Less than a week after entering the NCAA transfer portal as a graduate transfer from North Dakota State, Sam Griesel returned home for his final collegiate season.
After visiting campus and a long meeting with head coach Fred Hoiberg, the 6-foot-6 guard from Lincoln (Neb.) announced his commitment to Nebraska on Sunday.
For Griesel, playing for the Huskers achieved a lifelong basketball dream.
“I’ve spent 18 years of my life in Lincoln, Nebraska, and I know kind of the narrative and the culture around Nebraska basketball,” Griesel told HuskerOnline.com earlier this week. “I want to be able to come in and change that as far as the off-the-court stuff and being a good leader by example for the team and the young guys, because I think I have a pretty unique perspective.
“Just to be able to lead the younger guys and give them that perspective and kind of start the change, if you will. It’s kind of a dream of mine at this point to be able to do that.
“I want to win. I want to change the narrative around Nebraska basketball. Obviously, it hasn’t been the most successful as far as wins and losses the past few years, and I want to help bring more wins to this university and to this team, and I’m willing to do anything and everything I can for those results.”
Griesel was an instantly hot commodity on the transfer market when he announced his departure from NDSU. Barely 24 hours after entering the portal, Griesel heard from Creighton, Ohio State, Penn State, Clemson, Virginia, Minnesota, Stanford, Northwestern, Colorado State, and several other programs.
He started 25 of the 26 games he played this season and averaged 14.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, and a team-high 3.4 assists per contest as North Dakota State’s point guard. All of that came despite a terrifying health scare he went through in November.
With 87 career starts under his belt, Griesel has all the experience, size, and versatility Hoiberg covets in his position-less system.
“Fred Hoiberg is a name that I’ve known for a long time and a name that’s well-known in the coaching business, and it’s really cool that he has NBA experience as a player as coaching,” Griesel said. “I’ve watched Nebraska basketball for a really long time, not as much while playing for another school, obviously, but I know its a pro-style offense and spread out with ball screens and stuff like that, and it’s definitely something I could see myself playing in.”
Hoiberg got a front-row seat to see Griesel play when the Huskers topped the Bison 79-57 in the 2020 Golden Window Classic at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Then a junior, Griesel finished with nine points and 12 rebounds, including a game-high five offensive boards that helped lead to 24 second-chance points for NDSU.
After that game, Hoiberg gave some unsolicited praise for Griesel, calling him “a big, strong, 6-6 point guard that’s different for our guys” to defend.
Griesel marks Nebraska’s first offseason roster addition. The Huskers are now three players over their 13-scholarship limit for 2022-23, with several upcoming decisions remaining on the futures of returning scholarship players.
