both good enough to be the starter. We are big this year which is nice for a change. This could be a very dangerous team once they all settle in and accept their roles on the team. Lots of veteran players. Totally agree on Cale. He is a good player but his minutes will be very limited and not sure who you are going to take minutes away from. Branden needs to redshirt. It would be a waste of year for him if he doesn't.

Back from the BOB. I must say, it was cool to watch the game there. Good environment. No clue on attendance; but guessing a number between 2500 to 5000ish. Whether he wants the role or not, Brice is the leader. I really don't have many negative takes. It was a life-like scrimmage. A lot of good movement and pretty selfless play on offense. I know who started for the two teams, yet I'm not yet positive who the starters will be and what roles have been finalized. We do have quality depth, no question. - Brice was Brice. Well rounded performance. - Juwan looks strong. I pray that he does not fall in love with the perimeter. His shot looks fine, but they were not falling. - Berke is great, then he isn't. He can do a lot of great stuff; but sometimes the effort didn't seem to be there on defense. - Rollie is a good one. He made his only 3; but seems to rather facilitate then shoot. Good rebounder and defender. - Braxton is a dude. Kind of got knocked around a bit; but he knocked players around as well. My concern is with his limited offensive game. He only seems comfortable dunking. - Connor can shoot the rock and moves well. Umm, can he defend...not sure yet. He sometimes made me think that Keisei was a great defender in comparison. - Sam is Sam. He will have a role. - Ahron is interesting to me. He brings us speed. He passes and defends well. I think Rollie is the starter at point; but Ahron could easily step in. - I was pleasantly surprised with Braden. He is further along than I anticipated. Could he redshirt? Sure. If so it would be because of our depth rather than his 17 year old age. - Andrew is a good one. I really liked his performance today. He plays with a bit of piss and vinegar which I like. - Nick is a smooth operator. Honestly, his shot release is a bit funky and I could see him struggling getting his shot off in the league. But the kid has game. - Gavin struggled with his shot; but also showed his athletic ability. His shot is beautiful, I think he is a good get. - Cale could get minutes. I'm not sure where he can find those minutes; but he has the skills. - Justin could give minutes in an emergency...or he could redshirt. Anyway, just my humble observations. Fun day...and yes, the popcorn at the BOB is still the best.

It's that time of year again; Ken Pomeroy just dropped his rankings for the new season and hoo boy does the Big Ten look like it's gonna be a slog! Once again Nebraska comes in with an all time high ranking to start the season (Hoiberg era) at #56. Two spots ahead of last year's starting position. In terms of predicted league finish, he's got Purdue winning the league title comfortably, then the next FIFTEEN schools are predicted to finish between 11-9 and 9-11. 5 teams each in the 11-9, 10-10, and 9-11 groups. Nebraska is predicted to go 16-13 (9-11). Okay, and for the first time this season, here we go! KenPom rankings as of 10-14-24 ======================= B1G (0-0): 10. Purdue (A) 23. Illinois (H) 26. UCLA (H) 29. Oregon (A) 31. Ohio State (2) 33. Iowa (2) 35. Michigan State (A) 36. Michigan (H) 37. Maryland (2) 39. Indiana (H) 46. Wisconsin (A) 50. Northwestern (A) 56. Nebraska 57. USC (H) 59. Minnesota (H) 61. Penn State (A) 63. Rutgers (H) 75. Washington (A) Non-Conference (0-0): 307. UTRGV 301. Bethune Cookman 351. Farliegh Dickinson ---Sanford Pentagon--- 34. Saint Mary’s 12. @Creighton 265. South Dakota 253. North Florida —Diamond Head Classic--- 112. Murray State 128./198. Charlotte/Hawaii 144./136./79./173. Oregon State/Charleston/Loyola/Oakland 249. Southern

