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ILLUSTRATED January 2022 VOLUME 41 | NO. 9 | $ 6 . 9 5
CASEY THOMPSON
FROM HORNS TO A HUSKER
From the Publisher
BY JEFF BUNDY
jbundy@smithkroeger.com
WINNING THE OFF-SEASON The annual winter buzz around Husker football is in the air. With the recent hires of Bryan Applewhite and Bill Busch, coach Scott Frost has filled his remaining vacancies after the dismissal of four coaches in November. They call it “winning the off-season” and this winter Husker fans get a triple dose. Of course there is the signing of the young recruits, which starts in December these days. Then there are the new coaches coming in. Lastly, there is the raft of moreseasoned players from the transfer portal now signing on. These impressive student athletes have already excelled, for the most part, at the college level but have decided to leave their universities and move to Nebraska, where they are considered to be instant-impact players. Nebraska added quarterbacks Casey Thompson and Chubba Purdy, two kicking specialists who will hopefully help special teams, two offensive linemen who should see playing time immediately and a talented receiver brought into the program due to his relationship with Mickey Joseph. Husker fans will see these new additions in action in just a few months. The spring game has moved up to April 9. The earlierthan-usual date is due to the installation of new FieldTurf, last replaced in 2013. It will be fun to get a look at these new players – and coaches – in action. We already know how the volleyball team will look – very strong. Coach John Cook, in his 22nd year at NU, has a stable of returning talent. Fifth-year senior Nicklin Hames is returning for another season, and possibly so too is the powerful Kayla Caffey – if OK’d by the NCAA. Regardless, a strong roster returns bolstered by four touted recruits: Hayden Kubik, Bekka 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
Alick, Maisie Boesiger and Maggie Mendelson. Kubik, the younger sister of Husker volleyball player Madi, is ranked as the top recruit in the country. You can read more about Alick and Mendelson in this edition. In other moves, associate head coach Tyler Hilderbrand left the program to become head coach at Long Beach State in California. Cook promoted Jaylen Reyes and Kelly Hunter. Callie Schwarzenbach will finish her college career at Long Beach State. The cherry on top? If the Huskers bid for the national championship goes as planned, they will play before a local crowd. The 2022 NCAA volleyball championship is in Omaha. The news isn’t so good with men’s basketball, which continues to struggle under coach Fred Hoiberg. The Huskers are 6-13 on the season and 0-8 in the Big Ten. NU has gone 5-41 in the Big Ten and 1-26 on the road. One bit of good news is that Trey McGowens has returned to the court after sitting out since the Creighton game Nov. 16 with a broken foot. Amy Williams’ squad has been faring well. The women’s basketball team started 12-0 until a road loss at Michigan State. Freshman Alexis Markowski has been named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week four times. The team is in the middle of its Big Ten schedule and is 13-4. The pandemic has postponed the contests against Rutgers and Illinois. You may have noticed a different name and face with this column. I am new to the magazine but have been covering Husker Athletics for more than 35 years. The first three years of my photojournalism career, I worked as a freelance photographer for the Associated Press and staffed several
football, basketball and volleyball games. In 1990, I started working for the Omaha World-Herald and was fortunate enough to visit stadiums like the old Orange Bowl and all the schools in the Big Eight. I photographed Danny Nee’s team play in the NCAA tournament, coach Osborne’s national championships in 1994 and 1997 as well as Terry Pettit’s victory over Texas, 3-1, to claim the 1995 volleyball national championship. My 29-year career at the World-Herald ended in 2019. During the pandemic, I was a substitute teacher in Omaha. In the summer of 2021, my former publisher and friend, Terry Kroeger, purchased Huskers Illustrated. In November, I was brought on to consult and in January I became publisher. As such, I will work hard to bring you unique content that you cannot acquire from any other publication. We have added some contributors who you may recognize to help in this effort. Mike Kelly, a 48-year veteran of the World-Herald, will occasionally contribute. Former World-Herald sports editor Thad Livingston is helping with editing and an occasional column. Steve Beideck, who wrote for this publication in the 1980s, is now back. I would like to thank colleagues Thom Kastrup, Ayman Sharif, Dave Klemencic, Marilee Magiera, Mike Duman and Todd Birchard for their aid and guidance in putting this issue out under my oversight. Lastly, I want to thank you, the subscribers, and advertisers of Huskers Illustrated for being a part of this ongoing effort. If you have any suggestions or comments, please email me at huskersillustrated@ smithkroeger.com
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Contents JANUARY 2022 * VOLUME 41 * NO. 9
COLUMNS
2
FROM THE PUBLISHER
BY JEFF BUNDY
The start of a new year brings new hope for Husker football fans looking forward to the fall schedule.
FEATURES
4
QUARTERBACK CHALLENGE
BY STEVE BEIDECK Mark Whipple hit the portal hard once he arrived at Nebraska and is counting on his two new pupils to help the Huskers out in the short and long term.
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DOUBLE DIPPING
BY MIKE MALLOY
Participating and excelling in two sports is a challenge but can be done. One Husker recruit plans on doing that in volleyball and basketball.
18
RECRUITING LOUISIANA
BY SHANE G. GILSTER Starting in the 1980s, Husker football coaches found their way into the living rooms of top Louisiana recruits. The effort produced several Nebraska greats and brought a former player back as a coach.
38
TURN BACK THE CLOCK
BY MICHAEL KELLY
The state of Nebraska has embraced volleyball and that has benefited the entire country by producing top coaches and players.
42
HUSKER LEGENDS TROY DUMAS
BY SHANE G. GILSTER
Growing up in Wyoming, Troy Dumas always knew he wanted to be a part of the Husker football team.
ON THE COVER Portal transfer quarterback Casey Thompson has joined the Huskers football team. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound junior has two years of eligibility. Thompson is expected to compete for the starting position of quarterback for offensive coordinator Mark Whipple. PHOTO BY THE AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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FOOTBALL
UT ATHLETICS
Casey Thompson is pursued by TCU cornerback Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson during a game this past season. The next time Thompson takes the field he will be wearing Nebraska's scarlet and cream.
Suddenly, Optimism Abounds With Inflow of Talent Portal, Junior Colleges Kind to Huskers Story by Steve Beideck
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ewind your mind two months, to the day after Thanksgiving when Iowa came to Lincoln and scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to hand Nebraska its seventh loss of seven points or less. So many questions and no immediate, reassuring answers were available to soothe what Nebraska football fans had just endured – a 3-9 season where the biggest margin of defeat in any single game was just nine points. Turnovers, penalties and mental miscues that proved so costly in all nine of those losses rotated among position groups 4 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
like a wheel of misfortune. Drilling down on someone or a single position group was akin to putting a finger in a dike. Who should fix these things and how should it be done? The new athletic director was the one who should – and did – begin to provide that guidance. Now, not even two months later, there are reasons for optimism. Hype or hope? Doesn't matter. The present suddenly offers so many presents for Nebraska fans to mentally unwrap the next seven months. Will that trip to Ireland for the 2022 season opener bring the Huskers two commodities that were in short supply last season – vic-
tories and luck? The state of Nebraska football will come into truer focus during the Aug. 27 opener against Northwestern. A thorough evaluation will be ongoing through the regular season finale Nov. 25 at Iowa. But think about where the Huskers are now compared to two months ago. The transfer portal has brought to Nebraska the starting quarterback at Texas (Casey Thompson) and a potential starter-in-waiting at Florida State (Chubba Purdy). Thompson will have two seasons of eligibility while Purdy, who heavily weighed Oklahoma before committing to the Husk-
ers, has four years remaining after playing ed to contribute both as a wide receiver and has two years of eligibility remaining. in just three games in 2020 and once in return specialist. In 2021 Palmer caught Yet another touted defensive back, Javi2021. 30 passes for 344 yards and three touch- er Morton, is on board from the junior colIn 10 games as the Longhorns starting downs. In 2020 Palmer was the first LSU lege ranks (Garden City Community Colquarterback, Thompson threw for 2,421 player since 1981 to return a kickoff for a lege in Kansas). At 6-2 and 185 pounds, he yards with 24 touchdowns and nine inter- touchdown in Tiger Stadium. is said to have the potential to be a lockceptions. Combined with his punt return touch- down corner. Working with both new quarterbacks down in 2019 against Northwestern State, Punter Brian Buschini is the second and the others already on Nebraska’s ros- Palmer became just the eighth player in Montana transfer into the Nebraska proter will be new offensive coordinator Mark school history to return both a kickoff and gram in as many seasons. If he comes Whipple. It was Whipple who built the punt for a touchdown in a career. Among close to matching the success wide rePittsburgh offense that led the Panthers to those other seven players were Heisman ceiver Samori Toure had for the Huskers a 45-21 victory over Wake Forest in the Trophy winner Billy Cannon, Kevin Faulk in 2021 – 46 catches for 896 yards and five ACC championship game. and Eddie Kennison. touchdowns – Buschini will become a fan Whipple molded Panthers quarterback Offensive linemen Kevin Williams of favorite. Kenny Pickett into a Heisman Trophy fi- Northern Colorado and Hunter Anthony of The FCS punter of the year averaged nalist. Whipple also owns a Super Bowl Oklahoma State bring versatility and expe- 46.7 yards on 56 punts in the 2021 season, ring and had stints with three different NFL rience to a unit that can use a dose of both. with a long of 62 yards. Twenty-six of his teams. He’s a man who happily says he Williams, who is an Omaha North gradu- punts landed inside the 20-yard line, and 27 loves helping players get better, no matter ate, and Anthony both will have two sea- of his boots went for more than 50 yards. where they are on the depth chart. sons of eligibility. Former Furman kicker Timmy BleekDon’t forget about two rode is expected to become new running backs who used Nebraska’s new placekicking to call Florida State and Texas specialist. Converting on 84% A&M home. Anthony Grant, (21-of-25) of his field goal atthe top junior college runtempts over two seasons, Bleekning back in 2021, was most rode has three remaining searecently at New Mexico Milisons of eligibility. tary Institute where he helped No one could have imagined lead the Broncos to victory in that while watching Iowa land the NJCAA Division I nationthose fourth quarter blows that al championship game over would make Nebraska’s record Iowa Western. 13-18 the past five seasons at Grant rushed for 1,730 Memorial Stadium that the yards and 18 touchdowns in Huskers could make such im2021, including 192 yards pressive additions to their roster on 34 carries in the champiin a short period of time. onship game. At FSU Grant Suddenly it’s OK to start was the Seminoles’ primary dreaming of another 7-0 home kick returner in 2018 and redrecord like the one the 2016 shirted the following season team posted in an emotional seabefore his two seasons in Roson when some amount of confiFSU ATHLETICS swell. dence was achieved by stacking Deondre Jackson will have Former four-star recruit Chubba Purdy will have four years of wins together. four years of eligibility re- eligibility at Nebraska and is expected to battle for the starting That 2016 bunch also was maining when he joins the quarterback position in 2022. the last to play in a bowl game. Huskers after the conclusion of the second The Nebraska defense and special teams That’s a fact that stings anyone who has semester. In two seasons with the Aggies, also picked up some transfer portal talent. ever had any kind of emotional investment Jackson had just three carries for 13 yards, Arizona State defensive back Tommy in the Nebraska football program, whether but his turn to shine may await at Nebraska. Hill will bring a year of experience with that investment has been for six years or Two receivers will add talented depth the Sun Devils to a position group that lost six decades. to the group now being coached by for- three starters to graduation. For a program once accustomed to mer Nebraska quarterback Mickey Joseph. Hill, who was recruited by Nebraska playing in bowl games and even national Speedster Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda comes out of Orlando (Edgewater) High School, championships, a five-year absence from to Lincoln from New Mexico State with played in 11 games and finished 2021 with postseason play has been a source of frustwo seasons of eligibility plus a redshirt seven solo tackles and two assists. tration. Making it to a bowl game in 2022 season. Another cornerback from the portal is would be a positive step. Former five-star recruit Trey Palmer fol- 2019 FCS defensive freshman of the year Suddenly, it seems attainable. lowed Joseph from LSU, and he’s expect- Omar Brown out of Northern Iowa, who J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | 5
VOLLEYBALL
REGGIE RYDER/HUSKERS ILLUSTRATED
Nebraska's Nicklin Hames serves at a sold-out Devaney Sports Center. Hames is returning for a fifth season.
Huskers Loaded for 2022 All Eyes on Final Four in Omaha
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lanning for the 2022 Nebraska volleyball season is now in full gear after John Cook took time to put the sport out of his mind following the Huskers’ latest NCAA championship chase. After getting to his home in the mountains of western Wyoming on Jan. 1, Cook successfully hit reset with three weeks of walks, hikes and quality time with his family near Alta in the Teton Range on the Wyoming-Idaho border. “Normally I try to get away from Nebraska after the season,” Cook said. “We built a place up here; I call it going to the mountain top. It gets dark early up here, so you get the chance to sleep more. It’s the one place I can go where you don’t think a lot about Nebraska volleyball.” A positive COVID-19 test just days after Nebraska’s championship match loss to Wisconsin in late December delayed Cook’s trek to the mountains. He spent 6 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
Story by Steve Beideck 10 extra days in Lincoln, which included a quarantine Christmas celebration with a couple of staff members and players still in town. That just made Cook appreciate even more the time he did get to spend in Wyoming taking late-night walks that included listening to coyote conversations. “My wife and I went for a walk, and it was pitch black,” Cook said. “The coyotes are running all over the place. They’re hunting, talking to each other. Just thinking about the next step of your hike, wondering where the wolves might be, if you see any moose, that takes your mind off everything else.” Now back in Lincoln, relaxed and refreshed, Cook is looking forward to another season of high expectations for the Huskers in 2022. All those notes he penciled into a notebook at 4 a.m. the past month, everything that needs to get done in 2022, are being reviewed in meetings.
