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Not a great year for Huskers, but not a bad one

The 2007-2008 season is one that will not be forgotten very quickly for fans of Husker sports.

The one thing that may get lost in the cracks, though, is the fact that Nebraska won just one Big 12 Conference championship during the past athletic year. The volleyball team shared the title with Texas, marking the fewest conference titles won by Nebraska since joining the Big 12 Conference 12 years ago.

All in all, it wasn't a very good year for Husker athletics overall. Still, in spite of some of the ugly episodes of the previous 12 months -- the football fiasco and firing of athletic director leading the charge -- there were some good highlights this season for Big Red fans.

The women's basketball team qualified for the NCAA tournament and won a first-round matchup, marking just the second time in team history that they advanced to the second round. The Husker wrestling team finished in the top five nationally for the first time in over a decade, the track and field team was once again among the nation's best and the baseball team was ranked as high as No. 5 before a late-season slump took some of the shine off an otherwise-successful spring campaign.

In addition to the football team's worst record in almost half a century, season lowlights included the softball team finishing tied for last in the conference and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time in 14 years, the women's soccer team tied for last and missed the postseason tournament for the second straight year, and the women's gymnastics squad finished last at the conference meet and missed nationals after finishing in the top six nationally eight times in the previous nine seasons.

In the sweepstakes for the Big 12 conference, the Huskers scored 131 points and finished fourth behind Texas (178), Texas A&M (175) and Oklahoma (135). Texas A&M won the most conference titles this season, taking nine in all, while Texas was second with seven. Sweepstakes points are scored based on a school's finish in each sport (1st place is worth 12 points, 2nd place 11, etc.).

Athletic director Tom Osborne told the Omaha World-Herald that he is pleased with where the Husker athletic program is at right now and feels each team can be competitive nationally and at the conference level next season.

Lot of excitement over Husker hoops recruit

Both of the state's major newspapers' websites were gushing over the prospect of an Angolan native that has orally committed to play basketball for the Huskers as the team's first recruit for the 2009-2010 school year.

Vander Joaquim was sponsored by the Shadow Mountain Chruch and is a senior this year at Christina High in El Cajon, Calif. He had originally given a verbal commitment to the University of San Diego assistant coach Walter Roese, but Roese has since become an assistant for Doc Sadler at Nebraska and it appears Joaquim will follow Roese to Lincoln after graduating from high school next year.

Roese was hired by Sadler because of his international connections, and that seems to be paying some immediate dividends. Joaquim speaks Portugese and is learning English, and he certainly will have help from Roese, who is a Brazilian native and speaks three languages, including Portugese.

Joaquim, still growing at 6-foot-9, has a ton of potential, according to college basketball experts. Last year, he averaged 21 points and 17 rebounds a game at Christian High, according to coach Kelvin Starr. He also has this assessment of his talents on ESPN's Top 100 list of 2009 recruits, where he is tabbed at No. 94:

"In a nutshell, Joaquim oozes upside. He has the ideal length, athleticism and savvy to be a high-major 4 (power forward). His back-to-the-basket game is raw, but he has great hands and appears to be very coachable."

Joaquim came to America on the recommendation of his uncle after showing his talent as a member of the Angolan national team at a tournament in Brazil. His uncle played college basketball at Wayland (Texas) Baptist College, and after searching for schools in America that offer English as a second language, his family selected Christian High in California.

Nebraska has three scholarships available for the 2009-2010 season. Joaquim is the team's first commitment for that season.

Husker basketball may get prep standout

Husker basketball coach Doc Sadler is looking far and wide for recruits to play for the Nebraska Cornhuskers next season, and he may have found a dandy.

Eshaunte Jones ended speculation late last week by announcing that he will play at Nebraska. He chose the Huskers over some notable programs, including West Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri and Memphis.

Jones had originally committed to Indiana in 2006, but chose instead to play at Hargrave Military Academy, a Virginia prep school, for his final season. He signed to play at Oregon State, but got released when the new coach didn't contact him.