To add some contrast, Torvik has a slightly different outlook and he REALLY likes Rutgers for some reason. He also has UCLA with the easiest conference schedule: B10 Conference Info 2025 OVERALL ADJ. EFFICIENCY CONF. EMS CONF-ONLY ADJ. EFF. CONF. SOS RK TEAM REC ADJOE ADJDE BARTHAG RAW ADJ CONOE CONDE BARTHAG PROJ. REC SO FAR REMAIN TOTAL 17 Purdue 0-0 114.9 20 95.0 18 .8988 0 0 0.0 18 0.0 18 .0 19-11 (12-8) .0 18 .8471 5 .8471 5 18 Michigan St. 0-0 112.8 48 93.8 8 .8921 0 0 0.0 13 0.0 13 .0 20-9 (12-8) .0 13 .8391 17 .8391 17 19 Rutgers 0-0 111.9 52 93.2 6 .8916 0 0 0.0 12 0.0 12 .0 20-11 (12-8) .0 12 .8447 11 .8447 11 21 Illinois 0-0 113.3 42 94.6 14 .8882 0 0 0.0 11 0.0 11 .0 20-11 (11-9) .0 11 .8451 8 .8451 8 24 UCLA 0-0 114.0 31 95.7 24 .8821 0 0 0.0 14 0.0 14 .0 20-11 (11-9) .0 14 .8364 18 .8364 18 30 Indiana 0-0 114.9 19 97.6 52 .8679 0 0 0.0 15 0.0 15 .0 19-10 (11-9) .0 15 .8419 14 .8419 14 33 Michigan 0-0 115.4 17 98.6 78 .8596 0 0 0.0 17 0.0 17 .0 18-12 (10-10) .0 17 .8501 2 .8501 2 34 Ohio St. 0-0 114.6 22 98.0 62 .8582 0 0 0.0 16 0.0 16 .0 18-13 (10-10) .0 16 .8449 9 .8449 9 41 Wisconsin 0-0 113.0 45 97.4 50 .8476 0 0 0.0 10 0.0 10 .0 18-12 (10-10) .0 10 .8404 16 .8404 16 42 Maryland 0-0 110.1 74 94.9 17 .8469 0 0 0.0 9 0.0 9 .0 19-12 (10-10) .0 9 .8449 10 .8449 10 44 Oregon 0-0 113.2 43 97.8 57 .8436 0 0 0.0 3 0.0 3 .0 18-13 (10-10) .0 3 .8445 12 .8445 12 45 Iowa 0-0 115.6 15 100.0 94 .8417 0 0 0.0 2 0.0 2 .0 19-12 (10-10) .0 2 .8420 13 .8420 13 47 Nebraska 0-0 111.6 56 96.6 39 .8399 0 0 0.0 1 0.0 1 .0 17-12 (10-10) .0 1 .8464 6 .8464 6 48 Northwestern 0-0 111.5 58 96.6 37 .8396 0 0 0.0 4 0.0 4 .0 18-12 (10-10) .0 4 .8492 3 .8492 3 50 USC 0-0 115.2 18 100.0 92 .8358 0 0 0.0 5 0.0 5 .0 18-12 (9-11) .0 5 .8411 15 .8411 15 71 Minnesota 0-0 111.2 62 99.5 86 .7830 0 0 0.0 8 0.0 8 .0 17-13 (8-12) .0 8 .8462 7 .8462 7 73 Washington 0-0 109.3 84 98.0 61 .7783 0 0 0.0 7 0.0 7 .0 15-15 (8-12) .0 7 .8511 1 .8511 1 74 Penn St. 0-0 109.1 87 97.9 59 .7775 0 0 0.0 6 0.0 6 .0 16-14 (8-12) .0 6 .8486 4 .8486 4 Compiled by Bart Torvik from sacred data and secret formulas.

Coach is still figuring out lineups and roles and minutes, it’s an ongoing process and will be sorted thru practices. We could be pretty darn good fellas

He certainly Shined today, NOT just Coach Speak, Fred expects him to Play.

Also I apologize to Braden Frager, I was unfamiliar with your game. I went into this season thinking he was a certain redshirt candidate because he wasn't going to be near ready for DI, let alone Big Ten, basketball. He looks like a senior in college out there, not a senior in high school, which is what he should be. Now I'd like to see him redshirt because he could be a really good redshirt freshman next year, not because I think he isn't ready to play right now. Also it's beyond stupid (maybe the stupidest thing the NCAA has ever done...at least top 5) that football players can play 33% of their season and still redshirt, while much longer seasons like basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, lose their redshirt if they play a single minute. How was that ever passed for football without consideration for other sports? It sure would be nice to see Braden Frager and Nick Janowski get 10 minutes here and there against some of the lesser teams on our schedule while still keeping their ability to redshirt.