Cook and his staff are starting 2022 with the end of the season in mind. The goal is a mid-December trip to Omaha for the final four at the CHI Health Center. “We know where we want to go,” Cook said. “Now we need to work on how we get there. We’ll start mapping out what we want to do, talk about recruiting, what we learned from the past season, where we go forward with leadership.” Nebraska is in a good place to get off to a fast start in 2022 because all but one starter – Lauren Stivrins – returns. “Replacing Lauren’s leadership is important, and it helps that most of the team that had a great run at the final four is back,” Cook said. “The key is where will the leadership come from? It will be fun to build on that.” Cook said the entire team is in Lincoln, even the three incoming freshmen – Waverly graduate Bekka Allick of Lincoln, Norris graduate Maisie Boesiger, and
Hayden Kubik of West Des Moines, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2022. Kubik is the younger sister of NU junior outside hitter Madi Kubik. Another first-year player scheduled to join the Huskers this summer is dual-sport star Maggie Mendelson of Fremont High School in North Ogden, Utah. Mendelson was ranked as the nation’s No. 2 recruit in the Class of 2023 before she reclassified and elected to graduate high school one year early. The 6-foot-5 Mendelson is the only recruit in the country who is a member of the U.S. youth national teams in both volleyball and basketball. She also will play basketball for the Huskers beginning with the 2022-23 season. Kayla Caffey and Nicklin Hames are two veterans who could step into a leadership role. Caffey is eligible for an additional season, which would be her seventh, as she was a redshirt in 2016, had a medical hardship season in 2018 and the 2020 COVID-19 season. Nebraska is working with the NCAA on a waiver that would grant Caffey that additional season. “Kayla is in school and starting on her second master’s degree,” Cook said. “She’ll be playing beach volleyball and hopefully we can get that waiver for next season. Until we see it in writing, it’s not guaranteed.” Hames will be back for her fifth season because of the extra year granted by the NCAA due to the pandemic. She was the starting setter for the Huskers the past four seasons but will take on a different role in ’22 as sophomore Kennedi Orr is expected to move into that position. In 2023 Hames is scheduled to begin her coaching career as a graduate assistant. Three sophomores-to-be who are returning starters – Ally Batenhorst, Lexi Rodriguez and Lindsay Krause – are back and looking for even more playing time. A fourth, former Waverly standout Whitney Lauenstein, appeared in 27 matches and started Nebraska’s Nov. 26 match at Wisconsin. Stivrins was a middle blocker, and two of the other players on the 2021 roster who played that position won’t be back in 2022. Callie Schwarzenbach is headed to Long Beach State as a graduate transfer. Cook said Elkhorn South graduate Rylee Gray left the team for medical reasons. Gray was granted a medical hardship and will continue to finish her degree at Nebraska.
GAELEN MORSE/HUSKERS ILLUSTRATED
The Nebraska bench celebrates a point in its own unique way during the fifth set against Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament's championship match.
GAELEN MORSE/HUSKERS ILLUSTRATED
Lexi Rodriguez celebrates after a point against Wisconsin.
ERICH SCHLEGEL/HUSKERS ILLUSTRATED
Nebraska head coach John Cook, left, and assistant Jaylen Reys yell encouragement to their players as they beat Texas in four sets. Nebraska advanced to the final four.
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One veteran who could see time at middle blocker is Superior graduate Kalynn Meyer. While she will continue to train with the volleyball team during the beach season, Meyer is also getting her first crack at track and field since arriving at Nebraska. Meyer was a three-time state champion in the shot put and discus at Superior who had her senior season canceled because of COVID-19. With a career best discus throw of close to 190 feet, Meyer is already an Olympic-caliber competitor. “We told her we would let her be a dual sport athlete,” Cook said. “The track season works well with our schedule. The new coaching staff has reignited her passion for being a track athlete. She’s going to come to a crossroads here. She has a shot to be an Olympian, so it will be interesting to see how this works out, how she does this spring and how she likes it.” Meyer is competing in the shot put during the indoor season and likely will continue with that event, along with the discus, during the outdoor season. Nebraska likely will be ranked in the top five to begin the 2022 season. While the transfer portal has made switching schools easier, Cook still expects most of the usual suspects to be contending for high seeds when the postseason begins. “The transfer portal is the wild card now,” Cook said. “You can upgrade very quickly using the transfer portal. Now you have to look at who is going to return the most people and who took advantage of the transfer portal to improve their team. “It’s the same cast of characters. Wisconsin returns a major part of its team but lost their setter and national player of the year but have talent to fill that. Ohio State and Minnesota are other teams in our conference that are right there that stand out to me on a national level. “Texas lost two players, so they’re just reloading. Florida has reloaded. Kentucky and Louisville return quite a bit. On the West Coast, USC has reloaded their team from the transfer portal, and UCLA, Stanford, Oregon, Washington, they’ll all be up there.” Cook also said that in-state foe Creighton should never be counted out. A visit to Omaha to play the Bluejays and a trip to Kentucky are a couple of the known nonconference road trips. Stanford and Pepperdine will be coming to Lincoln for matches, as will Mississippi. 8 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
REGGIE RYDER/HUSKERS ILLUSTRATED
Kayla Caffey has petitioned the NCAA for a wavier to allow her to come back and play one more season for the Huskers.
Former Nebraska All-American and assistant coach Kayla Banwarth is in her third season as the Rebels head coach. While Nebraska played Creighton in Omaha in 2021, Cook said having this season’s match at CHI Health Center is a good
move for both squads. “The reason for that is the final four is in Omaha,” Cook said. “It’s good to play them up there. Everybody will get a chance to play where the final four is going to be.”
GAELEN MORSE/HUSKERS ILLUSTRATED
Jaylen Reyes and the Husker bench watch the Louisville match from the sidelines.
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RECRUITING
DOUBLE DUTY
Nebraska Nabs High-Level Recruit in Volleyball and Basketball Story by Mike Malloy • Photos by the Deseret News
Nebraska recruit Maggie Mendelson fights for a rebound for Fremont High in Utah in the state’s 6A quarterfinals in 2020. Mendelson, in white, is equally adept at basketball and volleyball.
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here comes a time when a great multi-sport athlete has to make the difficult decision to specialize. It’s still not that time for Maggie Mendelson. Mendelson, a Fremont (Utah) High School junior from North Ogden, will enroll a year early at Nebraska and intends to play volleyball and basketball next season. Such double duty is rare, but so is an athlete like the 6-foot-5 Mendelson. 1 0 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
“Some people are like ‘you got this’ and some people are like ‘I don’t know how you’re going to do it. It’s so hard,’” Mendelson said. “I’ve got some really good supporters and some people to prove wrong.” *** Asking Mendelson which sports she prefers is like asking a parent the same of
their children. The love is equal though the sports are different. “(Volleyball) is more of a perfectionist’s game. You have to know what the other team is doing at all times; know what holes are open, what route you need to run,” Mendelson said. “In basketball you have to run your plays, but for the most part you’re doing what you’re doing and in volleyball you have to play off the other team more.” Her resume shows why picking one
would be so difficult. Last June, Mendelson earned a spot with USA Basketball’s U16 team after competing in a national tryout. The next month, she did the same for USA Volleyball’s U18 team. Each team limits its roster to 12. She played in international tournaments with both teams this fall. “Playing against all those amazing girls, and with the best in the U.S. Most kids won’t get that opportunity,” she said. “And they let me keep the jerseys; I got five.” Mendelson’s been playing beyond her years for quite some time. She joined an Under-17 volleyball club when she was 14, catching the attention of Eric Howard, director of Mendelson’s club volleyball team, the Utah Hive. “She looked as good as any kid in Utah,” Howard said. “Maggie is legit. There is more than a ‘wow’ factor when you watch her play. She just blows my mind with how well she moves with her size.” Lisa Dalebout, Mendelson’s high school basketball coach, had a similar first impression when Mendelson was a mere 6-1 fifth-grader. “She probably could have played on the sophomore team,” Dalebout said. “She wasn’t that gangly tall girl; her speed and athleticism was what made her special.” Back then, basketball was pretty easy – “I just had to keep the ball high,” Mendelson said – but along the way she’s developed an outside game. Mendelson loves the look on a defender’s face when she makes a 3-pointer. “It’s one of the best things,” Mendelson said. “They’ll think, ‘I can slink off; she’s not going to shoot it.’” *** As good as Mendelson is, the question persists: how can she manage six straight months of competition on top of schoolwork? Laura Buttermore is one of the few who knows what it takes. The then-Laura Pilakowski was the Nebraska Female Student-Athlete of the year in 2003 after excelling at both sports. That, however, was not the plan. Two days after Buttermore’s senior volleyball season ended, the two-time All-American’s phone rang. It was thenwomen’s basketball coach Connie Yori, whose team was short of players and short in stature.
Buttermore, an outside hitter on Nebraska’s 2000 national championship volleyball team, declined Yori’s initial invitation, but eventually agreed to pull on a pair of high-tops for the first time since graduating from Columbus High. “I was not in basketball shape; that’s for sure,” she said. Still, she was second on the team in rebounding and played in 18 games, starting three, in her only basketball season with the Huskers. Could she have imagined playing both sports four years in a row? “No,” she said. “It was harder mentally. Christmas break is amazing – just take some time for yourself. (Mendelson’s) not going to have that.” Buttermore, now a strength coach at the University of Nebraska Omaha, said training for both sports is similar, with important differences. “You still have to have first-step quickness in both sports, but it’s not the repetitive jumping in volleyball or the repetitive running in basketball,” Buttermore said. “The (weight) lifting program for volleyball and basketball are going to be pretty similar; you don’t want to get too sportsspecific in the weight room (to avoid) repetitive motion injuries.” The most valuable part of downtime is developing as a player. Buttermore said she made big strides as a player by going through a spring weight-training program between her freshman and sophomore seasons.
had 407 kills in 85 sets. Dalebout, Fremont’s girls basketball coach, said she’s never heard of a Utah high schooler reclassifying but she respects Mendelson’s decision. “I’d be a fool if I didn’t have some major sadness about her leaving, but I’ve always supported her,” Dalebout said. “We always knew it was a possibility; she was really open and honest about the process.” Mendelson hit the recruiting trail wanting to find a school that would let her pursue her two-fold dream. After a July visit to Lincoln, her mind was made up. “I think she’s good enough to start for both (teams),” volleyball coach John Cooke said at a press conference in November. And Mendelson will have more on her mind than sets and shots. The National Honor Society member carries a 4.0 gradepoint average and will major in environmental sciences. “I’ve always been passionate about helping the Earth. That’s a cheesy thing to say, but I’ve always wanted to help out; lessen my carbon footprint,” Mendelson said.
*** While Mendelson will have it both ways on the court, another decision forced her to choose. Mendelson led Fremont High to an undefeated state girls basketball championship last spring while averaging 15 points and nine rebounds. A few months later, she decided to reclassify and graduate a year earlier than planned. “It was thought through but it was a quick decision,” Mendelson said. “It was hard to leave all my friends. It sucks not being able to have my senior-year experience but I’m excited to see what I can do at Nebraska.” Fremont finished seventh last fall at the state volleyball tournament. In what was her final high school season, Mendelson
Mendelson looks to score during the Utah state tournament in 2021. The 6-foot-5 athlete will be playing basketball and volleyball starting this fall for Nebraska.
