For Nebraska men’s basketball, the last week of recruiting in the transfer portal has been rough.
The Huskers have had success with most of their targets this offseason; however, that was not the case this week. Nebraska had a chance with a handful of prospects, but other schools swooped in to steal them.
In the past week, the Huskers missed out on four transfers they were contenders for. Before this week, they were in a position to land some of these prospects and shape their team for next season. Now Nebraska’s plans for its roster must take a shift.
The first prospect the Huskers missed out on was former Minnesota sophomore forward Pharrel Payne, as he committed to play for Texas A&M. Payne was one of head coach Fred Hoiberg’s first in-home visits this cycle. It seemed like Nebraska was going to be able to get him on campus for a visit, but he never made it to Lincoln.
The Huskers also lost former Omaha junior forward Frankie Fidler to Michigan State. Nebraska was in Fidler’s final four schools along with Creighton, Wisconsin and Michigan State. The Huskers were an early contender for Fidler, being the first school to get him on a visit, yet nothing came of it.
Fidler was supposed to commit on Monday, April 15, though he postponed that decision. Early in his recruitment, Wisconsin was the early favorite to land Fidler, as Badgers’ junior point guard Chucky Hepburn is his former high school teammate. That changed when Hepburn entered the transfer portal.
It also looks like Nebraska is not going to get former Charlotte forward Igor Milicic Jr. Milicic has yet to commit anywhere, but Tennessee is the favorite to land the 6-foot-10 forward, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS. Milicic averaged 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting 37.6% from beyond the arc this season.
Milicic visited Lincoln and had the Huskers in his final two schools, but Tennessee was his last visit, which does not bode well for Nebraska.
The last prospect the Huskers missed out on is former South Dakota State forward William Kyle III. Kyle was the prospect Nebraska had the best chance of getting. UCLA, though, swooped in at the last minute for the commitment.
Before the Bruins came into the picture, the Huskers and Wake Forest were the two leaders for Kyle, who visited Nebraska once and had another visit planned for the spring game on April 27.
Kyle was the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year this season and could’ve added much-needed athleticism to Nebraska’s roster.
Despite losing out on many top targets, there is still a silver lining as the Huskers did land former Wisconsin guard Connor Essegian. The sophomore only averaged 3.2 points and 7.3 minutes per game this season; however, he averaged 11.7 points per game during his freshman campaign.
The addition of Essegian adds another shooter to the Nebraska roster that it desperately needs. In 2022-23, Essegian set the record for 3-pointers by a freshman for Wisconsin, hitting 69 while shooting 35.9% from beyond the arc.
After this past week, most of the prospects the Huskers have contacted this offseason have committed somewhere. Nebraska still has three scholarship spots open and will have to look toward what’s left in the portal to finish building its roster.
One name that has been floated around is South Plains College forward Malique Ewin. According to On3, Hoiberg and assistant coach Ernie Zeigler were at the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship to watch Ewin last month.
Ewin started his college career at Ole Miss before heading to South Plains, a junior college, after his freshman season when he didn’t play much. According to JUCORecruiting.com, Ewin is the top junior college player in the country.
This season Ewin averaged 14.9 points and nine rebounds per game. The addition of Ewin would add the interior force that the Huskers have been looking to acquire all offseason.
According to On3, Nebraska has also been on the radar of former Northern Illinois forward Xavier Amos. During the 2023-24 season, Amos averaged 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 38.5% from beyond the arc. Amos has drawn interest from schools such as Kansas, Illinois and Virginia, and he is set to visit the Cavaliers this weekend.
Although this last week was tough for the Huskers in the portal, there are still options for them. However, Hoiberg and Co. will have to get moving if they want to succeed in the new Big Ten.