Nebraska Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for Cornhuskers

Rotation

Yvan Ouedraogo – Freshman

The big man from Bordeaux, France is going to play a big role for Nebraska this season. If he can acclimate to the American game quickly he may be thrust into the starters role before the conference season begins. Nebraska coaches are excited about the prospect of Ouedraogo. He is a very young freshman at only 17 years old. With being so young and spending no time in the United States until his college career he is raw and still trying to learn the American game.

The one thing that is not coachable is size. The Frenchman has a tremendous amount of that. As was mentioned he is only 17 so he is going to get bigger that he already is. Currently Ouedraogo is listed at 6’9” and 260 pounds. That size is much needed for Hoiberg, as the French teenager is the biggest player listed on the Roster. In a league that has so much skilled size, the skilled French big man is going to need to have a trial by fire into American College Basketball.

Dachon Burke Jr. – Junior

The junior guard is the other hold over from the Tim Miles era. Burke was a sit out transfer on the team last year. The guard began his career in the Northeast at Robert Morris where he made a name for himself as a prolific scorer. He has shown throughout the early scrimmages and trip to Italy that he is going to live up to that reputation. Burke scores the ball with confidence and can score from anywhere on the floor.

If he such a good scorer, why is he not a starter? Burke may very well be a starter at some point this year, as of right now he appears to be the leader of the second unit and help the Freshman get acclimated to the style and speed of the college game. It is always beneficial to have a experienced scorer come off the bench, so the drop off between the starters and the bench is not so drastic. Burke is going to fill that role nicely. Even off the bench he is going to find his way on the floor for the lion share of the minutes. Especially if he is scoring.

Shamiel Stevenson – Junior

Stevenson has already logged a ton of miles in his college career. The forward began his career at Pittsburgh. His freshman season at Pittsburgh was promising, he then fell out of favor during his Sophomore season. After four games at Pittsburgh he transferred to Nevada where he was a mid-year transfer. His case is slightly different than many other transfers, as he never played at Nevada as the coach he committed to Eric Musselman left for Arkansas. Stevenson then transferred again to Nebraska. As it currently stands the forward will be eligible after Christmas at the start of the second semester. As of this writing the team has yet to announce if they have applied for a waiver for Stevenson.

When Stevenson is eligible do not be surprised to see him utilized as the pseudo center for the Huskers. He is undersized to play that position, but he is strong and has shown in his career he has the game for a post player. He did show that he can shoot from outside as well while at Pitt. He is going to be the stereotypical forward in Hoibergs offense. A kid who can rebound, cut to the basket and step out and make a three.

Samari Curtis – Freshman

Curtis makes his way to Nebraska after a tremendous high school career at Xenia High School in Ohio. He was awarded the Ohio Mr. Basketball after his senior season. The numbers he put up were eye popping as he averaged 34 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game in High School. Within that he scored 40 points nine times. He like most of the other players on the team are known for their scoring. The four-star guard was the final commitment for coach Hoiberg. Curtis chose Nebraska after decommitting from Cincinnati, once his former coach Mick Cronin left for UCLA.

If the Italy trip is any indication of the minutes and how they will be distributed. Which it usually doesn’t, the freshman is going to play a lot. With the ability to light up a scoreboard and his ability to handle the ball, he has multiple position flexibility. Curtis may take a little bit to adjust to the speed of the Big Ten game, but once he does he can be a scoring machine.

Kevin Cross – Freshman

The big man from Arkansas remains a big question mark to how much he will play this year. He is skilled, but he is the type of player that would greatly benefit from a redshirt year and learning. The issue is that Nebraska may not have that luxury especially with their lack of size. Cross is a big kid at 6’8” and 240 pounds. So much like Ouedraogo, the best way to learn is a trial by fire.

Cross played his high school basketball in Arkansas for Mills University Studies High School. Last season he averaged a double double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. The forward was originally recruited to Southern Mississippi by Doc Sadler. Once Coach Sadler left to come to Nebraska he hoped Cross would follow. The forward chose Nebraska over Oklahoma State and TCU. Maybe Nebraska will get lucky again with a player from Arkansas. The last time a player from Arkansas was on the roster, David Rivers, Nebraska made the NCAA tournament.

Akol Arop – Freshman

Say what you want about Husker fans, one thing that will always be true is their loyalty to their own, or players from their own state. Arop was awarded the Gatorade Player of the Year in Nebraska last season. He was the number one ranked player in the state of Nebraska, and he ended up in red, not in Blue. That fact alone will sit well with most every Husker fan in the state. Arop coming to Nebraska and originally committing to Nebraska came as a little bit of a surprise considering, that his brother Aguek was committed to Nebraska for two years before deciding to open his recruitment and head to a prep school for a year. Aguek currently plays for San Diego State.

The younger Arop, Akol is an extremely gifted athlete. He is bouncy and plays much taller than his 6’6” frame. Husker fans have yet to see what he can do on a college court as he had some passport issues and was not able to join his team on the trip to Italy. All of that aside, Arop needs to work on his shot as most of his points in high school came in the front court and in the post. He is the current record holder within his class for field goal percentage in a season at 76%.

Nebraska also has three walk-ons all from Nebraska on their team.  Charlie Easley from Lincoln got some playing time in Italy.  He is the one walk on who has his name pop up as a potential canindate for playing time.  Jace Piatkowski is a husker legacy and his father is a Husker Legend and former NBA play Eric Piatkowski. Bret Porter rounds out the roster as a walk on from Omaha.