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TRACK AND FIELD
Philosophical Change
Husker Track & Field Focus Is on Winning Big While Going Small Story by Steve Beideck • Photos by NU Sports Information
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even coaching changes and a shift in postseason focus will bring a different look to the 2022 Nebraska track and field season. Gary Pepin is still the leader of both the men’s and women’s programs. The dean of Big Ten track and field coaches is in his 39th season at the helm of the men’s program and 42nd as leader of the women’s program after taking over for Carol Frost following the 1980 season. Pepin is one of the most successful college coaches in the history of the sport. His Husker teams won three women’s national championships in the 1980s and have a combined 74 conference championships between the Big
Eight, Big 12 and Big Ten conferences. But there hasn’t been much winning lately for the Huskers, and that doesn’t sit well with the man inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008. Three assistants were fired and another retired. Pepin said it’s never easy, but sometimes necessary, to make those changes. “All of them were really good people,” Pepin said. “Most of them were here a long time. Sometimes things get just a little bit stale, and there were some areas where we needed to do a little bit better. “It’s a tough situation because you
like those people and they’re working at what they do. If things aren’t improving, sometimes as a head coach you have to make a change.” Changes in the coaching staff and his approach to recruiting have reenergized Pepin, who continues to coach the long and triple jumps, since the indoor season began earlier this month. New throws coach Justin St. Clair coached Olympians at North Dakota State. Two coaches from Eastern Illinois – Brenton Emanuel (sprints, hurdles) and Nikki Larch-Miller (multi-events) – are now on staff. Former recruiting coordinator Matt Wackerly took over the cross country
Throws are in good hands with Taylor Latimer, Alex Talley, Maxwell Otterdahl and Marika Spencer. 1 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
Latimer already owns the school record in the weight throw.
program and distance running duties following the retirement of Dave Harris. Dusty Jonas is still coaching the high jump and helping with sprints and hurdles. “You can feel and see the difference in practice with all the groups,” Pepin said. “I can’t tell you quite why, but it’s so obvious that everybody has just stepped it up quite a bit and they’re having fun at the same time. A lot of the new personalities have blended well. Not only the athletes and the coaches, but also the staff. “Everybody is working hard and having a lot of fun together. Maybe some of it is a younger staff. Everything here is new and exciting. There’s a lot of potential in some of these new people we’ve brought in who we believe will achieve at a higher level.” With the international approach to recruiting still in place and some of the new coaches never having been at a Power Five conference school, selling athletes on Nebraska is exciting again. Pepin said this and future Husker rosters, both for the men and women, will be smaller because the focus is turning to getting more elite athletes into the program who can score points at the national championship meets. “Our philosophy has changed,” Pepin said. “Maybe until a couple of years ago we tried to have a complete team. We were very competitive in dual meets, and we’ve always had one of the best
Talley has two wins this season in the weight throw.
teams in the national dual meet rankings. There’s an enormous difference trying to win a conference meet as opposed to scoring high at nationals. “If you’re winning that meet, you’ll have a chance to score some points. But there have been programs like Texas-El Paso that have won national championships, but they couldn’t win their conference.” Pursuit of conference championships in the Big Ten era is different than the Big Eight and Big 12 days. Especially with indoor meets, there’s rarely a chance for the Huskers to see their conference rivals before the Big Ten meet at the end of February. There were plenty of chances for the Huskers to size up their Big Eight and Big 12 foes because they would come to meets in Lincoln because the Devaney Center has one of the nation’s best hydraulic-banked tracks. The Big Ten also has become much more competitive than when the Huskers first joined for the 2012 indoor and outdoor seasons. Yet there’s still plenty of competition in the Midwest where Pepin said the Huskers don’t have to travel to Michigan or Penn State. “It wasn’t as tough as it is right now,” Pepin said. “The conference is so much better. There are new coaches, schools have new facilities, so they don’t have to travel as much to find good competition.”
Pepin said the ideal roster sizes at this point are roughly 50 men and 60 women. Smaller numbers mean more time for coaches to spend with athletes individually. “We want people out there by the end of their freshman year who can make it to the conference meet,” Pepin said. “It will give all our coaches more time with the higher-level athletes. We’re putting more emphasis now on nationals. It takes time to get them up there. “When we’re looking for kids at that level, they have to be good enough to get into the meet. Getting people in who are immediately at the top of the conference means having more people scoring at the national meet.” The build up of national-level talent already is underway with Nebraska’s throwers and jumpers. “In the field events, we’re pretty doggone good,” Pepin said. “On the men’s side in the field events we don’t have many holes. The women’s side it’s pretty much the same except for maybe the pole vault. We’re working to get more high-level people on the track.” Alex Talley and Maxwell Otterdahl already have cracked the Huskers’ alltime charts in the weight throw and shot put since transferring from North Dakota State. Kansas State transfer Taylor Latimer set a school record in the weight throw in her first meet as a Husker Jan. 15 at the Graduate Classic. J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | 1 3
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Eduardo Andre throws down a dunk against Indiana in Lincoln. The Huskers lost 78-71 to the Hoosiers.
Home Stretch Struggles Looking Forward Is Best for Husker Hoops Fans
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Opinion • By Jacob Bigelow • Photos by Reggie Ryder
s we reach the home stretch of another Husker basketball season, it’s safe to say that any lofty expectations fans may have had for Fred Hoiberg’s team this winter have long since crashed to the ground. As I write this, Nebraska has played 19 games, winning only six. The Huskers are 0-8 in Big Ten play and have not beaten a 1 4 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
single power conference opponent. Needless to say, that’s not the type of resume that will earn a bid to any post-season tournament. For hardcore Husker hoops fans, the page begins to turn to 2022-23. For next season to be a bit brighter, it’s necessary to first look at what ailed the Huskers this season. This season’s biggest problem is
the way the roster is constructed. Hoiberg and lead recruiter and assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih made a point to bring in an arsenal of 3-point shooters who fit Hoiberg’s offensive philosophy. And that makes sense, but it’s hard to find truly great shooters in the transfer portal or junior college ranks. Frankly, it’s hard to find them anywhere.
Alonzo Verge looks to the hoop.
The Huskers gave it a shot, bringing in Xavier transfer CJ Wilcher and junior college transfer Keisei Tominaga. Both are in Nebraska uniforms for one reason: to shoot. Yet the best way to describe the Huskers’ shooting on the year is consistently inconsistent, which, to be fair, wasn’t all Wilcher’s or Tominaga’s fault. Nebraska ranks in the bottom tier of teams in the country in 3-point shooting percentage. Even with some recent improvement, NU still sits at No. 311 out of 357 teams in Division I basketball. On the bright side, since conference play, Tominaga’s 3-point percentage was 42% in January and has climbed to 35% on the season, while Wilcher is shooting 47% from long distance in January and has climbed to 37% for the year. Still, consistency from beyond the arc was expected to be a pillar of Hoiberg’s offense, and overall it has not been nearly good enough. The lack of a true point guard also has been a detriment. Arizona State transfer Alonzo Verge joined the Huskers in July following Delano Banton’s decision to remain in the NBA Draft. Verge primarily played off the ball at ASU and did it well enough to be the Pac12’s Sixth Man of the Year. He was handed the keys to Nebraska’s offense on somewhat short notice, and has been a target of plenty of vitriol from fans and critics alike even while appearing sometimes to be the only Husker who can create his own shot while the shot clock ticks down. Is Verge playing out of position? Yes. In three years under Hoiberg, the Huskers
have had maybe one true point guard at that spot, and it remains a position of need going into next season. And what about a post presence? Wilhelm Briedenbach, at 6-foot-10, was a touted recruit coming into the season, but was injured. Derrick Walker has maximized his season, but at 6-8 or 6-9, he’s better cast as a Big Ten four-man. Walker did not have that luxury. It’s hard, but if you dig deep, things may not seem so glum come this time next season. Start with the addition of junior college big man Blaise Keita. At 6-11 and about 235 pounds, Keita’s frame better fits the image of the prototypical Big Ten big men you currently see at Illinois and Purdue. Along with the other three members of the 2022 recruiting class in 6-5 forward Denim Dawson (already on campus), 6-6 forward Ramel Lloyd and 6-3 guard Jamarques Lawrence, there are some pieces on the way. Now use some imagination and weigh this what-if scenario: What if the McGowens brothers return? Trey, still with a year of eligibility left, broke a foot early in the season but is now back and playing alongside younger brother Bryce, the highest rated recruit in program history, as you probably have heard. Trey missed 15 games, and while it appears Bryce is turning a corner and coming into his own, part of me has to wonder if the brothers would consider running it back next season in Lincoln. Following Nebraska’s home loss to Indi-
ana, Trey talked about some of the goals he has for himself. One was winning conference Defensive Player of the Year. Others were team-first goals like winning the Big Ten Tournament and going to the NCAA tournament to get Nebraska that elusive first win. Might those goals give Trey motivation to come back next year? Bryce started the season as a projected late lottery pick, but has slipped down mock drafts a bit as the season has gone on. Could Hoiberg and Co. sell him on another year of development to solidify his pro prospects? If this ship is ever going to be righted, some roster continuity would go a long way toward building a foundation for what he envisions his program becoming. Besides, Husker basketball is way past due on receiving some kind of break. Perhaps it comes in the further development of young big man Eduardo Andre, who looked more and more promising as the season progressed. (Keita, Briedenbach and Andre, all 6-10 or taller, sounds like a decent Big Ten recipe to me.) And maybe that means opponents will have to worry more about the middle, which leaves space for Wilcher and Tominaga to do their work from 3-range. And what about Lat Mayen, who could finally find a comfort zone? And the return of the McGowens brothers? C’mon, one can hope. If you squint a little bit, you can see a path for Hoiberg’s crew to get his program headed in the right direction. March doldrums in Nebraska can’t last forever, right? Wait. Don’t answer that.
With the loss to Indiana on Jan. 17, coach Fred Hoiberg's team is yet to win a conference game. The Huskers are 0-8 in the Big Ten and 6-13 overall.
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | 1 5
BASEBALL
Bolt Has a Loaded Deck Depth and Starting Pitching Are on Huskers' Side Story by Steve Beideck • Photos by Amarillo Mullen
Nebraska baseball players Colby Gomes, Corbin Hawkins and Emmett Olson watch from the dugout during a fall scrimmage.
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n experienced pitching staff and no 2022 recruits electing to turn pro are two big reasons for optimism about the upcoming Nebraska baseball season. There are plenty of other signs that point to a successful campaign, but third-year Huskers coach Will Bolt said those two elements don’t occur as often as coaches would like. “This is my first year since being here that we have a strong number of third- and fourth-year pitchers, guys who have been in the fire and have quite a bit of experience,” Bolt said. “With a bit of a shift in the roster 1 6 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
dynamic, that’s a nice advantage to have.” Nebraska has a large group of first-year players, including three in the signing class unveiled in November who are ranked among the nation’s top 200 recruits. With the bumper crop of newcomers vying for playing time, an experienced pitching staff will give potential new starters a chance to settle in as the season progresses for the Huskers, ranked as high as No. 22 in the preseason. Among experienced hurlers vying for extended playing time are juniors Braxton Bragg (Liberty. Missouri), Texas A&M transfer Mason Ornelas and Colby Gomes
out of Millard West. Others include seniors Koty Frank (Tushka, Oklahoma), Shay Schanaman of Grand Island and Kyle Perry of Millard South, who returns after missing the 2021 season for Tommy John surgery. The Huskers lost all four captains from the 2021 team that played in an NCAA Regional championship game for the first time since 2007 and won the Big Ten championship by 3.5 games. “Getting all of our signees to campus helped to build some of the general excitement for this season,” Bolt said. “Any good team I’ve been a part of has that healthy competition. There will be a lot of competi-
Left-hander Kyle Perry returns after Tommy John surgery.
tion with a lot of talented freshmen.” The 2021 recruiting class, a larger-thannormal group for the Huskers, was ranked No. 20 by Perfect Game and No. 36 by Collegiate Baseball. While Bolt and his staff don’t put a lot of stock in those ratings, he said the plan was for a big class for the 2022 campaign. “This class was larger by design,” Bolt said of the 10 signees. “It’s larger than you’re going to see us typically take. There was some initial roster turnover then departures when we got here. Sometimes you get more credit in the ratings with the size of your class. “What it means to us is my assistant coaches have done a good job evaluating strong talent, telling kids what the Univer-
Husker baseball right-hander Koty Frank.
Right-hander Braxton Bragg is part of a deep staff.
sity of Nebraska experience has to offer. It also shows sustainable success in your program.” Bolt could already see the blending of veterans and first-year players taking shape during the fall season. He expects the “never-be-satisfied” mentality that took hold during the first semester to continue driving the team, beginning with a fourgame series in Huntsville, Texas, Feb. 1820 at Sam Houston State. Only two starters from the ’21 squad that finished the season 34-14 appear to be entrenched at their positions. Third baseman Max Anderson hit .332 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs. The Millard West graduate also was named a freshman All-American and Big
Ten Freshman of the Year. “Having a full calendar year under his belt playing a position he’s never played before is big,” Bolt said. “He’s a nice anchor to have on that corner.” Bolt said senior catcher Griffin Everitt has emerged as a vocal leader. He’s also happy with the depth that’s being built behind the Lincoln Southwest and Kansas City Kansas Community College graduate. Sophomore Jack Steil from Cold Spring, Minnesota, is back at first base while another second-year player, Brice Matthews, could be moved this season to play shortstop. Matthews, from Humble, Texas, was selected to the Big Ten AllFreshman team and also was named to the NCAA All-Fayetteville Region team.
Max Anderson looks to hold down his spot at third base.
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FOOTBALL
Mickey Joesph was the Gatorade National Player of the Year and a first-team Parade All-American coming out of high school in Louisiana.
