Why Keisei Tominaga is walking on Senior Night — and a key factor in his potential return

As Nebraska men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg sat down Monday, he said he’d address the budding story before he was even asked about it. He let a reporter ask anyway.

Why is junior guard Keisei Tominaga walking on Senior Night?

First, he’s a senior academically and has already played four seasons of college basketball. He gets a fifth due to the NCAA’s COVID-related eligibility rules, but he’ll likely graduate soon. 

Second, Tominaga’s parents — Hiroyuki and Hitomi — are in town for the first time, attending both the Minnesota win Saturday and Tuesday night’s game against Michigan State.

“I think I’ve watched that clip of his parents in the crowd probably a thousand times,” Hoiberg said. “It’s awesome to see. They’re so grateful.”

Third, well, it could be Tominaga’s final home game. He could leave and play professional basketball — in Japan or elsewhere.

“We’ve talked about the different options that he will have after the season is over,” Hoiberg said, “but there’s been no decision made on what exactly is going to happen on Keisei’s future…there’s pros and cons to both, and we’ll talk about all those and, at the end of the day, make the best decision for Keisei.”

Nebraska did not include Tominaga  — averaging 12.6 points per game — last week for a Senior Day ensemble interview with Derrick Walker, Sam Griesel and Emmanuel Bandoumel, nor was any overt mention made of Tominaga walking on Senior Night until a social media post, sent Monday morning, noted as much.

One factor in Tominaga’s decision may revolve around whether international student-athletes can make name, image, likeness money the way their American-born counterparts do. There are some workarounds — NU women’s basketball guard Jaz Shelley had an event in her home country of Australia, for example — but an easier path has yet to be found.

Hoiberg, bound by the NCAA to stay away from NIL negotiations, is limited in what he can say about Tominaga’s NIL situation.

“Those are things that certainly will play a factor,” Hoiberg said. “I won’t say directly what that entails — but, those are certainly things that are being discussed.”

Tominaga’s six-game tear — he’s averaging 21.6 points per contest in February — has likely put him more on professional basketball’s worldwide radar. Although a prodigious three-point shooter, Tominaga can score at the rim, as well, and his defense has improved, Hoiberg said.

A former NBA player, coach and executive, Hoiberg has advised many of his collegiate players on pro prospects.

An extra year helped Derrick Walker and Sam Griesel, Hoiberg said, “opened a lot of doors” for a better pro contact. Meanwhile, former Husker Bryce McGowens left after one season and parlayed that into a bench role with the NBA’s Hornets, who signed McGowens to a 4-year, $7.4 million deal last weekend.

Like most college basketball players, Tominaga has personal advisors, including his father, Hiroyuki, a 7-foot center who played 11 seasons for Mitsubishi Electric in the Japanese B League. But Keisei has fewer advisors than many, Hoiberg said.

“All the discussions will happen at the end of the year — not just with Keisei, but with all of our players, as far as what the best route is,” Hoiberg said.

Huskers weary of angry Spartans: Hoiberg always views Michigan State as a “complete” team. The Spartans — NU’s opponent for Senior Night — may arrive at PBA as an angry team, too.

MSU blew a 13-point lead in the final two minutes of an overtime loss to Iowa, which hit five straight three-pointers at the end of regulation.

“Listen, that performance — besides the last minute — at Iowa was incredibly impressive, what they did,” Hoiberg said. “They had a 13-point lead late in the game. That’s hard to do against Iowa on the road.”

Beating Michigan State, Hoiberg said, will require Nebraska to be physical — especially on the board, which MSU dominated in a 74-56 win over NU on Jan. 3 — and quick with its transition defense. The Spartans have not lost to a Hoiberg-coached Husker team, in part because the playing styles can be similar.

“We can’t turn it over, we can’t get them confident,” Hoiberg said. “But they’re so good at pushing it down the floor. As I told the team, we can’t come over in the first timeout, after we’ve given up a couple transition baskets, and say ‘we told you they were going to play fast.’”

1890 Initiative to add basketball players: Nebraska basketball players will soon be represented by the same name, image and likeness collective representing Nebraska football and volleyball players.

The 1890 Initiative, run by former Husker player and administrator Matt Davison, has absorbed Athlete Impact Management, which had been handling NIL services for players. The 1890 Initiative called it a merger with AIM, but 1890, with its bigger brand, will become the umbrella for Husker men’s hoopsters. NU women’s basketball players recently started working with 1890, as well.