Nebraska basketball June visitor preview: Week 1

On June 1, the NCAA finally lifted its extended recruiting dead period after a long 15 months.

Nebraska basketball will hit the ground running at a full sprint starting this weekend, as four high-profile recruits from the 2022 and ’23 classes will make their way to Lincoln for official and unofficial visits.

Here is a rundown of the prospects in town for the weekend of June 4-6.

Visit type: Official

Nebraska has been in regular contact with 2022 Grand Island (Neb.) four-star Isaac Traudt since offering him a scholarship last summer. NU head coach Fred Hoiberg even took the reins on his recruitment over the past several months.

Rated the No. 67 player in the country, Traudt has a laundry list of high-major offers and has also scheduled official visits to Virginia (11-13), Michigan State (17-19), and North Carolina (27-29) for later this month.

However, Traudt’s rapidly growing bond with Hoiberg could be enough to keep NU in the mix to the finish line.

“It’s definitely my relationship with Coach Hoiberg,” Traudt said. “I’ve gotten really close with him over the past year or so. The Big Ten’s a great conference, and my family would be able to come to pretty much every home game. And then just the fan base at Nebraska is really special and very supportive.

“Those are the reasons why Nebraska will be in there until the end for sure.”

Visit type: Official

When Nebraska first started locking in its first round of June visits, 2022 four-star point guard Chance Westry was initially scheduled to visit from the 18-20.

That trip to Lincoln eventually got bumped up to the first weekend of the recruiting period, as the Huskers will get the first crack at the No. 24 player in the nation.

A native of Harrisburg, Penn., the 6-foot-5 Westry transferred to prep power Sierra Canyon in California for his junior season. However, he only played in five games, averaging 14.2 ppg, before transferring after the school year.

It’s unknown where Westry will play his final high school season, but that hasn’t stopped high-majors from across the country to continue to put the full-court press on him.

Westry recently told Tipton Edits that Nebraska, LSU, Auburn, Maryland, Florida State, Marquette, UConn, and Syracuse had been recruiting him the hardest.

No other visits have been announced yet after Nebraska.

Visit type: Unofficial

A five-star recruit ranked the No. 6 overall player in the 2023 class, Omaha Biliew is about as coveted as it gets.

Just about every college blue blood has offered the 6-foot-8 forward, but Nebraska has emerged as one of the top schools on Biliew’s early list.

Born in Nebraska and named after the state’s largest city, Biliew scheduled his first June unofficial visit to Lincoln for Sunday. He’s also locked in unofficials to Iowa on the 7th and Iowa State on 16th.

Biliew told Tipton Edits recently that Nebraska, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Kansas, Iowa State, Iowa, and Ohio State had been involved with him the most.

His national profile will likely only continue to rise from here, as news broke this week that Biliew planned to transfer from Waukee (Iowa) High School to a national prep power.

Visit type: Unofficial

Nebraska already hit the lottery by getting standout Pittsburgh transfer Trey McGowens and then his five-star little brother, Bryce McGowens.

Now the Huskers will be looking to do it again with 2023 five-star Simeon Wilcher.

The younger sibling of new Huskers transfer C.J. Wilcher, Simeon will take an unofficial campus visit on Sunday with his parents to help C.J. move in at Nebraska.

Given that NU has already established a strong enough relationship with the Wilcher family to get C.J. on board, it appears Fred Hoiberg and Co. will have a serious card to play with the No. 8 player in the ’23 class.

It also helps that Simeon’s older brother has already taken over as his lead recruiter for the Huskers.

“I played with my brother my senior year of high school, and that was probably the best experience, basketball-wise, that I’ve ever had in my life,” C.J. Wilcher told HuskerOnline.

“That’s something I would like to do at the college level, to be able to make his transition as easy as I possibly can like I did for his freshman year of high school. So the recruitment has started already.”