Fred Hoiberg seems to have decided that Saturday was really his first day as a head coach of the Nebraska basketball team. He was quite busy, ironically on the same day that his son played in the Final Four. In addition to sending out quite a few offers to high school hoopsters, he also lined up an official visit from one heck of a talented grad transfer in Haanif Cheatham.

Haanif Cheatam fills a need

Cheatham played the 2018-19 season as one of the top scorers on Florida Gulf Coast before he went down with injury in December. Now that he has graduated, he's going to be moving on to try his hand at a new school.

Considering that the Huskers just lost a guard that was slated to be one of their top weapons next season, the team has a hole in its roster.

If Hoiberg was able to bring in Cheatham and sign him for a season, that would certainly fill that hole. Thomas Allen has decided he's going to be headed to another school. Interestingly, he also missed the end of the regular season with an injury.

Of course, Allen didn't miss anywhere near as much time as Cheatham did. The flip side of that is that the FGCU guard appears to be a more polished player and a better scorer than Allen was in his sophomore season.

In those 10 games Haanif Cheatham did play, he averaged 13.2 points per game while hauling down 4.8 rebounds per contest and dishing out 1.9 assists. The guard short nearly 46 percent from the field and just over 35 percent from beyond three-point land.

Nebraska basketball looking to add much-traveled guard

At this point, it appears that Cheatham is a well-traveled player.

He landed at Florida Gulf Coast this season, after playing his first three years at Marquette. It might not be a total coincidence then that Cheatham is looking at the Huskers. New assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih was at St. John's before coming to Lincoln.

It's a safe bet that Abdelmassih knows what Cheatham brings to the table.

In turn, the guard might like the fact that his potential new assistant knows the Big East quite well. By all accounts, Abdelmassih knows recruiting, period and it appears he's working hard for his new school right off the bat.

The Nebraska basketball team was going to need to find a way to reload even before Thomas Allen decided to transfer. There is a real doubt that Isaiah Roby is going to be playing basketball at Pinnacle Bank arena in 2019. It's possible that the move to submit his name to the draft is just the start.

He could be looking to transfer as well, even if he is told that he's not ready for the pros just yet. Even if Roby comes back, there is still the loss of both James Palmer Jr and Isaac Copeland. The Nebraska basketball team is going to be able to start reloading if they can land Haanif Cheatham.