The Nebraska basketball team has been quite busy since Fred Hoiberg officially hit town. The new Nebrasketball staff has been hitting recruiting quite hard, in hopes that the program can ... rebound ... quicker than some might have thought. One such attempt to jumpstart the Hoiberg era will take place this weekend.
Nebraska is hosting at least three highly touted prospects from various backgrounds. Cam Mack, Jayce Johnson and Yvan Ouedraogo are all confirmed to be coming to Lincoln starting on Friday evening. If everything goes well, and the new coaching staff can really show what the town has to offer, it wouldn't be out of the question to see at least one commit coming.
Two might be a stretch but certainly not out of the realm of possibility.
Nebraska looking for the French connection
Of the trio, only Ouedraogo would count as a "high school" level player. That's interesting if only because the bulk of the recruiting that has been done by Fred Hoiberg and staff has focused on transfer players. Whether talking about grad transfers, or JUCO transfers, Hoiberg's high school level recruiting has mostly been about trying to keep the commits Miles already had locked down.
That doesn't mean they have paid zero attention to the next generation, Hoiberg did also reach out anew to Ben Carlson, whose dad was a teammate with Hoiberg at Iowa State. When it comes to Ouedraogo, the Huskers are looking to add a pretty standard, but talented power forward who stands at 6-foot-8 and 230-pounds.
Hailing from France, there was a time when it was thought he would be choosing between Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech and TCU but it appears his plans have changed. They've changed rather quickly as Nebraska wasn't anywhere in the picture last month.
From Utah for one year
Turning attention to Jayce Johnson, Nebraska basketball is looking for a more traditional big man.
Johnson is transferring from Utah and would have one more season to play. Reports out of his current team's papers is that he's not liking the way the Utes' head coach handles things and he wants to have a more active role on offense.
Nebraska could certainly use an actual seven-foot center who can score as well as rebound and block shots.
Last season, Johnson averaged 7.1 points and 7.7 rebounds. While Utah is said to be putting on the full court press to try and get him to stick around, or at least were when he first announced he was entering the transfer portal, official visits has to be a sign he's at least looking to leave.
Cam Mack is the only guard of the trio and the one that new Nebraska assistant Matt Abdelmassih might have the biggest impact on. Mack is a JUCO transfer prospect who had originally committed to St. John's. He decided to open his recruitment back up when rumors that Abdelmassih was leaving first started. Originally he had said he wasn't looking at the Huskers but has changed his mind.
That should be considered very good news for Nebraska basketball.
Mack was absolutely dominant for Salt Lake Community College last year. Not only did he shoot 45.6 percent from the field and 33.7 percent from three-point land, but he led the team in scoring (19.1 points per game), assists (7.5 per game), steals (65) and blocks (14). Yes, the team's starting point guard led the team in blocked shots. It's pretty clear his athleticism would be welcome at PBA.