Good breakdowns by everyone. I was really impressed with our passing ability. Worster was as good as advertised. Essegian had really good passes as well. Fred always talks about making the simple plays and I thought we did a solid job of that. This will hopefully be a team that takes really good care of the ball. I really like the unselfishness of this group. Could be a special year!

Sounds good, thanks. I like switching since we will not really have a short guy on the floor (except Hoiberg who is pretty physical and will battle a switch miss match) and the match-up look should be effective with our added length.

Yep..... Every time he shoots a three I do a little grimace. I suppose he has to do it to keep other teams honest (has to make them, of course, too). But each time he shoots a 3 I am left wishing the possession was used differently.

Combined this is 1 inch of height taller than the Red team Probably the best way to put this is to say this is the most length we've had since the Rich King era

The women: Alberte Rimdal Britt Prince Callin Hake - winner for women Men: Connor Gavin Bryce

As they should. That "1st rd." monkey shouldn't be on their back.

I was delighted to hear the Players talk @ B1G Media Day about making a Run in the Tournament & not just Winning 1 Game.

I heard great things about Jacobsen as well but thought that was just coaches giving the redshirt some love for working hard but maybe not.

I could score points to if I was a ref and a player.

What do you guys think the starting lineup will be Game 1. What about Game 12? It doesn't necessarily matter who's in the starting lineup - these 7 players will probably get starter's minutes - but who is on the floor together to begin the game and how that group gels will be interesting. The obvious (maybe?) answer for Game 1 is Worster, Williams, Gary, Berke, Morgan. I could see that group having some space and pace issues. Rollie Worster - seems clear he'll be the starter at point guard and can be a Griesel-type player/leader. Berke Buyuktuncel - maybe the player with the most preseason hype from coaches, teammates, media, etc. Looks bigger, longer than everyone on the team other than Meah. If he can defend and rebound as well as Morgan, I think we'll see a lot of him at the "5", to allow for more versatile lineups. Brice Williams - starter, obviously Juwan Gary - starter, but if we need someone to come off the bench for best fit within the rotation, he'd be willing to. Andrew Morgan - We've been assuming since April he'd replace Mast as the starting big. Haven't heard much about him in the preseason. He does look smaller than expected. Connor Essegian and Gavin Griffiths - 2A and 2B for offseason hype rankings (behind Berke). The two most likely players to somewhat replicate Keisei's gravity on the court. Do we really want to keep both Essegian and Griffiths out of that first group? Ahron Ulis - coaches love him (and so will we), but he's probably the backup point guard on this team. Sam Hoiberg - some of his minutes will be given to the new guys, at least to start the year. Always finds a way into the rotation, though. Braxton Meah - 10-12 minutes in a healthy Keita role as a defensive presence and rebounder would be great. I wouldn't expect much more than that.

He started his college career at Hastings. Then, he transferred to Kearney State. Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

The 1981 team of Nebraska high school players that played as Nebraska's team in a club tournament, the Las Vegas Invitational, in 1981. All the players had just finished their junior year of high school. From left, back row, Calvin Sprew, Mike Martz, Kerry Trotter, Bill Jackman, Dave Hoppen, Vic Lazzaretti, James Moore, Ron Kellogg and Mark Diaz. Sitting, Matt Peterson, co-sponsor Dick Hudson of Lincoln, assistant coach Dick Koch of Omaha Northwest, head coach Mick Anderson of Wahoo, assistant coach Terry Shelsta of Omaha Benson, co-sponsor Gary Mouden of Lincoln, trainer Dave Schultz of Grand Island and Calvin Cotton.

League Title? At Nebraska??? A program that hasn't won a regular season league title in something like 65 years? My man, that's a lifetime contract extension and there is no question about it.

My word, all the serious grinding on one very small appendage on the letter "N". We REALLY need to get this season started.