During his final high school season at Fort Wayne North Said (Ind.), he was one of the top prep players in the state. He finished third in the state in scoring, averaging 28 points per game, and also shot 42 percent from the field. During his one season at Hargrave, he averaged 19 points per game before an ankle injury ended his season early. Hargrave went on to win the prep school national championship.

At this point, Jones is finishing class work to become eligible by the NCAA academic clearinghouse and told the Lincoln Journal-Star he hoped to be taking summer classes at UNL.

Sadler looking for basketball talent overseas

Nebraska basketball coach Doc Sadler is looking for someone who loves travel and basketball.

The Husker hoops mentor is entering his third year as coach, and he is looking for someone who can recruit in some of the non-traditional locations for college coaches.

And we're not talking small towns, folks -- we're talking places like Europe, Brazil or Austrailia.

Recently-departed senior Aleks Maric is a native from down under, and Sadler recognizes there is a lot of college-level talent playing in places outside the continental United States.

In a recent Omaha World-Herald article, Sadler said it's important for him to develop a niche in recruiting that will help them be more competitive in the Big 12, one of the toughest basketball conferences in the country and home to defending national champion Kansas.

"After being here for two years and studying our situation, I realize I've got to find a niche," he said. "We can't just roll the balls out and compete with the (North) Carolinas and the Kentuckys."

Sadler has previous experience coaching foreign-born players beyond Maric. While at UTEP, some of the kids he coached came from faraway places such as Greece, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia. He is hoping to find an assistant who can make those kinds of connections and find players from overseas who could benefit from not only a college education, but a chance to play at college's highest level.

Strowbridge to leave Nebraska

Sophomore guard Jay-R Strowbridge will be leaving Nebraska at the end of the spring semester, the Lincoln Journal-Star reported earlier this week.

Citing family concerns, Strowbridge asked for a transfer so he can be closer to his family in Alabama. He had a cousing murdered in Huntsville, Ala., during the Christmas holiday.

Strowbridge averaged about five points and two assists per game for the Huskers in 2007-08, helping the team win 20 games for the first time in nine years and reach the second round of the NIT. He was third on the team with 25 3-point shots made.

Strowbridge is the second Husker to ask for a transfer. Shang Ping announced last week he is leaving the program after one season.

NU should give Sadler a raise

After taking the Nebraska basketball team to its first 20-win season in several years, Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne needs to make sure Doc Sadler is a happy guy.

And by happy, we mean -- paid better than he is right now.

Now we know that making $700,000 a year is not chump change by any stretch of the imagination. Still, with some of the recent moves being made in college basketball, it's always good to make sure a hot coach is paid well and kept happy right where he is.

Sadler has done a fantastic job resurrecting the Nebraska basketball program. In two years, Nebraska is 37-27 and went 20-13 this past season, reaching the second round of the NIT.

Now, of course, the objective is to make it to the Big Dance at the NCAA tournament. Still, considering where this program was when he came on, Sadler has done about as good a job as one could expect considering the talent on hand in comparison to the teams they have faced.

Some recent job openings have raised concern that Sadler might jump the Husker ship. With openings at Marquette and the recent firing of Sean Sutton at Oklahoma State, Sadler is a coach whose name could draw interest from programs looking to hire a hot coach and pay him big bucks to do it.

It's unlikely Sadler would consider the OSU job, though. Sadler is close friends with the Sutton family -- he babysat Sean Sutton while an assistant for his father, Eddie -- so that personal relationship may kill any possible move within the conference.

Expect discussions to go on regarding a little bump in Sadler's paycheck, though. With the talent returning and a good recruiting effort in place, Sadler could be the guy that takes Nebraska far into the NCAA tournament in years to come.

Maric to play in all-star game

Husker basketball fans can get one last chance to see senior Aleks Maric in action.

The lone senior on the Nebraska basketball team will play in the NABC College All-Star Game, set for this weekend in San Antonio, Texas.

The game, which will be played Friday at the Alamodome, will feature 22 seniors whose college eligibility has expired. Maric is the fourth Nebraska player to be selected to take part in the game, joining Chuck Jura (1972), Rich King (1991) and Eric Piatkowski (1994).

