NCAA Basketball: State of Nebraska turning into hotbed of high school talent
By Bryan Mauro
Nebraska has never had much in the way of high school talent. Many used to think it was a flyover state. The NCAA Basketball talent in the state is at an all-time high.
NCAA Basketball Recruiting. It is one of the biggest factors in determining team success. Coaches hope to get the right players to build a program successfully. The coaches also hope to find players who are willing to learn and develop. Talent will only take many players so far, they must be willing to adapt to change and take instruction to take their game to the next level.
The world of NCAA Basketball has many challenges in recruiting that many of the other major college sports do not have, they have smaller scholarship numbers than football and the added stress of kids leaving to enter the NBA draft who never have any intention of coming back. Lately, many coaches have had to worry about their potential stars heading straight overseas, to the G-League or to a lesser extent to a prep school for one year before entering the NBA draft.
Due to these stresses, many coaches have to leave no stone unturned to find the next crop of talent for their teams. Sure there are hotspots for recruiting like California, Texas, New York, The Carolinas and Florida. Most of those individuals head to the blue blood programs or opt to go directly overseas or now the G-League. Where else can one find talent? There is a good basketball player in every state in the country, but one of the states that many used to overlook in recruiting is starting to emerge as a powerhouse for Division 1 talent.
The state of Nebraska has an influx of talent and the state has never seen this wave of talent that is currently in the high school ranks. The state is having coaches from all over the country come and watch players. Players like Mike Daum and Akoy Agau helped put Nebraska high school basketball on the map. Since then, Nebraska has a team that participates in the Adidas Nation AAU circuit with the OSA Crusaders. The AAU team was going to host a tournament during the first live session in April before everything was shut down due to Covid-19. Even despite that, the state has more talent than it has ever seen with many players contributing at the Division 1 level.