Here’s what is next for Nebraska men’s basketball

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In Fred Hoiberg’s eyes, the turning point for Nebraska basketball came well before the Huskers made the NCAA Tournament.

In a grind of a 2022-23 season Sam Griesel, Emmanuel Bandoumel and Derrick Walker changed the culture around the program and laid the groundwork for the greater successes yet to come. The Huskers slogged through some early season struggles and finished the year strong, winning 16 games, eight fewer than their total Hoiberg’s first three years combined.

Hoiberg was worried he wouldn’t be able to replace Griesel, Bandoumel and Walker. He sought similar players in the portal, polished veterans who would play hard and accept their roles.

A year later, the focus shifted to 2024-25 almost immediately after the buzzer sounded in Memphis, an unsatisfying taste of postseason play still in Nebraska’s mouth. The goals are now loftier. Making an NCAA Tournament isn’t enough. Hoiberg is chasing long-term success, the kind Nebraska hasn’t seen in program history.

“We need to get more players like we’ve built our roster the last couple of years that our fanbase can be proud of every time they step on the floor,” Hoiberg said. “And I’m confident we’ll do that. It’s there. There’s no reason this team can’t have sustained success. This can’t be another decade before Nebraska gets back in the NCAA tournament. We need to be there again next year.”

Building for the immediate future will begin in the transfer portal, where Nebraska is typically active. Last offseason, the Huskers landed starters Josiah Allick, Rienk Mast and Brice Williams from mid-major schools. With Allick and Keisei Tominaga out of eligibility, size and shooting are obvious holes to fill.

Less tangibly, Nebraska wants to find players that fit the program from a personality standpoint. Over the past two offseasons, NU has identified that type, and Hoiberg hopes each offseason builds off the previous. Allick was hesitant to come to Nebraska last offseason but was convinced he’d be joining a team capable of postseason play. Now, Nebraska will have a recent tournament appearance as a selling point.

The extent beyond that to which Nebraska will have to retool over the offseason will depend on the decisions of Mast, Williams, C.J. Wilcher and Juwan Gary. Wilcher went through senior day festivities but has another year of eligibility remaining if he chooses to use it. Williams, Gary and Mast are all entering their sixth years of college. On Friday, Gary expressed interest in returning to Nebraska but said he’d have to sit down with his family before making a final decision. Williams and Mast’s futures with NU are still up in the air.

“I’ve done a couple offseasons, so I know from what teammates in the past have done is you never know,” Mast said. “Would definitely not say that I’m completely out of coming back (to) Nebraska. Could be back, could be not. I’m just gonna explore the opportunities and make a decision from there.”

Beyond any portal additions in the coming months, Nebraska has reinforcements coming in the form of Braden Frager, Nick Janowski and Ahron Ulis. Frager and Janowski are high school commits from Lincoln and Pewaukee, Wisconsin, respectively.

Ulis, a point guard who began his college career at Iowa, came to Nebraska last offseason before the fallout from an underage gambling charge left him ineligible. Effectively, he’ll be a new addition to next year’s team, albeit one who already spent a season on the roster, on the bench during games and active in practice. Ulis has one year of eligibility remaining and the skill set to contribute to a team that lacks a true point guard. He’s an experienced player NU can immediately slot into its plans, a luxury given the breakneck speed at which the portal moves.

“Used to be able to breathe a little bit when this thing ended. You don’t get to do that anymore,” Hoiberg said. “It’s right back to work. You’re already making calls and doing that type of thing. We’re going to meet with all of our players individually over the next couple of days and figure out how to best construct the roster to help us get over this hump.”

To many outside the program, Nebraska wasn’t supposed to be this far along in its development. The Huskers were picked to finish 12th in the Big Ten in a preseason poll. Their leap forward was unexpected but didn’t happen overnight. It was a gradual development.

“It definitely was evolution,” Wilcher said. “Like we’ve taken steps in the right direction. I think it kinda got to a point in the season where we got to the top of the stairs.”

Now, NU wants to find a new flight. It wants to prove its tournament appearance wasn’t a fluke, that the Huskers can sustain a high level of play and parlay it into another step forward, a season that pushes deeper into March.