Archive for '2008 Recruiting Class'
Diaz joins Huskers
January 17, 2009 by Bret Nellor, under 2008 Recruiting Class, 2009 Recruiting Class, News.
It’s official and we can finally put to rest the recruiting saga of Jorge Diaz. The 7 footer from Puerto Rico arrived in Lincoln today and has been admitted into Nebraska.
Doc Sadler announced the news at his post game press conference after NU’s win over Kansas State. Diaz will begin practicing with the team on Monday. Sadler sounded unsure if Diaz will play for the Huskers this season. It will depend upon whether Diaz is ready to play at the Big 12 level and if he wants to use one year of his eligibility for the remainder of this season.
My guess is that he won’t. But this news is still good for a team has struggled to recruit big men and build depth in the front court. Especially after learning that Vander Joaquim will not be a part of the 2009 recruiting class.
Update: There was some confusion last night about Diaz’s first name. His name is Brian Diaz, he is using his middle name rather than Jorge. He was officially measured in at 6-11 and 235 lbs. He must be close to 7-0 though as Coach Sadler mentioned that he is a little taller than 6-11 Christopher Niemann.
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Does Jorge Diaz matter for this year’s Husker basketball team?
November 29, 2008 by Bret Nellor, under 2008 Recruiting Class, Recruiting.
As the Husker basketball team awaits the foreign language test results for Jorge Diaz, I found myself asking “does it really matter for this year’s team?”
Jorge Diaz if you recall was the late commit from Puerto Rico who was cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse but not accepted by UNL because he had not taken the foreign language test in time and missed the deadline for first semester admission. Diaz has now taken the test and is awaiting the results to learn if he will be admitted for the second semester which would allow him to join the team on Dec. 19th.
But again, does it matter?
If Diaz gets the required scores and is allowed to enroll, he’ll join the team 8 games into the season. After we’ve played all the meaningful non-conference games. Certainly, his addition could help the Husker’s depth for the conference season adding a 6-11 big guy to the bench.
I just don’t believe that he’ll have any impact this season even if Diaz is admitted. There are so many questions that surround him – Will he be in shape? Can he pick up Doc Sadler’s defensive strategy? Can he pick up the offense? And finally, does he have the skills to play at the Big 12 Conference level?
For me, there are too many question marks to count on Diaz being a counted-on contributor for this year’s Nebraska basketball team. I hope he gets the opportunity to prove me wrong.
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Nebraska releases 2008-2009 schedule plus other developments
September 3, 2008 by Bret Nellor, under 2008 Recruiting Class, News, Recruiting.
Doc Sadler announced the Huskers upcoming season schedule today. Along with that, we have some updates on some incoming players that figured to be important to the team’s depth in the paint and a hint at what we might see from the team from Coach Sadler.
First we look at the freshly released non-conference schedule.
Chadron State (exh.), Friday Nov. 7
San Jose State, Sunday Nov. 16
at TCU, Wednesday Nov. 19
Saint Louis, Tuesday Nov. 25
Creighton, Saturday Nov. 29
Alabama State, Wednesday Dec. 3
at Arizona State, Sunday Dec. 7
at Oregon State, Saturday Dec. 13
IPFW, Saturday Dec. 20
UMBC, Tuesday Dec. 23
South Carolina State, Tuesday Dec. 30
Maryland Eastern Shore, Saturday Jan. 3
Florida A&M, Monday Jan. 5
We have 10 home games 3 road games on the slate before we head into Big 12 play. Not many highlights at home other than the Creighton, St. Louis and UMBC (who was an NCAA tourney team last season). On the road however we’re looking at some decent matchups that should provide some early season tests with TCU, Arizona St. and Oregon St.
I think this schedule will make us a lock for a return to the NIT provided we take care of business and win games that we should win. To make the NCAA tourney, we can only afford 1-2 non-conference road losses and finish above .500 in conference play. This is possible looking at the non-conference side of the schedule but could be a tall order in the Big 12.
Season ticket renewals and public packages can be purchased through the Nebraska Athletic Dept.
Now for the developments on Christopher Niemann and Jorge Diaz. Niemann has been ruled ineligible for this season. He also loses his freshman year of eligibility but is still scheduled to arrive in Lincoln and is expected to practice with the team this year. Diaz on the other hand has been cleared by the NCAA to play this season but apparently can’t clear Nebraska’s admission requirements. He will enroll for the second semester and join the team on Dec. 19th. Even if he does join the team for the second half of the season, I for one don’t expect much of a contribution from him. By that time most of rotations and chemistry between the players will be pretty much in place leaving him as the odd man out. We’ll just have to look forward to next season to see if these guys can have any impact.
The loss of both of these big men is a blow to the team leaving 6-9 Alex Chapman as the tallest Husker. Matching up with the “trees” in the Big 12 will prove to be quite challenging. You thought we had trouble rebounding in some games last year?
Coach Sadler however noted that he intends to play his top 5 players even if that happens to be 5 guards. I think we’re about to see a drastic change in style from what we’ve seen from the team the last couple years. Baseline to baseline anybody?
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Odds & Ends 082608
August 26, 2008 by Bret Nellor, under 2008 Recruiting Class, News, Player Updates, Recruiting.
