Growing up in Houston and having been to some of the top professional and college sports venues the state of Texas has to offer, Jacolb Cole wasn’t sure what to expect when he made his way to Lincoln this past weekend for an official visit to Nebraska.
What the 2023 four-star combo guard saw was, in his opinion, one of the most loyal and passionate fan bases he’d ever experienced.
“This visit did well for Nebraska. They really opened my eyes,” Cole said. “I didn’t really think Nebraska was like this. I’m not trying to down them, but I didn’t have very high expectations. So me experiencing this great visit to Nebraska, it’s really moved them up the charts for me…
“The energy and the vibe that Nebraska had and just the community as a whole, it was a shocker to me. It’s definitely not like this in Houston… Nebraska was different just in the way the fan base sticks together with the team. Houston’s different.
“It’s hard to explain. But the vibe there was just like, ‘we’re in this forever.’ I really liked that.”
A 6-foot-6 junior rated the No. 66 overall player in the 2023 class, Cole picked up an offer from Nebraska back in July. His relationship with NU’s staff quickly developed to the point where he decided to spend his first official visit in Lincoln.
Cole averaged roughly 19 points and 10 rebounds per game as a sophomore at Bellaire (Texas) last season before a thumb injury ended his season right before the Texas state playoffs.
He said one of the biggest draws to the Huskers was head coach Fred Hoiberg’s five-out spread offense and the freedom the Huskers give their guards to make plays on every possession.
“Definitely, because he has a shoot-first style of play and position-less basketball and getting up the court and running - a lot of those things really line up with me,” Cole said. “They all correlate. I don’t like to be subjugated to one position or sit in the half-court and just run offensive sets.
“I like to play off read-and-reacts and pick-and-rolls and dribble-handoffs and different stuff. So yeah, that’s all good.”
It also helped Nebraska’s cause that Cole had a familiar face waiting for him when he arrived on campus in Husker freshman Keon Edwards.
A fellow Houston native and former player on the same Houston Hoops AAU program as Cole, Edwards was able to give some valuable first-hand reviews of his experience at NU so far.
“Me and Keon, we’ve known each other for a while growing up and playing with the same AAU organization,” Cole said. “Me and Keon have always been cool. We’ve always had this bro relationship with each other, so him being at Nebraska and me going on the visit was very convenient because I had somebody I could relate to.
“He said he’s in love with it. The way the people just come together and the way they treat you - and then the way the team treats him, just taking him in as family. I really liked hearing about his experience there. It’s been good.”
Cole has just begun his recruiting process, as he has a second official visit lined up to LSU for this weekend and then a third set for the following weekend to Tennessee. ‘
As it currently stands, Cole plans to make his college decision by the fall of 2022. With another round of five official visits to use next year, is there a chance he could make his way back to Lincoln for a second time?
“Most likely, yes,” Cole said. “If everything goes how it’s supposed to go, I’ll be back to Nebraska.”
