The makeover of Nebraska basketball under coach Fred Hoiberg includes five four-year transfers and two junior college transfers on the roster.
The 49-year-old Hoiberg did a terrific job coaching at his alma mater Iowa State, going to the NCAA Tournament four out of five years and going 115-56. He made the move to the Chicago Bulls, and the former NBA player struggled in four years and was fired.
Hoiberg could have been a hot name in the coaching carousel in college basketball, but wanted the Nebraska job because his grandfather Jerry Bush was once the Cornhuskers coach from 1954-63. The sledding has proven to be tough during his first two years at Nebraska, going a combined 14-45 overall and 5-34 in the Big Ten.
Nebraska is off to a 5-2 start this season, with a team built around Tennessee transfer Derrick Walker, Arizona State transfer Alonzo Verge Jr., DePaul transfer Keon Edwards, Xavier transfer C.J. Wilcher and Western Illinois transfer Kobe Webster, plus four freshmen including Rivals.com five-star prospect Bryce McGowens. Add in junior college transfers Lat Mayen and Keisei Tominaga, and the makeover has been vast over the last two years. That doesn’t include Pittsburgh transfer Trey McGowens, who had surgery on his foot and could be out until mid-January or longer.
NC State hosts Nebraska at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday on ESPNU.
Overview
Nebraska will play four solid non-conference opponents with NC State the second game of the four. The Cornhuskers lost to rival Creighton on 77-69 on Nov. 16, and also dropped the season opener 75-74 against Western Illinois on Nov. 9.
Nebraska’s schedule had a decided uptick in December, with NC State, Big Ten games against Indiana and Michigan, and then non-conference opponents Auburn and Kansas State.
Rankings
Nebraska finished No. 129 in the NET rankings last year.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Cornhuskers currently ranked No. 107 overall, and NC State is No. 65.
KenPom.com has Nebraska at No. 102, and NCSU checks in at No. 59.
RealtimeRPI.com has NC State ranked No. 86 in the country, and Nebraska is No. 134.
Shooting
The Cornhuskers are struggling with long-range shooting, with two players making at least nine three-pointers in seven games this season. NU is shooting just 28.4 percent from three-point land, and 45.7 percent from the field.
Reserve wing Wilcher is a legit shooter, and has gone 12 of 29 from beyond the arc for 41.4 percent. Teammate Tominaga has made nine three-pointers on the season, but the bulk came in his last game, when he went 5 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Rebounding
Nebraska is averaging 36.0 rebounds per game with three healthy players averaging at least 5.1 boards a contest. Opponents are averaging 41.7 rebounds a contest against Nebraska.
Freshman Bryce McGowens leads the way with 6.9 rebounds per game, with Walker right behind at 5.6. Point guard Verge is even chipping in 5.1 rebounds a contest. No Nebraska player has more than nine offensive rebounds in seven games this season.
Defense
Nebraska has held opponents to 39.4 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent on three-pointers. Opponents aren’t reaching the free-throw line, and are only attempting 8.3 per game. Walker is the lone shot-blocker on the roster, and he has just nine blocked shots in seven games. Verge has added 11 steals.
Depth
Freshmen post players Wilhelm Breidenbach and Eduardo Andre give Nebraska two diverse options. The 6-10, 227-pound Breidenbach is a quality outside shooter, who is averaging 3.1 points and 2.4 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per game. Andre is not a three-point threat (or a shot-blocker) at 6-11 and 236 pounds, but the London, England, native is averaging 4.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 10.3 minutes a contest.
Tominaga went off against South Dakota last Saturday, to the tune of 23 points and five three-pointers. The 6-2, 177-pounder from Nagoya, Japan, is averaging 7.1 points in 13.7 minutes per game.
Webster is a 6-0, 176-pound shooter and averaged 17.1 and 17.0 points in back-to-back years at WIU. He averaged 8.1 points and shot 38 percent from three-point land last year at NU. He is averaging 8.8 points a contest this season in five games.
The 6-5, 221-pound Wilcher is averaging 8.3 points in 25.6 minutes per game. The Xavier transfer is the older brother of junior prep guard Simeon Wilcher, a Rivals.com five-star prospect, who verbally committed to North Carolina.