Big Red in the Bayou
Huskers Established Louisiana Recruiting Pipeline in the 1980s
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Story by Shane G. Gilster • Photos by NU Sports Information & Huskers Illustrated Archives
here was a time when the fertile recruiting ground of Louisiana was still partially untapped, when many of the state’s talented players were not only ignored by Southeastern Conference schools, but by the state’s flagship university, LSU. For a college coach and film-studier like Tom Osborne, it wasn’t difficult to see the number of potentially good players from Louisiana who weren’t getting a chance to play in a major conference. Osborne also saw how Oklahoma was able to convince good players to leave Louisiana and move north, albeit not as far north as Nebraska. The difficulty seemed to be convincing the young men to give another part of the country a chance. To do that job, Osborne turned to assistant coach Jack Pierce, a former high school coach at Anniston, Alabama, who knew the South better than others on NU’s staff. Osborne made the state a priority, assigning defensive ends coach Tony Samuel to the Bayou beat as well. The challenge as they saw it: Highlight 1 8 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
the positives of a comparatively cold yet football-loving university and state, and convince young athletes to leave the warmth and Southern culture, which was all most had ever known. “We looked at the kind of high school kids who were playing down there and looked at the LSU team and thought they were not doing a good job recruiting their home state,” Pierce said. “So Tony had the north half of the state and hit the Gramblings and Shreveports and that area, and I did the southern half of the state. We hit all the major high schools, from Lafayette to New Orleans, up the whole coastline. We covered it pretty darn well.” As fate would have it, Nebraska already had a connection in the New Orleans area, which became Pierce’s main recruiting focus. Burton Burns, who played at Nebraska, was the football coach at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. Burns helped Pierce and Samuel by letting them in his film room to watch players from around the state. It also didn’t hurt that the Cornhuskers played LSU in the Sugar Bowl in 1985 and
again in 1987, right in the heart of New Orleans. NU would hammer the Tigers both times, raising the Huskers’ profile locally. “Playing in the Sugar Bowl in ’85 and ’87 brought a lot of attention to our program,” Pierce said. “I loved going to the Sugar Bowl because it affected my recruiting area in Louisiana. That was when we really started making inroads with those Louisiana kids. For me, it was like someone gave me a bonus to go to the Super Bowl, because it really paid off in helping me recruit these kids to play for Nebraska.” Pierce’s recruiting philosophy involved being around the high schools as much as possible and repeatedly telling prospects how much they were wanted at Nebraska. He would frequently stop by and talk to the coaches and remind them what Nebraska’s plans were for their kids. Pierce then would tell kids that he wouldn’t be there recruiting them if he didn’t think they could be a first- or second-year starter. “I would drill into the kids’ minds about their ability to play and how they would fit
into what we were trying to do,” Pierce said. “Tom would talk about how we would treat them like our sons, make sure they go to classes and graduate. That type of recruiting combination with the parents really resonated.” Pierce was always on the lookout for that special player who might open once and for all the recruiting pipeline to Nebraska. He found him, but in a roundabout way. Pierce was looking at a quarterback in New Orleans when a high school coach named LaBaron Kennedy at McDonough 35 told him about a player on his team who was tall and scrawny but could run like the wind. As Pierce watched the kid’s film, he quickly recognized what Kennedy was talking about. “All you had to do was watch one reel of film on him,” Pierce said. “He was only 6-foot-5, 208 pounds, but he never quit. He would run across the field making hits and tackling people into the band. He had a wingspan of a small condor and looked like a giant on the field.” That giant was future All-American and NFL Pro Bowler Neil Smith. When Pierce got the OK from Osborne to recruit him, Smith couldn’t believe he might have the opportunity to play for a powerhouse like Nebraska. To that point, the only schools recruiting him were Grambling and Southern. “Jack saw me and saw the motor and energy I had,” Smith said. “Football wasn’t something that I really tried hard at. It was something I just did because my high school team needed some bodies. Nebraska saw something in me and made a decision that I was a guy they wanted.” Even though NU was recruiting him hard, Smith still wasn’t guaranteed a spot because the Huskers were down to their last scholarship for the 1984 recruiting class. “They were waiting on an offensive lineman. If he committed then I wouldn’t get it, but it just so happened that an offensive lineman went to Oklahoma and I got the last scholarship. So, they called me the sleeper of the class,” Smith said, laughing. Smith was thankful Nebraska took a chance on him, and NU got a player who might be the biggest recruiting steal in program history. “It was a turning point in my life,” Smith said. “Back then, my family didn’t have the money to send me to a major school. I grew up in the projects in poverty, and I always said to myself that if I was going to make something of myself, I had to go out of state,
Jack Pierce with Tyrone Hughes. Hughes was a fifth-round pick in the 1993 NFL Draft.
and this was the perfect opportunity to go to Nebraska. Sometimes in life you get put in a position for a reason. By the blessings of God, Jack Pierce saw something in me on film.” Thanks to Nebraska’s weight and conditioning program, Smith increased his weight to 260 pounds and would go on to become one of the Huskers’ all-time best on the defensive line. He was the second overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft, and went on to play 13 seasons in the league, making the Pro Bowl six times and earning two Super Bowl rings. “The weight, diet and conditioning program at Nebraska made me into the player I became,” Smith said. “Going to school there, attending one of the greatest universities in the world, also made me a better person and a better professional player. Lincoln was a big part of my success, and I met some of my best friends there.” “Another good thing about my story,” Smith said, “was that I had the opportunity to open the recruiting window to the state of Louisiana for Nebraska.” Smith’s success at Nebraska gave Pierce even more clout around Louisiana, but he knew that he still needed to learn the local
culture and football language to really connect with the kids and their coaches. “We went to coaching clinics in Louisiana, and even when we were not speaking, we came and sat in on them. I spent many a time talking to coaches late at night learning their terminology. We got to know a lot of the coaches and the great part about it was, once they got to know you down there, you are friends forever.” It wasn’t long before the Louisiana players who followed Smith to Nebraska weren’t diamonds in the rough, but state players of the year. “Neil was the first kid that got the ball rolling with getting kids from Louisiana,” Pierce said. “So then it opened the door to the more highly profiled players like LeRoy Etienne from New Iberia, Reggie Cooper from Slidell, Mickey Joseph from Shaw in Marrero and Tyrone Hughes from St. Augustine in New Orleans.” Etienne was the state’s two-time defensive player of the year in 1984 and 1985. Joseph and Cooper were the 1986 offensive and defensive players of the year. Hughes was the 1987 offensive player of the year. All credit Pierce as among the main reasons they wanted to go to Nebraska. J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | 1 9
LeRoy Etienne was a two-time All-Big Eight player.
“Jack was the man,” Joseph said. “He would go into the projects and get the players. Jack came in and laid it all on the line. He was honest and real; nothing fake about him. He treated us like family and that was all we needed.” Joseph not only was the state offensive MVP but a USA Today and Parade AllAmerican. He was rated as the top high school quarterback recruit in the nation and No. 4 player overall by the National High School Football Recruiting Service before signing day in 1987. “It came down to Nebraska and Oklahoma,” Joseph said. “I orally committed to OU and then committed to Nebraska. I thought the wishbone at OU was more of an offense that I would be pretty good in as opposed to Nebraska’s offense, which ran the option out of the I formation. But my mom fell in love with Coach Osborne and felt he was the right person to groom me.” Cooper knew Joseph well and decided to join him at Nebraska. For him, it was either stay in-state or go to Nebraska. Cooper was also recruited hard by Oklahoma and SEC schools, but after going to the 1987 Sugar Bowl to watch Nebraska hammer LSU, he was sold on the Huskers. “I went inside the Nebraska locker room to meet the players like Neil Smith, and I just felt comfortable. I wanted to get away from home for college, and Mickey and I talked about going to Nebraska together,” Cooper said. Pierce did his job selling Nebraska to Cooper’s parents. “Jack made everyone in my house feel comfortable about me going 2 0 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
to Nebraska,” Cooper said. “They just had me look at the depth chart and told me how I was going to get a shot to play. Jack was just real. What I mean by that was there were a lot of recruiters you could tell were full of it, but Jack was fun-loving, outgoing, personable and trustworthy.” Pierce remembers well the recruitment of Cooper and laughed as he recounted a story when he signed the highly recruited athlete in Slidell. “The LSU coaches claimed I recruited Reggie illegally, but I didn’t,” he said. “I had run out of visits at his high school. This was back in the day when you could sign the kid at his high school. So I had Reggie come out to me and he signed his letter of intent on the hood of a Cadillac, and that photo ran in the New Orleans’ Times-Picayune sports section with the headline: ‘Cooper to Nebraska?’ The Cadillac was my rental car, but they were questioning whose car it was.” Hughes’ father was a car salesman and got a lot of pressure from his co-workers for his son to go to LSU. The dealership even put up a sign that said, “Hodson to Hughes.” Tommy Hodson was the quarterback for LSU at the time. “Jack Pierce was the main reason why Nebraska got me to come there,” Hughes said. “I was sold on Nebraska the day I met Jack. He sold the school by being honest with you. He looked you in the eye and you just knew what kind of man he was. My mom liked Nebraska because of Jack, but my dad wanted me to go to LSU.” Hughes’ teammates at St. Augustine, linebacker David White and wingback Vincent Hawkins, also liked Nebraska and all three played at Nebraska together. White and Hawkins also had high praise for Pierce. “If it wasn’t for Jack, I wouldn’t have even considered Nebraska,” said White, who wanted to go to college out of state and had Notre Dame and Oklahoma on his final list. “Once I visited Lincoln, it helped a lot that Reggie and Mickey were my recruiting hosts. I thought, ‘If they could adjust up there, I could do it too.’” Said Hawkins: “Jack could relate to a rock. He was ‘Mr. Personality.’ He interacted well with my high school coach (Burton Burns) and they were good friends. Nebraska was a successful program with good, humble coaches. There wasn’t a sense they were doing things inappropriately and that I could cut corners by going to college there.” It seemed Pierce had the magic touch. But he narrowly missed on two prized recruits.
Kordell Stewart was a star quarterback at John Ehret High School in Marrero and the state MVP. Pierce thought he had him until Colorado came in with a newly hired offensive coordinator and eventually won Stewart over. Then there was Marshall Faulk who attended George Washington Carver in New Orleans. Pierce got Faulk to visit Lincoln but before he arrived on campus, Pierce told the other NU coaches to not mention Faulk as a possible defensive back recruit. “As we were all walking up the stairs in South Stadium, the first thing our defensive back coach (George Darlington) told him was that he would look good back-pedaling as a defensive back,” Pierce remembered. “The kid’s face just dropped and it hit the stairs. He then got it in his mind that we didn’t want him as a running back and we had trouble convincing him otherwise. He went on to play running back at San Diego State.” But the kids Pierce and Nebraska got were the right fit for the Husker program. Smith, Etienne and Cooper were firstteam All-Big Eight selections. Hughes led the Big Eight in kickoff returns in each of his last three years, finishing as NU’s recordholder in kickoff returns and second all-time in career punt returns. Joseph quarterbacked NU up to a No. 3 ranking during the 1990 season, and White and Hawkins were key contributors on the Husker Big Eight championship teams in 1991 and 1992. “They believed in work and they were honest kids,” Pierce said. “They were about family, they worked hard, and if they said something to you, it was going to be done.”
Neil Smith was drafted second overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1988.
FOOTBALL
Ted’s Takes
Ted Kirk is a Lincoln-based photographer who has been a photojournalist since 1970. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota, native covered Nebraska athletics from 1973 through 2018. During that span he covered thousands of Nebraska athletic competitions around the United States. His work is being donated to the University of Nebraska Library Photo Archive.
Nebraska’s Brad Jenkins celebrates as fellow Husker Monty Anthony scores in the fourth quarter against Florida in the Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31, 1974. Nebraska defeated the Gators 13-10.
Nebraska and Oklahoma captains gather at the 50yard line to shake hands before kickoff at Memorial Stadium on Nov. 11, 1978.
Nebraska coach Tom Osborne fires up his defense during the Cornhusker’s rematch with Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1979. The Huskers had defeated the Sooners a month and a half earlier in Lincoln. J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | 2 1
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL RECRUITING
"I like to pressure the heck out of everyone and want my on-ball defense to consistently keep getting better," said NU recruit Callin Hake.
The Right Combination
Callin Hake’s Playing Style Fits the Husker Mold
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he Nebraska women’s basketball team likes to use interchangeable parts to play fast on offense and pressure the ball on defense, and it’s effectively recruiting players who fit the machine. The latest player to be tabbed by the Huskers to fit the system is 5-foot-8 guard Callin Hake. “She is going to be a versatile guard who can bring a lot of things to our team on the basketball court,” said NU coach Amy Wil2 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
Story by Shane G. Gilster • Courtesy photos liams. “I love that she is committed to playing hard on both ends of the court. Not only is Callin the perfect fit for us on the court, but she fits our family. She is not afraid to work and understands how to be a great teammate.” Hake is currently a senior at Chanhassen, a 4A high school – the state’s largest for basketball – in suburban Minneapolis. After committing to NU in July of 2020, Hake signed her National Letter of Intent with the
Huskers on Nov. 10. She’s set to join NU for the 2022-23 season. “Nebraska really fits my style of play,” Hake said. “They are penetrating and then kicking it out and getting after it on defense, turning it into easy buckets. I like to pressure the heck out of everyone and want my onball defense to consistently keep getting better. I will talk it up on defense believing in chaos and noise as the best way to throw off your opponent.”
