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Three quick takeaways from Morrow transferring from Nebraska

Nebraska lost its third scholarship transfer since the end of the 2016-17 season on Wednesday night, as sophomore forward Edward Morrow Jr. announced he planned to move on from the Huskers for another Division I program.

Here are three quick initial reactions about the news and what it means for NU going forward…

1. Nebraska lost a lot with Morrow's departure

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Almost every program suffers roster attrition every single year, so it’s just part of the deal these days to lose players who were projected to have rather big roles looking ahead to the next season.

The losses of Nick Fuller and Jeriah Horne really weren’t surprises at all given their respective circumstances, but losing Morrow is one that can’t be sugarcoated.

Not only was Morrow, when healthy, arguably Nebraska’s most consistently productive big on the roster, he brought an element that no other player could replicate to his level - toughness.

He was the one guy who you could call a tone setter down low, a player who wasn’t going to back down from anyone no matter how undersized he might have been.

That wasn't more evident than during the seven games he missed this past year to a foot injury, when NU went 1-6 after starting conference play 3-0.

The Huskers now must find a way to both replace Morrow’s role in the front court and - more importantly - find someone who can match his fearlessness and physicality.

That won’t be easy to do at all, not this late in the recruiting stage.

2. Of all the transfers, this one stings the most

What makes this news especially tough to swallow is that of all the players who could have bolted, Morrow - at least in my mind - was one of the last guys you would have expected.

He clearly filled a massive role in Nebraska’s thin front court, so playing time was not really going to be an issue so long as he could stay healthy.

Tim Miles and his staff loved Morrow, especially because of the elements he brought to the lineup that didn’t necessarily always show up in the box scores.

But the knife gets twisted even more when considering this was a player who was one of the centerpieces of the most important recruiting class of the Miles era. He was part of the 2015 core, who going into their junior and senior seasons, were going to help lead NU over the hump.

Maybe worst of all, Morrow was a Husker through and through. His father played football at Nebraska. His mother played basketball here. He was born in Lincoln, for crying out loud, and still has family living in town.

Other notable players have transferred over the years, but with most all of them you could find a few obvious reasons why it didn’t work out.

Outside of maybe some sporadic playing time, which generally was a result of him not being healthy, it’s hard to find a clear reason for Morrow’s departure.

3. All eyes now shift to Isaac Copeland

The only bit of good news is that Nebraska loses Morrow but replaces him with Georgetown transfer Isaac Copeland and potentially one or more new players with the open scholarships.

As if the 2017-18 season wasn’t already riding enough on Copeland’s production before Wednesday night’s announcement, he now becomes bigger than ever.

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound former five-star prospect is coming off back surgery on Feb. 23 for a herniated disc he suffered early last season while still at Georgetown.

All reports are that his recovery is going as well as everyone could have hoped, but back injuries are tricky deals, so his status for next season won’t really be known until he gets back on to the court.

The other issue with that is whether Copeland will be granted a medical hardship waiver by the NCAA.

If so, he would be eligible to play at the start of next season. If not, he won’t be able to return until after the fall semester in late December.

Copeland and the Huskers have felt confident he would get the waiver, and based on previous similar cases the NCAA generally announces those decisions anytime from around April to June.

Regardless of when he joined Nebraska's lineup, he's going to have to live up to every bit of the hype.

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