Maric scored 15.7 points and pulled down 10.2 rebounds a game this year for the Huskers, leading them to the NIT. He tied the school's single-season record for rebounds and is only the second Husker in history to finish his career with over 1,000 rebounds.

Maric ranks fifth on the all-time list for points scored at Nebraska with 1,630, and is only the third player in Big 12 history to record at least 1,600 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Maric will join player like Joseph Jones of Texas A&M, Courtney Lee of Western Kentucky and Maarty Luenen of Oregon -- all of whom played against Maric this past season -- in the all-star event.

Nebraska to host first-round NIT game

Nebraska didn't make it to the NCAA touranment, but they will be playing in a national postseason tournament.

The 19-12 Huskers will host a first-round matchup in the National Inviation Tournament and will face Charlotte in a Wednesday matchup at 7 p.m. at the Devaney Sports Center.

Nebraska is looking for its first 20-win season since 1999, and after a solid effort to close the season they look to have a good shot at reaching that plateau for the first time under coach Doc Sadler.

The winner of the Nebraska-Charlotte game will advance to the second round against either Mississippi or UC-Santa Barbara. The tournament concludes with the championship game at New York's Madison Square Garden on April 3.

Get your NIT tickets for the Nebraska basketball team now at Ticket Express -- where no Husker home game is ever sold out.

Huskers stand good chance of getting NIT bid

Nebraska fans were giddy with the thought of pulling off a major upset, but alas it was not meant to be as Kansas came away with a 64-54 win in the Big 12 Conference tournament Friday night.

Nebraska led by five at halftime before the fifth-ranked Jayhawks rallied, ending the Huskers' regular season with a 19-12 record. Ade Dagunduro led the Huskers with 13 points, Paul Velander added 12 and senior Aleks Maric put in 10.

So now, the question is -- will the Huskers get a tournament invitiation?

Odds are good that, if they do, it won't be an NCAA tournament bid. Although the Huskers did finish the season seven games above .500, their 9-7 mark in a rather weak Big 12 Conference is not going to help the cause with the NCAA, which will fill the 65-team field with 34 at-large bids.

So now the question is: are the Huskers worthy of an NIT bid?

The answer is "yes" -- the Huskers have performed well enough during the course of the season that they should get one of the 32 bids for the National Invitation Tournament.

In fact, projections are not only for the Huskers to get an NIT bid, but could very well face a rematch in the opening round. Projections are that the Huskers would face Creighton in the first round, although time and location are yet to be determined.

If a Nebraska-Creighton matchup does come around, it will be a great opportunity for fans to see the Huskers and Bluejays lock horns one last time. Earlier in the year, the Bluejays beat the Huskers 74-62, and both teams have faced an up-and-down campaign this year, so it would be a great rematch.

Make sure you secure tickets for whatever Nebraska postseason competition they face with tickets from Ticket Express -- where no Husker game is ever sold out.

Huskers beat Missouri in Big 12 tournament

KANSAS CITY -- Nebraska held on for a 61-56 win over Missouri in the opening round of the Big 12 Conference men's basketball tournament Thursday at the Sprint Center.

The win puts the seventh-seeded Huskers into Friday evening's quarterfinal with second-seeded Kansas, but more important is that it pretty much guarantees the 19-11 Huskers a trip to a postseason tournament, most likely the NIT.

The Huskers took a 30-28 halftime lead when Cookie Miller drove the length of the floor and found Steve Harley, who let the tie-breaking jumper go as the buzzer sounded. Nebraska never trailed after that, but Missouri kept it interesting up to the very end.

Down by three, Missouri had two chances in the final 30 seconds to tie the game but were unable to. Jay-R Strowbridge hit a pair of free throws with 8.8 seconds left to put the game out of reach.

Aleks Maric finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, including a key one in the final seconds. Harely added 14 points. Keon Lawrence led Missouri with 15 points, and Matt Lawrence added 12.