Among the first things Williams said to Hake was that she liked her heart and passion. “That just spoke to me because it’s true,” Hake said. “That can carry you a long way because you can’t teach those things.” Hake brings impressive credentials as the No. 7 player in Minnesota and the No. 64 player in the nation by Prep Girls Hoops. Hake is already Chanhassen’s career scoring leader, having played on the varsity level as an eighth-grader, and is poised to hit 2,000 career points. She averaged more than 20 points a game as a freshman, sophomore and junior. Hake also played for the Minnesota Fury, a highly competitive AAU program. Hake’s high school coach calls her “the best player by far that we have had in our program.” “She is the hardest worker that I have ever seen in high school or college in my coaching and playing career,” said Chanhassen coach Kayla Walsh, who played one college season at Iowa. “She has always been our go-to guard and can really do it all at either point or on the wing. She is the first one in the gym and last one to leave. She is always in the weight room and does personal film sessions with me. The sky is the limit for her.” Hake uses strength and tenacity to be a factor on both ends. Walsh described her as a lockdown defender with a great ability to drive and finish. But that’s not all. Walsh said Hake can hit from mid-range and from 3-point range. Plus, her basketball IQ is topnotch. “She is a natural leader, being a two-year captain for us,” Walsh continued. “She is a natural coach and could run practices for us if she had to. She is always calm, cool and collected. You are never going to see her eyerolling or getting upset.” Walsh believes Hake’s speed and quickness is Big Ten caliber and that her work ethic will have her in position to play early. “Nebraska is big on family and Hake has that whole mindset,” Walsh said. “They are a close-knit team with coaches that are supportive.” Nebraska has had success recruiting Minnesota. Sam Haiby, Annika Stewart and Kendall Coley all have turned out to be good Husker fits after moving south. In particular, the versatile Haiby is a prime example upon whom NU would like Hake to model her game. “We are fortunate right now where we have a lot of kids who are capable of playing that point-guard position,” Williams said.
Hake started playing high school basketball as an eighth-grader.
“But in certain situations and circumstances like set plays, we have some kids who can run the point position. Sam has the ability to go back and forth for us so we can have multiple point guards on the court at the same time.” Hake’s background and upbringing has enabled her to be a flexible player with an allaround skill-set. Hake’s parents both went to Wartburg College in Iowa, where her mom was a track-andfield athlete and her dad played football. Her parents had her play almost every sport available at the youth level, and her dad coached her in basketball since the second grade. But Hake credits soccer as the sport that improved her game most. In fact, she liked soccer more than basketball until seventh
grade when that feeling switched. “I fell in love with the physicality and speed of the game of basketball,” she said. “Soccer made me a better basketball player because of the technicality, focus and IQ you need with soccer. The foot skills in soccer increased my footwork on the basketball court.” On the academic side, Hake plans to major in marketing with a minor in biology. Her plan is to someday go into medical sales. “The university provides endless opportunities that other schools in the Midwest do not have,” Hake said. “Nebraska checked all my boxes for me and my family. The coaching staff and the team’s character are unbelievable. You can just tell the girls on the team are best friends on and off the court.” J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | 2 3
VOLLEYBALL RECRUITING
Bekka Allick of Waverly ranked among the top 10 high school players in the nation and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Nebraska.
Finally in Husker Red
Allick’s Mentality Gives Huskers a Future Star
T
he Nebraska volleyball program is a factory, annually taking in some of the finest recruits in the nation and churning out wins and All-Americans. Bekka Allick of Waverly is now on the front-end of the assembly line, signing with the Huskers this past November. Allick, slated to be a middle blocker at NU, is part of a three-player recruiting class ranked No. 2 by PrepVolleyball.com. Allick is joined by setter/defensive specialist Maisie Boesiger (Firth, Neb.) and outside hitter Hayden Kubik (West Des Moines, Iowa). “Our Class of 2022 will all enroll early, and they are a very tight-knit group,” NU coach John Cook said. “They are great competitors and teammates, and all three will 2 4 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
Story by Shane G. Gilster • Courtesy photos have a chance to play as freshmen next year. We are super excited to add them to the Nebraska volleyball program.” The 6-foot-3 Allick ranks as the No. 6 player nationally. She attended Lincoln North Star as a freshman and sophomore and spent her final two prep years at Waverly High, where she owns the school record of 37 kills in a single match. Allick was also a member of the U.S. U18 National Team and competed at the FIVB U18 World Championships where the Americans finished third. In the bronze-medal match, Allick finished with a match-high 13 kills and three blocks against Serbia. She also played club for the VCNebraska program. Her 18 Elite team won a national championship, and she was named to the
event’s all-tournament team. “Finally, Bekka is going to be a Husker,” Cook said on signing day. “It seems like she has been committed forever. Being at the top of her position and one of the top recruits overall in this class, Bekka provides us some much-needed depth at the middle blocker position, and we expect her to make a big impact on our team from the day she steps on campus.” It has been a long road for Allick to get where she is today. Her family moved from Essex, Iowa, and got her into the club volleyball scene with VCNebraska. VCN’s director, Maggie Griffin, played on the Husker 2006 national championship team. “Bekka started playing for us around 11 years old,” Griffin said. “It was the first ex-
perience for her in organized volleyball. She was pretty tall and gangly. But you could tell she was different, she was focused and wanted to be good. She was a perfectionist with a unique mindset. One of those kids that don’t come around very often.” Allick needed to be challenged, so at VCN she always played up a few age groups. She also experimented with every position. When she was 14, she started drawing interest from Nebraska and others. “I received my first letter from a school in the state of Washington and my heart just exploded,” Allick remembers. “I framed the letter and showed everyone. It made me realize that people saw me seriously. But I knew I had to keep working because there were girls my age that were doing some things that I still wasn’t able to do.” Allick was technically offered by Nebraska in eighth grade. She credits VCN, which helped her in the recruiting process, for shielding her from all the college attention at that stage. It wasn’t determined which position Allick fit the best until she was 16. That’s when Griffin saw that middle blocker was going to be her position in college. They then concentrated on improving position-specific skills. “If it wasn’t for VCN, I don’t think I would be going to Nebraska because the way they run things is so similar to NU,” Allick said. “VCN was into servant leadership, doing the small things, like there is never a job that you are too big to do, like shagging balls and a policy of always being within 10 steps of each other. I have never seen a club install mature habits in its athletes. Teaching you how to be strong, respectful women, as well as athletes.” Those principles helped Allick make it through a tough junior year when she broke her leg and missed half the season. “We were playing Wahoo, she went up and when she came down, she just crumpled to the floor,” said Waverly coach Terri Neujahr. “She didn’t get back to playing until the next March for VCN. It was a six-month rehab process. ... She had to do a lot of soul searching and had to pull herself out of the abyss of mental struggles.” For every athlete, Neujahr said, the hardest part of recovery is the mental aspect. “She was trying to get on Team USA, to play at Nebraska, all these elite things, and really did a fantastic job overcoming and getting back to the level she was playing at.” Allick credits her mother, Colleen, for helping her face hardships and challenges.
Allick (middle) was a member of the U.S. U18 National Team that won a bronze medal.
Colleen’s message to her daughter has always been to “Woman Up.” “She just wanted to get me ready for the real world,” Allick said of her mother. “She is an independent woman, a single mom. One of her pillars of parenting is, ‘You always finish what you start.’ So, if I started a basketball season and hated it within the first month, she told me to stick it out, be respectful, finish it, and then don’t go out next year if you don’t want to.” Her mental game makes Allick unique. She considers herself a “try-hard” and feeds off high-intensity situations and competition. “My favorite plays are when everyone is scrambling and taking their biggest swings and chasing balls down,” she said. “It’s like a dog fight, and I like being a dog and getting after it.” Playing for an elite volleyball program like Nebraska is going to be an adjustment, she said, and there is a lot to learn. “It doesn’t matter how good you are, if you can’t find your role on the team, it’s never going to work,” she said. “I am all for a challenge, if you’re not being challenged, you are not growing. If you are sitting com-
fortable at one point, you are going to get worse. I don’t think Cook would have asked me to be on the team if he didn’t think I could compete with the girls. If I am able to beat them out, that just shows that I am progressing at my game.” Neujahr has high expectations for her former player. She knows what it takes to play at Nebraska having coached under Terry Pettit at NU for two years along with Cook, then a fellow assistant. “I have the expectation that at some point Bekka will start at Nebraska,” she said. “A small part of me can even see her starting at middle blocker next year. The jump from a high-level high school to college at Nebraska though is immense. But Bekka has that mindset to do it. She could someday become a first-team All-American and then have a shot of being on the Olympic team.” If all those possibilities come to fruition, Allick knows who ultimately receives the credit. “I get my talent from God,” she said. “God put this dream in my heart and I have been chasing it ever since.” J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | 2 5
SOFTBALL
Revelle Looking Forward to a Full Season Story by Shawn Ekwall • Photos by NU Sports Information
Infielder Billie Andrews was first-team All-Big Ten and a member of the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in 2021.
R
honda Revelle has seen a lot in her 29 years as head softball coach at Nebraska. But the past two spring seasons may have topped it all. With the pandemic putting an abrupt end to the 2020 season just 23 games in, and the Big Ten playing a conference-only schedule in 2021, Revelle, entering her 30th season, is, to put it mildly, ready for the return to a full schedule in 2022. “We have our fingers crossed we get to do that,” Revelle said. “It’s on the docket and on the agenda, and we’re definitely excited to play a schedule this year beyond our conference schedule.” Though grateful to be playing last spring, Revelle said the conference-only format allotted by the Big Ten wasn’t helpful for strengthening the team’s RPI. 2 6 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
“Only playing each other was challenging in the RPI,” Revelle said. “This year we’re looking forward to go out and represent Nebraska and the Big Ten in the nonconference.” The Huskers will open play Feb. 11 against Omaha in the UNI Dome Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Nebraska will rely on a pair of veterans to anchor the pitching circle. Senior Olivia Ferrell returns for her final season. The Elkhorn South grad started 21 games a year ago, while allowing opponents to hit just .258, while recording a team-leading 100 strikeouts. Ferrell will share duties with fellow senior Courtney Wallace. The PapillionLa Vista product led the team in wins (11) and innings pitched (132) while recording a
team-leading ERA of 2.86. Revelle also mentioned the emergence of sophomore Kaylin Kinney (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), who tossed 36.2 innings a year ago, as another weapon available in the circle. “We really have a veteran staff,” Revelle said. “They’ve really done some intentional work this offseason and are motivated to get us back to the NCAAs. They each know their role in the circle is a big key to that happening.” Revelle also welcomes back a stable of returners in the infield. Billie Andrews and Cam Ybarra provide stability and leadership up the middle. Andrews, a sophomore from Gretna and one of only two freshmen to make the AllBig Ten First Team, and Ybarra, a senior from Mission Viejo, California, started all
44 games at shortstop and second base, respectively. A year of communication and working together will pay dividends this year, according to Revelle. “I’m excited about our defense,” Revelle said. “Between Billie and Cam working together for a year … that really anchors our defense. And Brooke (Andrews, of Gretna) and Syd (Gray) will be a good race at third. Those two both were hitting well and when you do that you make a case to be in the lineup.” Gray, a sophomore from Tucson, Arizona, suffered a season-ending injury in
the series finale against Penn State a year ago. That allowed Andrews to move in at third base, getting the start in NU’s final 28 games. Revelle is also high on Oregon transfer Mya Felder (Fresno, California). The junior will look to provide some added pop to the Huskers’ lineup, bringing a .326 average from her previous two seasons in the PAC12. Getting off to a quick start is something the team is focused on. “We want to set the tone and start strong,” Revelle said. “And we want to do that in
Olivia Ferrell had her first career shutout against Penn State last season.
practice as well.” While ultimately the goal is to return to the NCAA tournament, a feat NU hasn’t accomplished since 2016, Revelle said the focus will be on the daily process. “I do believe that we have (an NCAA tourney) team,” Revelle said. “But we’ll spend our time on how to get better every day. We’ll keep our energy anchored to manageable items. They know for a long time the NCAA tournament was the standard, and they have a lot of pride as Huskers to do their part getting us back.”
Courtney Wallace made 29 appearances with 18 starts in her junior season for the Huskers. J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | 2 7
INCOMING TRANSFER PORTAL
HUNTER ANTHONY
The 6-foot-6, 320-pound offensive lineman from Oklahoma State joins Nebraska as a redshirt junior with two years of eligibility. Anthony, expected to compete for a starting spot, can play tackle or guard. In 2020, a broken foot in the first game cost Anthony most of the season. As a redshirt freshman, Anthony participated in nine games including four starts at guard and tackle. Anthony committed to the Huskers after OSU defeated Notre Dame in the Fiesta bowl, 3735.
TIMMY BLEEKRODE
Bleekrode is a 5-foot-8, 189-pound right-footed kicker/punter transferring from Furman. The Atlanta native has three years of eligibility and went 21-of-25 on field goals at Furman, the longest from 51 yards. He also had 91 punts with a 42.9-yard average, with a long of 69 yards. Bleekrode is the first specialist to have ever been offered a scholarship by coach Scott Frost at Nebraska.
BRIAN BUSCHINI
Buschini was the FCS punter of the year in 2021 at Montana. The 6-foot, 200-pound Helena native averaged 46 yards on 75 punts in two seasons for the Grizzlies. He also recorded 30 punts longer than 50 yards. Buschini, who was offered a scholarship by the Huskers, has three years of eligibility. On social media, Buschini said he was happy to follow in the footsteps of his favorite punter in the NFL, Nebraska native and Baltimore Ravens player Sam Koch.
