Huskers land commitment from 2017 Iceland SG Thorbjarnarson

The news seemingly came out of nowhere that Nebraska was hosting a potential late addition to its 2017 recruiting class in 19-year-old Icelandic shooting guard Thorir Thorbjarnarson this weekend.

It didn’t take long for that development to turn into a commitment for the Huskers on Monday morning.

The 6-foot-5, 190-pound native of Akureyri, Iceland, who has played the past three years on his country’s U18 and U20 national teams, will be immediately eligible for NU and will enroll in classes for the start of the fall semester later this month.

Thorbjarnarson broke onto the scene two years ago as a 17-year-old playing up on the Iceland U18 national team, averaging 13.3 points per game in the 2015 FIBA World Championships his first year and then 19.6 ppg 2016.

His numbers dipped a bit when he again moved up to play with the country’s U20 national team, averaging 7.1 points over seven games in the 2017 FIBA tournament.

While noting that Thorbjarnarson struggled offensively against the older, stronger competition in the U20 international age group, DraftExpress.com noted that he still showed plenty of flashes of his potential.

“He has nice size for a guard prospect around 6’5” and at his best when he’s playing with the ball, getting downhill off pick-and-roll,” the website wrote. “He has great body control, floater finishes, and some creativity as the primary ball handler, which he’s shown both as a scorer and a playmaker.

“He’s competitive and fairly skilled despite being a very inconsistent jump shooter. Defensively he has quick hands and excellent instincts even though he’s not overly long or physical.”

With the latest addition, Nebraska now has one open scholarship remaining in its 2017 class.