Last season Nebraska Basketball failed to meet its expectations and cost Tim Miles his job. This year, Fred Hoiberg takes over and is trying to exceed expectations in year one.
Commitment to hoops is something Nebraska Basketall has never wanted to fully dive into. If this offseason was any indication, the Huskers are fully invested into making sure their team finally finishes the deal the next time they qualify for the NCAA tournament and get the coveted first win.
The Fred Hoiberg era begins this season and with it comes a new-found excitement for the hoops program. Coach Hoiberg and his staff just had one of the biggest recruiting weekends in the history of the program. At the Opening Night event the sold-out crowd was able to watch a 20-minute intra-squad scrimmage followed by a performance by recording artist Rick Ross.
The fact that this happened for basketball says everything about the excitement around the program. The event was sold out, and Athletic Director Bill Moos, who was left with some egg on his face on the way he handled the last few seasons of the Tim Miles era, may have gotten back into the good graces of the Husker basketball fanbase with his newfound commitment to the program.
The program is relevant and exciting. That has a lot to do with the Hoiberg hire, and some to with the work that former head man Tim Miles did to build this program back to some sort of relevancy. In the previous seasons the roster drop-off from the starters to the bench players was usually great. That was ultimately the undoing for Coach Miles.
This season is different in no one knows what to expect. When Coach Hoiberg took the job, he flipped the entire roster. In a short period of time Hoiberg and staff were able to put together a roster that has talent. The roster has virtually no size and has never played together in a game that counts. How well they play together and how quickly they gel is going to be something to watch this season.