ISAIAH GARCIACASTANEDA
The 6-foot, 185-pound wide receiver had 37 catches for 578 yards and four touchdowns during his time at New Mexico State. Garcia-Castaneda, a Twentynine Palms, California, native, played one year of community college ball at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo where he led the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns as a freshman. The three-star recruit by ESPN has three years of eligibility to play two seasons at Nebraska.
TREY PALMER
TOMMI HILL
Hill, a 6-foot, 205-pound defensive back, played in 11 games at Arizona State as a true freshman while recording seven solo tackles and two assists. The fourstar, Orlando, Florida, native also had four returns on special teams for 79 yards. Williams has four years of eligibility remaining to play three seasons.
A former five-star prospect, Palmer is a wide receiver and return specialist from LSU who joins Nebraska with two years of eligibility. The 6-foot-1, 187-pounder caught 30 passes for 344 yards and scored three touchdowns for LSU in 2021. He also fielded 18 punts for 115 yards and seven kickoffs for 142 yards. The Louisiana native is a sprint champion in his home state, winning the state 100-meters (10.42) and 200 (21.11) as a senior at Kentwood High School. He was recruited to LSU by Mickey Joseph and will reunite with the NU receivers coach at Nebraska.
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CHUBBA PURDY
The quarterback-in-waiting at Florida State entered the portal during the season and eventually picked Nebraska over Oklahoma as his new school. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound redshirt freshman was a highly-sought four-star prospect out of high school in Gilbert, Arizona. He played in four games as a Seminole, connecting on 32 of 58 throws for 317 yards, one TD and an interception. He also rushed for 62 yards. Purdy has four years of eligibility. He is expected to battle fellow incoming transfer Casey Thompson out of Texas for the starting spot. Purdy's older brother, Brock, finished his career at Iowa State this past season. With the addition of Purdy, Nebraska has five quarterbacks on scholarship heading into the spring.
JUNIOR COLLEGE TRANSFERS
CASEY THOMPSON
Thompson, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound quarterback transfer from Texas has two years of eligibility and is considered the front-runner to earn the starting spot at NU for 2022. The former four-star prospect started 10 games for the Longhorns in 2021 when he threw for 2,113 yards, 24 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 63.2 percent completion rate. He also ran for 175 yards on 55 carries and four touchdowns. Thompson, an Oklahoma City native, is the son of ex-Oklahoma quarterback Charles Thompson, who led the Sooners to a win in 1987 over then-No. 1 Nebraska. After entering the transfer portal, he picked Nebraska over Oklahoma, Auburn, Indiana and Missouri.
KEVIN WILLIAMS
Williams was listed at 6-foot-5 and 330 pounds by Northern Colorado in 2021 as a redshirt junior. He started 17 games for the Bears in the 2018 and 2019 seasons at both tackle and guard. He registered no stats during the 2020 Covid shut-down season, but started two games in 2021 (Colorado and Houston Baptist) before an off-field incident led to a suspension. The Omaha native and Omaha North graduate has two years of eligibility as a Husker. Large and long (7-foot-wingspan), Williams is expected to battle for a starting spot on the Husker offensive line. Williams drew recruiting interest out of high school from Nevada, Nebraska, Iowa, Northern Iowa and South Dakota State before landing at Northern Colorado.
ANTHONY GRANT
Grant, a 5-foot-11, 210-pound running back from New Mexico Military Institute, scored 30 touchdowns and rushed for 2,549 yards in two years of play. In 2021, Grant played in 12 games rushing for 1,760 yards on 241 carries, averaging 7.1 yards per play. The junior originally signed with Florida State out of high school in Buford, Georgia. He is a junior college AllAmerican and considered the top running back out of the junior college ranks and a four-star prospect. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
JAVIER MORTON
The 6-foot-two, 185-pound defensive back is transferring from Garden City (Kansas) Community College with three years of eligibility. He adds to a defensive backfield that was hurt by graduations and the NFL Draft. Morton played in nine games at Garden City making 20 tackles, one sack and a fumble recovery. He is the third junior college transfer in the 2022 class. Morton had committed to Alabama out of high school but due to injuries and grades eventually took the junior college route.
OTHER 2021 DEPARTURES
ADDITIONAL INCOMING FRESHMAN DECOLDEST CRAWFORD, WR 6-2, 190, Shreveport, La. (Green Oaks)
Crawford had nearly 150 catches and more than 2,200 receiving yards while helping lead Green Oaks to three state playoff appearances in four seasons. After catching 50 passes for 813 yards as a junior, Crawford caught 30 passes for more than 200 yards this past season when the Giants started a freshman quarterback. He is a consensus three-star prospect who was a former LSU commit. Crawford chose Nebraska over Auburn, Texas and Florida after reopening his recruitment.
NADAB JOSEPH
WILL HONAS
DEONTRE THOMAS
CHRIS WALKER
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FOOTBALL
Zach Weigert received the Outland Trophy in 1994.
Weigert Adds Name to College Hall
Z
Story by Jeff Bundy • Photos by NU Sports Information & Husker Illustrated Archives
ach Wiegert, an All-American offensive lineman at Nebraska, will be the 20th Husker player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. The tackle was part of dominant Husker offensive lines from 1991 through 1994 and won the Outland Trophy in 1994, when he was a unanimous first-team All-American and leader of the Nebraska “pipeline” that helped NU to a 1994 national championship win over Miami in the Orange Bowl. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound senior led all Husker linemen that year with 113 pancake blocks. The Fremont, Nebraska, native who attended Fremont Bergan High School received one first-place vote for the Heisman, was a finalist for the Lombardi Award, and was the UPI Lineman of the Year and Touchdown Club of Columbus (Ohio) Of3 0 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
fensive Lineman of the Year. “Wiegert was a great player at Nebraska during the 1990s,” former Husker coach Tom Osborne said. “Zach was very intelligent and was also very aggressive and athletic. He stood out as an exceptional offensive lineman among many who played on our offensive lines during that period.” Weigert’s jersey number 72 was retired before the 1995 season. Wiegert went on to be a second-round NFL draft pick by the St. Louis Rams and played 12 seasons in the NFL for the Rams, Jaguars and Texans. Nebraska has 26 members in the college hall, including six coaches. Wiegert will be the seventh Husker lineman inducted. The 2022 induction ceremony will take place Dec. 6.
NEBRASKA TEAM STATISTICS UNDER COACH SCOTT FROST CATEGORY 2021 2020 2019 2018 NU SCHOOL RECORD Games 12 (3-9) 8 (3-5) 12 (5-7) 12 (4-8) Scoring 335 185 336 360 624 (1983) Average Per Game 27.9 23.13 28.0 30.0 52.4 (1994) Opponent Scoring 272 235 333 375 455 (2007) Opponent Scoring Average 22.7 29.4 27.75 31.2 37.9 (2007) First Downs 260 171 250 278 330 (2012) Rushing 109 91 128 130 249 (1983) Passing 134 68 102 130 184 (2007) Penalty 17 12 20 18 29 (2012) Rushing Yardage 2171 1611 2,439 2,508 4,820 (1983) Opponent Rushing 1763 1356 2,257 2,349 2,787 (1957) Yards Gained 2451 1855 2,784 2,861 5,033 (1983) Yards Lost 277 244 345 353 580 (1951) Attempts 490 334 544 464 762 (1982) Avg. Per Attempt 4.4 4.8 4.5 5.4 7.01 (1995) Rushing Yds. Per Game 180.9 201.4 203.3 209.0 401.7 (1983) TDs Rushing 31 15 27 25 66 (1983, 1997) Passing Yardage 3,197 1,521 2,551 2,966 3,886 (2007) Opponent Passing 2,629 1,736 2,409 2,853 39.9 per game (1973) Att-Comp-Int 342-215-11 229-156-9 323-194-9 404-257-11 481-296-NA (2007) Avg. Per Attempt 9.35 6.64 7.9 7.3 9.09 (1978) Avg. Per Catch 14.87 9.75 12.4 11.5 19.6 (1989) Passing Avg. Per Game 266.42 190.13 212.58 247.2 323.8 (2007) TDs Passing 14 5 12 19 32 (2006) Total Offense 5,371 3,132 4,990 5,474 6,560 (1983) Opponent Offense 4,392 3,092 4,666 5,202 5,722 (2007) Total Plays 832 563 867 868 1,076 (1971) Avg. Per Play 6.5 5.6 5.8 6.3 7.2 (1983) Avg. Per Game 447.6 391.5 415.8 456.2 556.3 (1995) Kick Returns 12-187 15-274 23-417 31-490 74-1,619 (2007) Punt Returns 10-27 9-120 16-128 16-150 65-853 (2001) Interception Returns 10-67 5-102 11-177 11-16 30-523 (1970) Kick Return Average 15.58 18.27 18.13 15.8 27.85 (1990) Punt Return Average 2.7 13.33 8.0 9.4 17.41 (1960) Int Return Average 6.7 20.4 16.09 1.5 Fumbles-Lost 17-7 22-9 27-12 28-11 49-25 (1999) Opponent Fumbles-Lost 10-3 13-2 17-10 22-9 N/A Penalties-Yards 63-540 54-485 61-518 92-850 109-993 (2010) Avg Penalty Yds Game 45.0 60.63 43.17 70.8 82.75 (2010) Punts- Yards 48-1,935 33-1310 59-2,411 57-2,394 78-3214 (2009) Avg. Per Punt 40.31 39.70 40.86 42.0 45.9 (2005) Time of Possession Avg. 28:59 28:42 28:54 27:44 3rd Down Conversions 66-160 38-104 77-187 58-156 4th Down Conversions 14-24 8-13 10-23 9-20 Red Zone Scores 41-53 30-35 38-51 39-44 Red Zone Touchdowns 35-53 18-35 27-51 27-44 Touchdowns Scored 45 21 43 45 89 (1983) Field Goal Attempts 8-16 13-15 12-20 14-18 24-28 (2009) PAT-Attempts 39-43 20-20 34-36 40-41 77 (1983)
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FOOTBALL
Donovan Raiola meets with the media in December. "This is a special place to me and has a great offensive line tradition," he said.
Raiola Looks to Patch Up Pipeline I
Story by Jansen Coburn • Photos by Jeff Bundy
t always figured that Donovan Raiola would be wearing Husker red in Memorial Stadium on fall Saturdays. It’s just 20 years later than many Husker fans thought, and Raiola won’t be wearing a helmet. As part of coach Scott Frost’s purge of his offensive coaching staff, Raiola replaces Greg Austin as offensive line coach and will be charged with re-energizing and refocusing a maligned Husker unit that sometimes struggled with everything from procedure penalties to protecting the quarterback. Raiola’s remedy? For starters, he will preach togetherness as a building block. “Five guys need to see the game as one,” he told media members at his introductory 3 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
news conference. “That’s the most important thing right now. “It’s definitely a process. Everything we do, we are going to do it together.” That may sound overly simplified, but that’s Riola’s method. Playing on the offensive line is complicated, breaking it down into more digestible pieces, particularly for developing players, eventually leads to flawlessness. Take care of the basics and then everything falls into place, he says. Fundamentals will be key for NU to reach its once high standard, which Raiola learned about while in high school at home in Hawaii from his older brother, Dominic, a dominant player for the Huskers while winning the Rimington Award in 2000 as
the nation’s top center. Dominic would also go on to play 14 seasons for the NFL’s Detroit Lions. To some fans at the time, Donovan seemed like a shoo-in to be a Husker himself coming out of high school in the early 2000s, but he went to Wisconsin instead where became an honorable-mention AllBig Ten selection at center from 2003-2005. Because of his brother’s experience at Nebraska, Donovan knows where the bar is set in Lincoln. “This is a special place to me and has a great offensive line tradition,” he told reporters. About his older, “We talk every day,” he said. At Wisconsin, he said, player development was essential. “That program was
built on developing players,” he said, sounding like he was looking forward to that part of the job as a Husker coach. “I really enjoy helping people,” he said. “Helping kids develop into men is exciting.” The makings of a good offensive lineman, he said, are “tough, smart and athletic” and the main thing he learned playing on Wisconsin’s offensive line is that, “It takes a lot of hard work.” Two of the things his players at Nebraska will have to always know and understand are the the toughness and discipline they will have to play with. The Husker hire received the seal of approval from his old coach at Wisconsin. “He was a student of the game, he loves football and will do a great job relating to his players,” said Barry Alvarez, himself a former Husker. “He’s worked his way up and he’s worked under great people. I think he’ll be outstanding.” Following his career at Wisconsin, Raiola played parts of five seasons in the NFL - contracts with the Rams, Steelers, Seahawks, Cardinals, Bears and Buccaneers and then went into coaching. He coached at the high school level for two seasons (2012, 2013) in Hawaii before moving to the University of Hawaii in 2014 as an offensive intern. He was an offensive graduate assistant at Notre Dame in 2015 and 2016 before spending 2017 as offensive line coach at Aurora University in Illinois. It was then onto the Chicago Bears, where he’s been an assistant offensive line coach since 2018. After accepting the Nebraska job in December, Raiola was said to have received a standing ovation from the team in his final practice before departing to Lincoln. NFL rookie offensive guard Tristen Hoge was coached by Raiola during his first two seasons at Notre Dame before transferring to BYU. He described Raiola as an “even-keeled” personality who could separate on-the-field intensity from his naturally calm demeanor. Hoge said Raiola has picked up a lot of experience in a relatively short time. “He has the luxury of being coached by some of the most prolific coaches in his career and has brought the knowledge with him through his coaching,” Hoge said. Raiola now looks to utilize that knowledge to restore nastiness, toughness and grit to the Husker “pipeline.”