The Lincoln Journal Star published an article with updates on several of the Husker players most notably Sek Henry. Henry has been playing in the Say No Classic summer league in Los Angeles this summer. This league is made up of players from mostly the Pac-10, Big West and Mountain West schools.
Henry, who will be a junior this season, primarily played point guard this summer and focused on improving his mid-range game. He averaged 20.4 points per league game and shot 53% from the floor. Coach Sadler no doubt is very to happy to hear of his progress.
Sek figures to be a key player this season as he started the last eight games of last season after Cookie Miller’s injured his shoulder. Though he offers a different style than Miller at point guard for the Huskers, he does give the team more of a scoring punch from the point as they look to replace Aleks Maric’s scoring. I’ll venture to say that the battle for the starting point guard position between Henry and Miller should be quite intense during pre-season practices.
Also mentioned in the article:
- Eshaunte Jones – “We’ve got some good depth at guard, but he’ll add to that,” Sadler said. “The one thing he can do is score, and you can never have too many of those guys.”
- Jorge Diaz – Though cleared by the NCAA clearinghouse, Diaz has not yet been accepted to NU.
- The Huskers will begin four-player workouts on Wednesday. Full-team workouts begin on September 15.
- Ryan Anderson and Brandon Richardson suffered knee injuries over the summer according to Coach Sadler. Though neither injury appears to be serious, both were scheduled to see a doctor.
- Walk-on guard Andrew Wicklund will miss the season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery. He injured the knee working at a Nebraska basketball camp over the summer.
- The upcoming season schedule is not yet finalized and likely won’t be released until September.
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Diaz commits to play for Nebraska
August 23, 2008 by Bret Nellor, under 2008 Recruiting Class, Recruiting.
The Omaha World-Herald and the Lincoln Journal Star are both reporting that the Huskers have received an oral commitment from Jorge Diaz, a 6-11, 220 lb. center. Diaz spent this summer playing for the Puerto Rico junior national team and was considering Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa State and Loyola Marymount.
He has not yet been admitted to Nebraska but has received clearance from the NCAA academic clearinghouse. Which is great news since that seems to be the biggest hurdle for these international players. Diaz will likely receive the scholarship that was going to go to senior walk-on Paul Velander.
Diaz should add some much needed depth in the Husker’s frontline as they look to replace the void left by Aleks Maric. This also takes some pressure off the Christopher Niemann situation, who is still waiting to gain eligibility and clearance from the NCAA academic clearinghouse.
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Will Christopher Niemann be eligible for this season?
August 17, 2008 by Bret Nellor, under 2008 Recruiting Class, Recruiting.
The Omaha World-Herald reported that Christopher Niemann, the Husker’s 6-11 German recruit, is set to arrive in Lincoln at the end of this week. Nebraska certainly understands the importance his eligibility could have on the 2008 season as they are trying to do all they can to help his cause.
Two of Niemann’s German club teammates were ruled ineligible last season due to the fact that there were professionals on the team as well. For now Niemann has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA although he did not accept pay while playing for the club team.
The school’s efforts include sending a request to the NCAA to overturn Niemann’s eligibility ruling. There will be a teleconference to rule on that request likely this week. If Nebraska is successful in overturning the NCAA’s previous ruling, Niemann must also gain approval from the NCAA Clearinghouse for academic eligibility.
This will not be a walk in the park and much rides on getting the NCAA to overturn their initial ruling on Niemann. Hopefully we’ll get a favorable outcome on his status.
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Teeng Akol signs with Oklahoma State
August 11, 2008 by Bret Nellor, under 2008 Recruiting Class, Recruiting.
Teeng is a ‘Poke.
Looks like the Huskers will have to turn their attention to Jorge Diaz or another unknown recruit if they plan to add a big man to their 2008 roster. Word from the Lincoln Journal Star’s Life in the Red blog is that Teeng Akol officially accepted OSU’s scholarship offer today and cancelled his visit to Lincoln.
This is somewhat disappointing news, but there is still plenty of time to find a player who can add some depth to the Husker’s frontline.
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Huskers looking at another big man for 2008 class
August 11, 2008 by Bret Nellor, under 2008 Recruiting Class, Recruiting.
As the Christopher Niemann eligibility and Teeng Akol recruiting saga continues, Doc Sadler apparently is not putting all his eggs in one basket while waiting to hear from the NCAA clearinghouse about Niemann’s status and to see if Akol will come to Lincoln for a visit.
Coach Sadler was spotted in Las Vegas scouting Jorge Diaz, a 6-11, 220 pound center. Diaz is from Caguas, Puerto Rico and plays for Team Puerto Rico. Other schools reportedly interested in landing the big man for the 2008 season are Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa State and Loyola Marymount.
There are some questions about Diaz’s eligibility as he awaits his SAT scores in the next couple weeks. Once he has those results he plans to start taking some visits.
It seems pretty obvious that Coach Sadler is keeping all options open as he considers signing an additional front court player for 2008. This is a good move that could pay dividends as the Huskers currently have no player taller than 6-9 on the roster. I expect that Doc has a plan in place should there be no additions to the roster, but I’m sure he’d feel more comfortable with some more size and depth inside as we enter this season. Well maybe he wouldn’t, but I know I would!
