Hunter Sallis stood at the free-throw line midway through the third quarter of Millard North’s eventual blowout win at Lincoln High in last week’s season opener, and the chants started already.
“Over-rated! Over-rated!” the Lincoln High student section belted out, though even they probably didn’t believe it.
Sallis calmly swished both of his free throws and ended up with 26 points in the victory, capping an impressive start to one of the most anticipated seasons for a Nebraska junior in recent memory.
After earning all-state honors as a sophomore last year, the four-star Rivals top-50 recruit made himself a national name over the spring and summer. He’s currently ranked the No. 47 player in the 2021 class, and there’s already plenty of talk of him earning a fifth star by the time he’s a senior.
Kansas has offered, as have a slew of other high-majors like Iowa State, Oregon, Alabama, Ohio State, Missouri, Kansas State, Iowa, UConn, Arkansas, Cal, Creighton, and Ole Miss.
In that win over Lincoln High, Nebraska’s entire coaching staff – head coach Fred Hoiberg and assistants Matt Abdelmassih, Doc Sadler, and Armon Gates – were all in the bleachers.
The 6-foot-4 combo guard knows there is now a target on his back that only a handful of in-state players have ever remotely experienced, and he’s ready for the challenge.
“Yeah, I mean, the pressure’s there,” Sallis said. “But I know I just got to perform, and that's why I go to the gym a lot. I just know I don’t have to worry about all of that other stuff.”
Millard North head coach Tim Cannon is now in his 41st year of coaching, and he said he’d never had a player with such a rare combination of talent, focus, drive, and humility. If anything, Cannon thinks things like the “overrated” chants actually light a fire in Sallis’s otherwise reserved persona.
“I really think motivates him,” Cannon said. “I'm almost hoping they keep yelling that stuff. He’s such a quiet guy, but it's an internal fire, and I think it gets him going even more.”
As good as Sallis was last year, he’s taken his game to a new level after playing with the OSA Crusaders on the AAU circuit and then earning an invite to the prestigious USA Basketball minicamp this summer.
Sallis said playing with and against top-level national competition showed him he could compete with the best of the best, and his confidence and aggressiveness on the court have skyrocketed ever since.
“In 41 years of coaching - from when we first got him as a freshman, to his sophomore year when he was all-state, and this year again - he's improved more consistently than anybody I’ve ever been around,” Cannon said. “It's just always constant, and it's not an accident. He works at it.”
As Sallis’s game has evolved, his recruitment has taken on a life of its own in recent months. But while power programs from across the country have been sniffing around Millard North’s gym lately, Nebraska made Sallis its top priority for 2021 since Hoiberg and Co. took over last spring.
The Huskers got Sallis on campus last month for his first official visit, and while the trip included an ugly home loss to Southern Utah, the Omaha native sees plenty of potential in what Hoiberg is building in Lincoln.
“On my official visit (Hoiberg) showed me some things that they run where I fit perfect, and I’ve seen it and I feel like I would fit perfect in those spots,” Sallis said.
As much as anything, though, Sallis is drawn to the idea of playing for his home state school with his family and friends only a short drive away.
“It’s my home state,” Sallis said. “My family could come watch me play and it’s really close to home. Really, the coaching staff, I know (Hoiberg’s) background is really good and he’s an NBA coach. That’s always good having that connection…
“Playing in front of my family and like my friends. That's really big, and that's one of the things I’m looking at during recruitment. So it's really big.”
Sallis said he didn’t plan on taking any more college visits until after his high school season was over, as he’s solely focused on helping lead Millard North to a state championship. With Sallis, 2020 Stanford commit Max Murrell, and 2022 Nebraska target Jasen Green, the Mustangs are the clear favorite to win it all this year in Class A.
In the meantime, Cannon is going to enjoy every minute he has left coaching Sallis. He’s not one to dump unearned praise onto a player, but Cannon said Sallis had the potential to do something no in-state player had accomplished in decades when all was said and done.
“I don't say this very often: I think we'll watch him play in the NBA someday and I'm not sure how long he’ll be in college, to be honest,” Cannon said. “He's just progressing that much. It's awesome. It's just a real pleasure.”