Dominic Raiola, who won the Rimington Trophy as the nation's best center at NU in 2000, talked often about Nebraska with his younger brother, Donovan.
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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Nebraska’s Alexis Markowski has been named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week four times this season.
Plowing Forward
After a 12-0 Start, Huskers Hit Big Ten Grind By Steve Beideck • Photos by Amarillo Mullen
S
ome of the early excitement around Nebraska’s 12-0 start to the women’s basketball season has been tempered the past month by the challenges of a rugged Big Ten schedule. Seven of the 14 Big Ten squads were ranked in the top 47 in the RealTimeRPI. com ratings through games played Jan. 19. The Huskers fit comfortably in that group at No. 37 with a 13-4 overall record. Coach Amy Williams’ charges own the only conference win over No. 8-ranked 3 6 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
Michigan through the first month of the season. That 79-58 drubbing of the Wolverines, ranked 13th in the RealTimeRPI, gave the Huskers their first victory over an AP Top-10 opponent since a victory over No. 9 Duke in 2014. But since then, the Huskers have lost three consecutive conference games and are 2-4 in the league. A 72-65 loss to No. 6 Indiana – the Big Ten leader at 6-0 – was sandwiched between a pair of losses to Iowa.
That 2-4 record has the Huskers in 10th place in the conference standings. Nebraska’s other conference victory was a 70-67 decision over Minnesota on Dec. 6. Before the Jan. 4 upset of Michigan, Nebraska fell to Michigan State 72-69 on Dec. 30 in East Lansing. Nebraska was set to begin a stretch of five games, including four at home, against teams with a sub-.500 record in conference play with a Jan. 20 game against Rutgers. Because of health and safety protocols
Sam Haiby goes in for a layup past Iowa’s Gabbie Marshall. More than 8,000 fans attended the game in Lincoln.
within the Huskers program, that game against the last-place Scarlet Knights (7-12, 0-7) is being postponed to Feb. 1 in Lincoln. Health and safety protocols also forced the postponement of Nebraska's trip to Champaign for a Jan. 23 game against Illinois to face the 6-10 Fighting Illini (1-4 Big Ten). That means Nebraska won't play again until kicking off a three-game homestand Jan. 27 against Wisconsin (4-13, 1-6). The other two games in that stretch are a Jan. 30 matchup against Purdue (12-6, 3-4) and Penn State (Feb. 3). The Nittany Lions (9-7, 3-3) are one of the two East Division teams the Huskers play a home-and-home series with this season. Nebraska will travel to State College for the rematch on Feb. 17. Indiana is the other East Division opponent the Huskers face; that game in Lincoln is scheduled for Feb. 14.
Amy Williams encourages her team during its loss to the Hawkeyes, 95-86, in Lincoln.
If the Huskers can run the table against those teams, their Feb. 6 game at Maryland would become a big game that could help Nebraska’s bid for an NCAA tournament berth. The Terrapins are currently ranked No. 20 in the RealTimeRPI standings, three spots ahead of Indiana. Nebraska has had success to this point because they are playing well at both ends of the court. Four players are averaging double figures in scoring, led by sophomore guard Jaz Shelley and her 13.8 points per game. Sam Haiby and Isabelle Bourne are averaging 11.0 and 10.1 points per game, respectively. Bourne and Shelley both have made 74 field goals this season, with 40 of Shelley’s being 3-pointers. Nebraska’s newest offensive star has just begun to shine in the past month. Freshman forward Alexis Markowski already has been namen the Big Ten Freshman of the Week
Isabelle Bourne drives past Iowa’s Tomi Taiwo.
four times, and she also was honored Jan. 11 as the National Freshman of the Week by the United States Basketball Writers Association. In NU’s victory over Michigan and first loss to Iowa, the Lincoln Pius X graduate averaged 17 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. The Michigan game was Markowski’s first collegiate start as she stepped in for injured teammate Bella Cravens. After scoring 20 points against the Hawkeyes in the first meeting, Markowski made a career-high six 3-pointers and posted a career-high 27 points Jan. 16 in Nebraska’s 93-83 loss. Markowski is 10-of-14 from beyond the arc (71.4%), and she also leads the Huskers in overall field goal percentage having made 67-of-127 shots (.528). She’s also second to Shelley in total rebounds (120-109).
Ashley Scoggin dishes a pass between a pair of Michigan defenders in Nebraska's 79-58 win. J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | 3 7
TURN BACK THE CLOCK
PRESENTED BY
The Thriving State of Volleyball Nebraska Continues to Lead the Way
Story by Michael Kelly
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very team starts its season aiming for the top, hoping to win a title. But this is a year for every fan, player and coach of women’s and girls sports to celebrate another kind of title – Title IX. That occurred to me as I sat with my
four favorite volleyball players – my daughter and three teenage granddaughters – Dec. 16 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, cheering for the Huskers during the semifinals of the NCAA volleyball tournament. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, a section of a 1972 federal education law that changed the trajectory of girls and women’s sports in America. It required that institutions receiving federal funds not discriminate on the basis of gender. Maybe that’s old news. But now in my autumn years, it was satisfying to be with my seatmates – all wearing Nebraska shirts, though the granddaughters have grown up in Ohio – and reflect on how things have changed. And to enjoy Husker volleyball, an exemplar of excellence in women’s athletics. Amid a traveling Husker Nation contingent of thousands (after driving
100 miles from Cincinnati), we watched two matches and five hours of top-flight athleticism on semifinal night, with Nebraska and Wisconsin emerging to battle two nights later in the finals. Though the Huskers lost in five sets (by a mere three points) in the championship match, the Big Red will reload and hope to make another run at a national title this fall – at the CHI Health Center arena in Omaha. If NU were to win, that would be (pardon the Roman numerals) Title VI for Nebraska. Final Four weekend includes a national convention of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), and among those in Columbus this year were two widely known coaches from Nebraska. Deb Grafentin, who grew up mostly before Title IX, and Renee Saunders, who came of age afterward, provided long perspectives of the state of Nebraska as a hotbed for volleyball.
GAELEN MORSE/HUSKERS ILLUSTRATED
Nebraska middle blocker Lauren Stivrins hits the ball during the first set against Pittsburgh in the NCAA women’s volleyball semifinal in Columbus, Ohio, in December. Carlos Davis (96) and Khalil Davis (94)
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MICHAEL KELLY/HUSKERS ILLUSTRATED
Laura Kelly Brus, left, was UNO's starting right side hitter in the early '90s. She and daughters Bridget, Addison and Jenna attended the NCAA volleyball final four in Columbus, Ohio, in December.
Former Nebraska volleyball player Renee Saunders now coaches in Omaha.
NU SPORTS INFORMATION
Deb Grafentin, director of The Volleyball Academy in La Vista.
The Coliseum was home to Husker volleyball from 1975-2013.
In 1974, Nebraska announced it would create an intercollegiate athletics program for women under the old AIAW (Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women), and a volleyball team started up the next year. As most fans know, Terry Pettit, who coached Nebraska from 1977 to 1999, became the godfather who created the Husker volleyball phenomenon – at first, though, he had to set up a couple of rows of folding chairs for fans. Grafentin, a 1975 graduate of Omaha Northwest High School, was a competitive runner and swimmer in state meets and didn’t play volleyball until college at the University of Miami in Florida. Pettit’s greatest gift, she said, was conduct-
ing clinics for coaches and players around the state. “So many of us coaches benefited from the education Terry gave us,” said Grafentin, longtime director of the River City Juniors volleyball club in Omaha and former state champion coach at Millard North. “He constantly sparked our passion, and he has such a great insight for the mental part of the game.” Saunders, the state’s high school girl athlete of the year at Omaha Marian, was a freshman on Nebraska’s 1995 national champion team under Pettit. After graduation, she got into coaching, and her Omaha Skutt Catholic team just won its seventh straight Class B state champion-
ship, a record string. Beyond the University of Nebraska, she noted, volleyball in the state exploded in popularity years ago – in high schools, club volleyball and at other colleges and universities. “A lot of it traces to Terry Pettit,” Saunders said. “It goes back to the grassroots work he did in clinics and in getting fans interested, too.” The history of volleyball in Nebraska would make a good book, but a few highlights are also fun to recall: • Julie Vollertsen of Palmyra, Nebraska, didn’t play for the Huskers but went west to a junior college and became a starter for the 1984 silver medal U.S. J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | 3 9
Olympic team – the team’s only player not from California or Texas. (She later played professionally in Italy, married and lived there; a son played briefly in the NBA.). • In 1986, Pettit was named the NCAA Division I coach of the year, and Janice Kruger of the University of Nebraska at Omaha was the NCAA Division II coach of the year. • In 1987, UNO set a Division II regular-season one-match attendance record of 3,004. The 1996 Maverick team won the Division II national title, and Rose Shires was named national coach of the year. • Nebraska renovated the old Nebraska Coliseum in 1990, setting up a cozy, always-packed 4,000-seat arena for volleyball, with the pep band adding to the excitement. Under Coach John Cook, who took over from Pettit in 2000, the team moved to the Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2013, where 8,000-seat sellouts have continued. • Nebraska and Hawaii are the only volleyball programs in the country that take in more revenue than they spend. Fan popularity and extensive news media coverage have helped attract many All-Americans – including Olympians like Lori Endicott, Allison Weston, Kayla Banwarth, Justine Wong-Orantes and Jordan Larson, who has traveled the world for volleyball after growing up in Hooper, Nebraska, population 775. • In 2018, the Huskers and Creighton Bluejays set the regular-season one-game national attendance record of 14,003 at the CHI Health Center. The Jays won the first two sets and NU the next three. • Creighton has won eight consecutive Big East championships under Coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth, and last fall the Bluejays defeated reigning national champion and No. 3-ranked Kentucky. The other now-Division I team from Omaha, UNO, went 16-2 in winning the Summit Conference championship under Coach Matt Buttermore. • Dani Busboom Kelly, a former Husker and now head coach at the University of Louisville, was named the national coach of the year and signed a multiyear contract extension – with a provision that she could leave early if Nebraska called. (When Louisville played the Huskers in Lincoln last fall, she took her team to her farm home near Cortland, Nebraska, 4 0 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
where players sat around a bonfire and enjoyed hamburgers from the cattle her family raised.) • In 2021, the AVCA named libero Lexi Rodriguez of Nebraska as the national freshman of the year. VolleyballMag.
gaining skills early. More venues have been built, especially in Lincoln and Omaha, as well as across the river at Iowa West Field House in Council Bluffs, run by the Omaha Sports Academy. Grafentin, who has
FILE PHOTO/HUSKERS ILLUSTRATED
Saunders returns a hit for the Huskers. She went on to coach at Omaha Skutt.
com gave that title to Creighton hitter Norah Sis, out of Papillion-La Vista. It was an unusual year, with the delayed 2020 national tournament played in the spring of 2021 in – where else? – Nebraska. Under pandemic protocols that restricted fan attendance, all 48 teams came to the CHI Health Center in Omaha. In a large convention space, they played on portable courts that had been moved in, including three emblazoned with the names Nebraska, Creighton and Omaha (UNO). Pettit told the World-Herald that Omaha’s enthusiasm and its reputation for presenting major sporting events made it a natural site. “If Omaha ran the world dominoes tournament,” he said, “it would be the best dominoes tournament that anybody ever went to.” It’s not just the NCAA Division I teams that do well in Nebraska. Division II, NAIA and junior college volleyball teams around the state also have excelled, including Nebraska-Kearney, Wayne State, Midland, College of Saint Mary and Bellevue University. Volleyball clubs, too, contribute greatly to the sport’s level of play. Even 5- and 6-year-olds can learn the game, in a category called “Li’l Diggers.” Girls grow up playing volleyball almost year around,
coached for 41 years, is director of the Volleyball Academy in the Omaha suburb of La Vista, near 120th Street and Giles Road, just off Interstate 80. The $4.2 million, 50,000-square-foot academy sits near the developing Nebraska Multisports Complex. That’s a reminder that multiple girls and women’s sports have benefited from Title IX. The Husker women’s basketball team this year drew more than 8,000 fans for a game at Pinnacle Bank Arena against Iowa. Some breakthroughs are a long time coming. Rachel Balkovec, 34, who played softball at Skutt Catholic and Creighton, recently was named the first female manager in minor league baseball – for the New York Yankees’ Class A Tampa Tarpons. Girls wrestling has arrived! In January, Papillon-La Vista won the sport’s firstever Metro Conference tournament. The state tournament will be held in Omaha Feb. 18-19 in conjunction with the boys. Other girls sports are doing well, too, but high school and college volleyball is the state’s franchise. The sport certainly has grown nationally. The National Federation of State High School Associations in Indianapolis said volleyball passed basketball in participants in 2013. That happened in Ne-
IX a half-century ago. Of course, it’s not without occasional controversy or lawsuits. In some cases, colleges have eliminated men’s programs to make the overall totals of male and female athletes closer to equal. In others, schools have added a number of lesser female athletes to teams, like cross country or swimming, seeking overall numerical balance. Like thousands of other volleyball dads and granddads, as well as moms and grandmas and other fans, I appreciate that girls and women receive every opportunity to excel in sports – knowing that the lessons of persistence, focus and hard work will extend to other parts of their lives. Grafentin and Saunders said they want to help their amazing players become amazing women. At the semifinals in December, by the way, my Ohio granddaughters didn’t just don Husker gear purchased that day. Their mom played for UNO and they have followed Husker volleyball on the Big Ten Network for years; they know the names and positions of all the NU players – as do many other girls of Husker Nation who love the game. A lot happens on that court, just 30 by 60 feet, with nets at 7-feet-4. It’s a game of speed, power and artistry, where players jump and dive and block and slam – a game of many dimensions played high in the air and low on the floor, you dig? In the years since Title IX, volleyball and other sports for girls and women surely have grown in leaps and bounds. Mike Kelly retired in 2018 after 48 years at the Omaha WorldHerald, including 1981-91 as sports editor and sports columnist.