Star Watch
Freshman wing Bryce McGowens was a Rivals.com five-star prospect, who was ranked No. 29 overall in the country in 2021. The Pendleton, S.C., native originally committed to Florida State, but signed with Nebraska.
McGowens thought he’d be playing with his older brother, junior guard Trey McGowens, a former Pittsburgh transfer. However, Trey McGowens suffered a foot injury and had surgery Nov. 17.
The slender 6-7, 179-pounder is averaging 17.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game this season, and leads Big Ten freshman in scoring. He’s shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 25.8 percent on three-pointers. However, his lone game he’s played against a team from a top six conference, he struggled.
McGowens went 3 of 10 from the field and he missed all three three-point field goals en route to six points in a 77-69 home loss to Creighton.
McGowens has feasted on the other opponents. He had 25 points and six rebounds in the loss vs. Western Illinois in the season opener, and then had 29 points and four three-pointers in the second game against Sam Houston State. He’s had at least 18 points in five of seven games.
NBADraft.net has McGowens at No. 11 in the 2022 NBA Draft, going to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Likely Starters
NC State
PG — 3 Cam Hayes (6-3, 180, Soph., 11.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.0 spg)
SG — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, Jr., 12.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.8 apg)
SF — 1 Dereon Seabron (6-7, 180, R-Soph., 18.8 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.7 seg)
PF — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 200, Sr., 14.8 ppt, 3.8 rpg, 0.5 apg)
C — 21 Ebenezer Dowuona (6-11, 225, Soph., 3.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.0 apg, 1.8 bog)
Nebraska
PG — 1 Alonzo Verge Jr. (6-3, 163, Sr., 13.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 5.6 apg, 1.6 seg)
SG — 5 Bryce McGowens (6-7, 179, Fr., 17.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.3 apg)
SF — 23 Keon Edwards (6-7, 204, Fr., 0.6 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.1 apg)
PF — 11 Lat Mayen (6-9, 217, Jr., 4.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.8 apg)
C — 13 Derrick Walker (6-9, 239, Jr., 9.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 0.9 apg, 1.3 bog)
Numbers Of Note
5: Players on the roster who are in their fifth season of college basketball — Derrick Walker, Kobe Webster, Alonzo Verge, Lat Mayen and Trevor Lakes.
14: Consecutive field goals made by post player Derrick Walker between the Southern game Nov. 21 and Tennessee State on Nov. 23. Walker has gone 28 of 34 from the field this season.
2.341: Career points in high school for freshman Bryce McGowens, who finishes his prep career at Legacy Earl College in Greenville, S.C.
Game Within The Game: Nebraska’s Alonzo Verge Jr. vs. NCSU’s Cam Hayes
Nebraska senior Alonzo Verge Jr. has played both guard spots over the years, but is full-time at point guard with Nebraska, and is averaging 13.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game this season.
Verge’s father was a prep star at Bellwood (Ill.) Proviso West High, and stalled after junior college. Verge Jr. quickly earned hype his freshman year at Villa Park (Ill.) Willowbrook High, but then ran into off the court trouble. He bounced around and attended Jacksonville (Fla.) Arlington Country Day and finished up at Harvey (Ill.) Thornton High, but didn’t qualify academically and eventually had a daughter.
Verge blew up at Moberly (Mo.) Area C.C., averaging 30.9 points, 8.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game his sophomore year and he transferred to Arizona State. He started his senior year at Arizona State and averaged 14.0 points and 3.8 assists per game, and he shot 39.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on three-pointers. He actually scored his season-high in his last game at ASU, pouring 28 points on 25 field-goal attempts in a 91-73 loss vs. Oregon in the Pac-12 Tournament last March.
Verge went 18-of-29 shooting for a career-high 43 points in a 96-56 loss vs. St. Mary’s on Dec. 18, 2019. The rest of the team shot 5 of 35 from the field.
Cam Hayes has been playing better ball the last two games and is averaging 11.7 points and 2.8 assists per game. Verge is likely his toughest matchup of the season thus far.
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