Eight new faces joined Nebraska’s roster this offseason as part of its 2021 class, and their arrival has the Huskers’ program buzzing with excitement.
The group is a collection of talent from just about every recruiting avenue: four high school recruits, two Division-I transfers, a junior college transfer, and a graduate transfer.
Freshman Bryce McGowens was a five-star prospect, while freshmen transfers CJ Wilcher and Keon Edwards were former four-star recruits. Freshman Wilhelm Breidenbach was ranked in the Rivals150, while Quaran McPherson and Oleg Kojenets were three stars.
Sophomore transfer Keisei Tominaga was regarded as one of the best JUCO 3-point shooters in the country last year, and Arizona State grad transfer Alonzo Verge Jr. was the 2019 Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year.
It was collectively rated a consensus top-20 class despite three high-profile transfers not being included in its final ranking.
On paper, the ’21 class stands as by far the Huskers’ best since the start of the Rivals era dating back to 2002.
The only competition would be the 2015 group of Glynn Watson (four-star), Edward Morrow (four-star), Michael Jacobson (three-star), and Bakari Evelyn (three-star) that ranked 27th nationally.
Assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih, who oversees the bulk of NU’s recruiting strategy and efforts, was primarily responsible for assembling Nebraska’s heralded 2021 group.
Known as one of the premier recruiters in college basketball, Abdelmassih said his latest class could be the crown jewel of his 10 years as a full-time college assistant.
“This is the best in terms of recruiting ranking,” Abdelmassih said. “I’ve had some classes where they were top 25, but never this caliber. What’s a little bit unaccounted for is that transfers are never factored into rankings. If they were, I probably would’ve had a lot more top-25 classes. Nonetheless, just in terms of sheer talent, this is certainly the best class I’ve put together.”
Few could argue that Nebraska’s 2021 class is by far its best of the internet recruiting rankings era. But could it legitimately be considered the best in school history?
Legendary NU’s men’s basketball radio play-by-play man Kent Pavelka has been around the program since the 1970s and has called more than 1,000 Husker games in his career.
He’s seen plenty of hype and optimism come and go over that time, so he’s learned to avoid becoming a prisoner of the moment – especially during the offseasons.
But even Pavelka couldn’t deny that Nebraska’s 2021 class had brought as much legitimate buzz to campus as any he could remember.
The only two he could think of that rivaled the hype were the 1982 group of Dave Hoppen, Mike Martz, and James Moore, and the 1992 class of Erick Strickland, Jaron Boone, Andre Woolridge, and (redshirt freshman) Terrence Badgett.
“This current group, in terms of the buzz, it’s on par with those two groups,” Pavelka said. “I’ve seen the team workout three times, so it’s been limited… But I’ve seen Bryce McGowens a couple of times, and, I mean, I get it. I think he can be really special. He just pops at you… So, if all of this comes together, wow, you could have something really big here.”
Abdelmassih said the plan from the day he joined head coach Fred Hoiberg in Lincoln back in April of 2019 was to build the roster where Year 3 would be when the program made a significant jump.
After a combined 14 wins and two complete roster overhauls over the first two seasons, the Huskers appear right on track to where Hoiberg and Abdelmassih had planned.
With all the excitement surrounding this season, the reality is that Nebraska still hasn’t even fully practiced together. Kojenets only recently arrived on campus after competing in the FIBA U-19 World Cup in Latvia. Tominaga just wrapped up representing Japan in the 3×3 Olympic men’s basketball tournament in Tokyo.
“The key part now is getting all of these guys to meld together,” Pavelka said. “All of what we’ve been talking about could be true, but if the chemistry doesn’t happen, it won’t make any difference.”
But with such a talented collection of newcomers paired with a returning cast that accounted for nearly 80 percent of last season’s minutes and scoring, expectations are quickly rising for the Huskers.
That’s a challenge that, from head coach to incoming freshman, is being welcomed head-on.
“The thing that excites me the most is each guy we brought in has a chip on his shoulder to where they are taking on changing the perception and the narrative of Nebraska basketball,” Abdelmassih said. “I think this class has shown what’s capable of being brought to Lincoln, and certainly, we’ve set the bar of what the expectation is. We want to attract the best players in the country, however they end up here…
“It’s very encouraging because when we got here two years ago, you certainly have a blueprint of how you want things to go. I’ve always been a big believer in that when you have a plan; it creates a lot less panic. We’ve stayed true to who we are. We haven’t panicked.
“Over these last few years, we’ve had unwavering belief and confidence in everything that we’re telling these prospects when we’re recruiting them, and it’s led us down the road of bringing in a class that’s clearly the best in school history. We certainly don’t take that lightly.”
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