Fresh from a 16-16 season that saw the Nebraska Basketball team on the NCAA tournament bubble for a brief period, head coach Fred Hoiberg headed into his most critical offseason as the head coach at Nebraska. The Huskers would need to replace point guard Sam Griesel, big man Derrick Walker Jr, and defensive stalwart Emmanuel Bandoumel. Those players being replaced would be in addition to any other attrition the Huskers would experience.
There are always going to be guys who leave the program and when forward Denim Dawson and big man Oleg Kojenets entered the transfer portal the Huskers entered this crucial offseason with four open scholarships and clear areas of need.
Coach Hoiberg and staff already had the commitment of incoming freshman wing Eli Rice. Nebraska was in the portal looking for a big man to replace Walker Jr., a point guard to replace Griesel, and a defender to replace Bandoumel. Coach Hoiberg had his work cut out for him, but with almost 1,400 players in the portal finding those pieces should not be too hard. The issue is finding the players who fit that bill but can also thrive in your system and won’t mess up the chemistry of the current roster.
March passed and April is half over, but the Huskers finally made some moves in the transfer portal, and they are moves that are getting noticed. They are moves for high-profile players that are going to help make Nebraska a legitimate contender in the Big Ten. The best part about these players is they are not graduate transfers and have multiple years of eligibility left at Nebraska. The players are going to fill a lot of needs for the Huskers and once Nebraska adds to them the team can really take off.