Big Red Blitz: After roster overhaul, Hoiberg's new task begins

NORFOLK – Just before the first of three stops on Nebraska’s Big Red Blitz tour on Thursday, Fred Hoiberg actually looked as relaxed as he’d been in weeks despite a long day ahead.

That’s because, compared to his frenetic first six weeks as the Huskers’ new men’s basketball head coach, stuff like that was easy.

Hoiberg and his staff pulled off one of the most impressive roster overhauls imaginable, signing 11 new scholarship players and two walk-ons after barely a month and a half on the job.

But don’t think Hoiberg is going to go back to his post-Chicago Bulls routine of bathrobes, coffee, crossword puzzles, and The Price Is Right. The real challenge is now just about to begin.

Starting on June 9, the majority of NU’s newly assembled roster will be in Lincoln together for the first time for the first five-week summer session and offseason workouts. From that point forward, Hoiberg and Co. will be tasked with turning a group of talented individuals into a cohesive team before the season opens in November.

“All I’ve seen of these players is what I’ve watched on film,” Hoiberg said. “I’ve watched a lot of them and I’ve liked what I’ve seen, but again, you don’t know how the whole thing will come together when the guys haven’t played together.

“But one thing that we’re going to stress is having one common goal and not be worried about individual glory and going out there and doing it as a team. I’m confident that we’ll do that. We have a great group of kids that I know are going to come in and work hard.”

The timing of Hoiberg’s arrival couldn’t have been much more fortuitous considering Nebraska was already set to take an 11-day trip to Italy as part of the foreign tour the NCAA grants teams every four years.

Not only will the Huskers be bonded together in another country and playing against real opponents together for the first time, but they’ll also get an additional 10 full practices leading up to the trip.

In that extra time, Hoiberg said he wanted to experiment with numerous lineups and put players at multiple positions to see how everything fit within his system.

“We’re going into this with an open mind,” Hoiberg said. “We’ve got 11 new faces and only two (players) coming back from last year’s team. There’s a lot of unknowns right now with our group, but we’re excited about our team. The way we put it together, we’ve got five transfers, two returners, two junior college players, and then three freshmen. It’s an exciting time.”

Hoiberg faced a similar roster situation entering his first season at Iowa State, and he said he could definitely learn from what worked and what didn’t that year and apply it to Nebraska. While they were under much different circumstances, Hoiberg already sees some similarities to Year 1 in Ames.

“I think you can take kind of the blueprint of how we built Iowa State and have a similar approach to the way we’re going to do it here at Nebraska,” he said. “We feel good about how we’ve gotten off to that same type of start.”

The only players who won’t be in Lincoln on June 9 are graduate transfers Haanif Cheatham and Matej Kavas and incoming freshman Yvan Ouedraogo.

Hoiberg said Cheatham was finishing up his degree at Florida Gulf Coast, while Kavas was doing the same at Seattle, which runs on a quarter system.

Ouedraogo will be the latest to arrive in Lincoln, as he will play for France’s U18 National Team at the FIBA European Championships in Greece. As a result, he also will be the lone Husker not to compete during the Italian tour, since the FIBA tournament doesn’t end until Aug. 4.

A major part of this offseason will go beyond the X’s and O’s on the court, as Hoiberg said developing strong player leadership was as crucial as anything in terms of developing a strong team culture.

Hoiberg said he’d already had conversations with a handful of players about stepping up in that regard, including Cheatham, Kavas, and junior college transfers Jervay Green and Cameron Mack.

“Player leadership is huge, and we’re going to lean on the guys who have experience who have had three or four years in college already,” Hoiberg said. “I’ve talked to those guys already about how important leadership will be…

“I feel good about our group just because of the type of people they are. It’s going to have to be some sort of leadership by committee, but we’re going to really lean on those older guys.”

Isaiah Roby’s decision to forego his senior season and stay in the NBA Draft on Wednesday didn’t catch many people off guard, including Hoiberg.

However, Hoiberg said Roby’s decision was much tougher for him to make than many realized.

“It came all the way down to the wire with Isaiah,” Hoiberg said. “Again, for us, our job was to be supportive of whatever decision he made. He’s got a great future ahead of him, and he’s everything that you’re looking for at that next level. He’s got great size, athleticism, skill; he can put the ball on the floor and push the ball down and initiate an offense. We wish Isaiah nothing but the best.”

***Hoiberg said Nebraska still planned to submit a waiver to get Nevada transfer Shamiel Stevenson immediately eligible for this season.

Even though he never played a game for the Wolfpack, Stevenson is currently ineligible to play for the Huskers until after the end of the fall semester in December.

However, because he originally left Pittsburgh after a coaching change last December and then left Nevada after another head coach left, NU still feels confident about Stevenson’s case.

“I really like Shamiel,” Hoiberg said. “He’s a guy that you can put all over the floor. He’s got a very unique skill set, and I think he’s going to help us.”

***Hoiberg was asked how he thought so many players who are regarded as go-to-scorers in Green, Mack, and Dachon Burke would mix together on one team. He insisted that wouldn’t be an issue.

“They’ll share (the ball), I don’t have any doubt about that,” Hoiberg said. “The thing I’m excited about is having three guys who you can put the ball in their hands and they can all make plays. It’s all about talking about making simple plays, and we’ve got a group that can do that. You don’t have to go out and hit a home run every play, and that’s something that our teams have always done.”

***Who does Hoiberg expect to be the “Alpha Dog” of the team next season?

“We’ll see,” he said. “We’ll find out here in a couple weeks.”

***Hoiberg said he didn’t want to put too much pressure on his young players, but he only turned up the hype around Ouedraogo and fellow freshman forward Kevin Cross.

During his speech in Norfolk, Hoiberg said Ouedraogo was currently 6-8, 265, and with that type of advanced frame and skill at just 17 years old, “when it’s all said and done he has a chance to be special."

For Cross, Hoiberg said his ability to be just as effective with the ball on the perimeter as he was in the post has already reminded “a guy I used to coach at Iowa State named Georges Niang.”

Niang was a two-time All-American for the Cyclones who was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in 2016. He’s now with the Utah Jazz.