Nebraska Basketball: Potential impact if they lose transfer guard Ahron Ulis
Nebraska Basketball was hoping to have Ahron Ulis run its offense for the 2023-24 season. But there’s a chance they won’t have him at all on the court.
This offseason, Nebraska Basketball added four transfers. Two were in the frontcourt (Rienk Mast and Josiah Allick), along with former Charlotte scoring wing, Brice Williams. Yet a case can be made that the most important newcomer of the group is Ahron Ulis, a transfer from Iowa and younger brother of former Kentucky guard, Tyler Ulis.
After averaging 6.1 ppg and 2.1 apg in 27 starts at Iowa, Ulis entered the portal and remained in the Big Ten, picking the Cornhuskers. After losing the team’s two top passers (Sam Griesel and Derrick Walker), the hope is that Ulis can be the new guard and pass it to both Williams and returning guard, Keisei Tominaga.
However, the college career of Ulis is in serious jeopardy. He’s been reportedly charged with placing illegal bets while at Iowa, one of several athletes from different sports there. Accusations include that he bet on college basketball games, though none including the Hawkeyes. The NCAA is very clear about not allowing this and those who have been impacted by this on the baseball side have been effectively kicked out.
We don’t know the fate of many of these Iowa and Iowa State participants but there’s a genuine chance that they, including Ulis, could be ruled ineligible by the NCAA and unable to play. He’s currently been sitting out of Nebraska’s foreign preseason tour from this past week.
If Ulis isn’t able to play, that would be a devastating loss for the Cornhuskers. Not because of his talent or expected production but rather the lack of depth among ball-handlers on the roster. If he’s not able to go, that puts all of the pressure on redshirt freshman Ramel Lloyd, Jr. and Sam Hoiberg, the son of head coach Fred Hoiberg that got some minutes at the end of last season.
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The coach can’t afford another bad year and the surrounding talent in the frontcourt and on the wings are good enough to compete in the Big Ten. But the point guard position was the biggest question mark before this news and now without possibly having Ulis could put them in a position they won’t be able to overcome.