Nebraska Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Cornhuskers
By Bryan Mauro
Key Losses
Depth was a big reason for the success of the Huskers last year. Coach Miles could play 9 guys with confidence last year. Three of those contributors are gone, two are gone via graduation and the other has decided to leave via the transfer market. Nebraska, like many programs, has been unlucky in the past with transfers. A lot of their key players have decided to pursue other opportunities.
It seemed like this year may have been different for Coach Miles. However, right before school set to begin junior big man Jordy Tshimanga decided to transfer. Tshimanga who is now enrolled at the University of Dayton, caught everyone by surprise when he decided to transfer. It was still a surprise even though the big man had toyed with the idea during the season when he failed to come to practice or travel to the Penn State game. The center did return to the team and played much better in his return. Hard to think that a player who averaged four points and five rebounds is a key loss for a team who won 22 games. The center now puts a huge dent into the depth of the frontcourt for the Huskers.
The other two key losses came via graduation. The two players Nebraska lost to graduation both played key minutes in the backcourt. Anton Gill the Louisville transfer made a lot of big shots for Nebraska a season ago. Gill was used as the three-point specialist on a Nebraska team that drastically improved its three-point shooting. The addition of Gill who was returning from a knee injury the year before was a huge reason why. Without Gill, Nebraska is going to have to find a player who can replace his three-point shooting.
Evan Taylor only played at Nebraska for two years after coming in as a JUCO transfer. Taylor was not known for his scoring, but what he was known for was his shut down defense. Taylor is going to be the loss that Hurts the Huskers the most. His defense will be hard to replace, and the Huskers will need to get creative to provide teams with different looks and help make up for the loss of Taylor. The one part of the former Huskers time on campus that is going to impossible to replace is his leadership. The leadership now falls on the shoulders of the 3 seniors on the current roster.