Nebraska Basketball: Huskers land both Brice Williams and Rienk Mast
By Bryan Mauro
Rienk Mast
Coach Hoiberg loves to use his big men in a way not many other teams in the country use them. He utilizes them as a point forward and will run the offense through them. In the offense, the bigs get the ball at the top of the key, or the free throw line, and will either drive to the basket, pass to an open guard or throw the ball into the paint off of a back cut. Nebraska ran this to perfection during their winning streak over the last month of the season.
Replacing a player like Walker Jr. is going to be impossible with the production he brought to the team but when you replace him with a player who has a better offensive game, is a better rebounder, and a slightly worse passer that is a great replacement. Rienk Mast is a transfer from Bradley where he dominated the Missouri Valley at points. Mast was a player who would bring the ball up the floor and initiate the offense for the Braves. He is going to be comfortable playing in an offense like the one run at Nebraska.
The Dutch big man brings something different that Hoiberg didn’t have with his previous big men and it is the ability of Mast to step out and make threes at a career 33% mark. The big man still does a lot of his work inside the paint utilizing his quickness to get into the paint and utilizing the sky hook made famous by Kareem. Husker fans will also be happy to know that he is a big man who is a capable shooter from the free throw line as well. He is a career 72% free throw shooter and that stat above all else should already make Nebraska fans happy. It has been an adventure from the line for the Huskers over the last four seasons.
Mast is one of the better transfers in the portal and when Nebraska reached out there was instant interest. He fits perfectly into what Nebraska is trying to do and he should step right into the starting big when the season kicks off in November. The other fantastic part about the commitment is the former Bradley big man has two years of eligibility remaining and Nebraska will be able to build around him for the next two seasons.