FILE PHOTO/HUSKERS ILLUSTRATED
Saunders played at Nebraska from 1995 through 1999.
braska more than a decade earlier. Last year, the state’s high schools registered 6,536 players for volleyball and 5,325 for basketball. Players, too, seemingly have grown. Husker volleyball rosters from the 1970s and ’80s included few over 6-foot-1. In the early ’90s, NU’s powerful Stephanie Thater, 6-2, hit so hard that her kills were said to leave “Thater Craters.” Lisa Reitsma, 6-4, made All-America for the Huskers a few years later. By contrast, in the fall of 2021, the Husker roster listed nine players at 6-2 or taller, including 6-4 and 6-5. Wisconsin also had nine of at least 6-2; one was 6-9 and another 6-8 – AVCA national player of the year Dana Rettke. “Back in the ’70s and ’80s,” Grafentin said, “I don’t remember players at 6-5. Now you see taller ones all the time.” “In general,” Skutt coach Saunders said, “players have gotten bigger, faster, stronger and more athletic. And they jump higher. They exercise more and put a lot into performance.” Though usually not as tall, back-row defenders and passers are just as important. Said Grafentin: “Volleyball at its most competitive level is wonderful. The long rallies create more intensity, and the crowd gets into it more and more. As hard as college women hit the ball, it amazes me how the liberos and other defensive players not only handle the ball but direct it to the setter.” Sports for girls and women have come a long way since Title
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HUSKER LEGENDS
PRESENTED BY
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Troy Dumas Was Part of the Transition That Led to a Championship Story by Shane G. Gilster
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roy Dumas grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in the middle of cowboy country. So it figures that when he first arrived in Lincoln his wardrobe staples included a hat, boots and belt buckle. The image makes Dumas laugh. “No, far from it,” he said. “I didn’t always live in Wyoming.” Dumas’ dad was in the Air Force so the family moved often. Dumas lived in Riverside, California; Syracuse, New York; and then moved to Cheyenne when he was 10. The transition to a more rural area of the country was no big deal to Dumas. He made friends easily, even if he didn’t wear a cowboy hat. “I grew up playing football in the backyards and fields,” he said. “It was just the thing to do growing up there.” There were only two main high schools in Cheyenne, East and Central. There was also a smaller Catholic school in town. Dumas attended East where he played running back, safety and linebacker. He became a big college football fan and listened to Husker games on the radio. “I liked that Nebraska was close and had a huge tradition of football excellence,” Dumas said. “There were a lot of Nebraska fans in Cheyenne and I knew that was where I wanted to go to college since I was a sophomore in high school. Wyoming was down my list because I wanted to play at a bigger school. I grew up as a college football junkie and always bought Athlon’s Big Eight edition magazine and College Football Weekly.” Nebraska got a recruiting tip about Dumas from a coach at Scottsbluff High School, which played Cheyenne East. After NU watched Dumas’ film, Husker coach Tom Osborne called him to see if he would be interested in attending NU’s summer camp. After two days in Lincoln, in which he was timed at 4.5 in the 40-yard dash, Dumas received a scholarship offer. “When Nebraska offered, it was a done deal,” Dumas said. “Colorado was looking 4 2 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
NU SPORTS INFORMATION
Troy Dumas played safety and linebacker for Nebraska.
at me on offense because I also played running back in high school. Nebraska liked me at safety, but Coach Solich said I could also try running back, but I was too tall and the competition at I-back at Nebraska was national. I was dead set to play defense.” When he got to Nebraska, Dumas said he was motivated to show that the kid from Wyoming could play. He remembers new teammates from all over the country like Florida, California and Texas who didn’t think he could play at that level because he was from Wyoming. The doubters made him more determined to play as a freshman, which he accomplished in 1991. Dumas was one of three true freshmen to play, joining New Jersey linebacker Doug
Colman and California wingback Abdul Muhammad. He became a starter at safety in the Husker nickel defense. The following year, Dumas backed up Tyrone Byrd most of the season but did start two games at free safety and played special teams. Then the Blackshirt defense made a transition, switching from a 5-2 to a 4-3 scheme before Dumas’ junior year in 1993. NU brought in consultant Larry Mac Duff, the Arizona defensive coordinator who came up with that school’s Desert Swarm defense, to help revamp the Blackshirts. Dumas was one of the players who made a position switch from safety to linebacker. He officially moved the last game of the season against Oklahoma.
Dumas celebrates after Nebraska defeated West Virginia, 31-0, in the 1994 Kickoff Classic in New Jersey.
“What it did was we were able to put our fastest guys on the field. It made the whole defense quicker,” Dumas said. “Basically what we did was move the average running safeties to linebacker and some of the slower cornerbacks to safety. It just freed us up to cover and line up man-to-man and allowed our guys up front to handle their business. We were able to emulate what Florida State and Miami were doing. So when we played them, we matched up on them one-on-one.” When Dumas and the rest of the Blackshirts played Florida State in the 1994 Orange Bowl, they proved to themselves and the rest of the country that NU’s new defensive era had begun. The Seminoles,
with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Charlie Ward, were a 17-point favorite, but the Huskers sacked Ward five times and pretty much shut down the high-powered FSU offense in an 18-16 loss. Dumas remembers the night before the Orange Bowl when teammate Trev Alberts called a meeting for the defense. “He said everyone had already picked Florida State as the national champion and they already had T-shirts made up with ‘national champions’ on them,” he said. “He wanted us to give them our best shot and he led the way playing like a wrecking machine in that game. If you are a player inspiring to be great, he is a guy you need to model yourself after.”
Alberts is now the NU athletic director, and Dumas is confident his former teammate is the man to turn around the Husker football program. He described Alberts as the ultimate Blackshirt and team guy, who never thought he was above his teammates. He was a leader who led by example. “He is already taking the football program in the right direction,” Dumas said. “When Trev got there, you saw changes being made. Trev is getting coaches in the football program who have a winning attitude, who bring something different to the table that is more suitable to the Big Ten. The new coaching staff and those transfer players should get us over the hump.”
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When Dumas played, the winning tradition and culture were already set, and Alberts and the rest of the seniors that 1993 season helped set the tone for 1994 when NU finally won a national championship under Osborne. “I would say our 1994 defense was the best when I played,” Dumas said. “Donta Jones stepped in for Trev Alberts when he left. Donta wasn’t as big, but was just as strong and fast coming off the edge. Overall, we had more faster guys on the field in 1994 than 1993. Our attitude on defense was to kill everyone. We wanted to show our defense was just as good as our offense. We practiced like we were in a game.” The favorite game of Dumas’ career came in that ’94 season. It was against No. 16 Kansas State in Manhattan and their outspoken quarterback Chad May. May made this inflammatory quote before the game. “If you watch Nebraska on TV, they always run the same offense and defense. They won’t show anything different. We’ll find the holes and pick them apart.” The Huskers countered by dropping its linebackers into pass coverage, playing a combination of zone and man. It helped that Dumas and Ed Stewart were safeties earlier in their playing careers. “You can’t say enough good about them,” said NU secondary coach George Darlington after that game. “You put one of those great receivers on a linebacker, and you figure they’re going to light up the scoreboard. Eddie Stewart and Troy Dumas had a tougher job than any of our defensive backs the whole game.” Dumas had six tackles in the game and made two huge plays in the contest, which were game-changers. The first was a blocked extra point that kept the Huskers in the lead, 7-6. The second was an interception late in the first half. Dumas stepped in front of a pass at the NU 17 and returned it 54 yards to the KSU 29-yard line. The Huskers went on to win 17-6. “We were supposed to lose that game,” Dumas said. “Just for the simple fact that we were down to our third-string quarterback and the whole talk that week was that Kansas State was going to win. It was a turning point for our defense. It showed that Nebraska had an outstanding defense.” It also showed Dumas’ versatility. It was one of the main reasons he was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round (97th overall) of the 1995 NFL Draft. But a promising professional career was cut short by injuries. He ended up missing his rookie season after injuring his knee in the second preseason game. He then appeared mostly on special teams for the Chiefs before bouncing around with the St. Louis Rams and finally the Denver Broncos in 1999. Dumas played some in the Arena Football League and XFL before retiring. Dumas graduated from NU in 1995 with a degree in human resources then got into coaching. His first job was as an assistant at Cheyenne Central High School, then as the defensive coordinator at Doane College under head coach and former Husker teammate Tommie Frazier. Dumas continued to move up the coaching ranks in 2008 as the linebacker coach at Southeast Missouri State. He also earned an NFL Minority Coaching Fellowship with the Kansas City Chiefs. While at Southeast Missouri, he served under head coach and former NU assistant coach Tony Samuel. Other former Huskers were also on the staff, including Brian Boerboom, Lorenzo Brinkley, Chris Norris and Kenny Wilhite. Dumas got out of coaching around 2012. His dad had health 4 4 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
NU SPORTS INFORMATION
Dumas was an All-Big Eight selection in 1994.
complications so he moved back to Cheyenne to help him. He’s now living in Fort Collins, Colorado, working for the state in its compliance department in Denver, ensuring businesses are complying with the workers’ compensation act. The 49-year-old has been married for the last 13 years to Elizabeth (Cansdale), who played basketball at Ole Miss. They met at Southeast Missouri where Elizabeth was an assistant basketball coach. The couple have two boys (Donovan 12, Derek 11) and one daughter (Anna 9). All three are involved in sports and inspire to be future Huskers. Dumas helps coach his sons’ youth football teams but likely won’t coach at a higher level as he once did. “My body is pretty beat up nowadays,” he said. “I’ve had shoulder and knee replacements, with severe arthritis in all my joints all from my football playing career.” But despite the physical wear and tear he suffered playing in college and the NFL, he wouldn’t change that experience, especially at Nebraska during that two-year run playing for the national championship. “In all of college football history, there hasn’t been too many teams do what we did,” Dumas said. “We weren’t the most talented but we played with huge hearts and we never gave up. We were all brothers and had one goal in mind. A lot of college football players never get to experience that kind of opportunity.”
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In Sarpy County, the fun doesn’t end in December. We’ve got plenty of wintertime activities to help beat the winter blues! Lift your spirits and hit the trails for some sunshine. Go cross country skiing, rent snowshoes at Fontenelle Forest to explore 19 miles of trails, or do a little ice fishing. You’ll also find numerous stores warm and ready to enjoy, including Nebraska Crossing in Gretna and Shadow Lake Towne Center in Papillion. Or simply get out of the cold and head to one of our premier hotels. All this and more located just south of Omaha and along I-80. For a full list of shopping, restaurants and winter activities, visit us at
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HUSKER TRIVIA Presented by
This quarterback holds the NU record for most rushing attempts in a game.
3.
Highest career punting average by a player in Husker history.
4.
Who has the NU career record for most punt return touchdowns?
5.
How many conference titles did Bob Devaney win at Nebraska?
6.
Name the three Husker football All-Americans from the 2000 season.
7.
What year did the Husker defense record the most sacks in a season?
8.
The most first downs by an NU offense in a game.
9.
The number of football walk-ons who became first-team All-Americans.
10.
In his 25 years as head coach, how many times did Tom Osborne win the conference coach of the year?
4 6 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2
Who am I?
I was a two-time All-American center for Nebraska.
ANSWERS 1) 11 - Mike Rozier (1983), Lawrence Phillips (1994), Ahman Green (1997) 2) Jammal Lord (30 against Texas A&M in 2002) 3) (44.54) Dan Hadenfeldt (1997-2000) 4) Johnny Rodgers (7) 5) 8 6) Russ Hochstein (OG), Carlos Polk (LB), Dominic Raiola (C) 7) 1999 (53) 8) 44 (1991 vs. Utah State) 9) 6 (Derrie Nelson 1980, Jarvis Redwine 1980, Jimmy Williams 1981, Jared Tomich 1995-96, Kyle Larson 2003, Alex Henery 2010) 10) 8
2.
WHO AM I? Jake Young (1988, 1989)
1.
Name the three players that are tied for the most consecutive 100-yard games in a season.
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ALL EYES ON WILSON
Coaches Bryan Snyder and Mark Manning bark instructions to 4 8 | H U S K E R S I L L U S T R AT E D | J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 Bubba Wilson, who defeated Purdue's Hayden Lohrey 3-1 at a dual in Lincoln.
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